Continuous Black Beard, but no signs of actual aggression?

I’ve had my bearded dragon for about five months and he didn’t start turning his beard black until recently, so I’m still new at understanding what it means. I recently got a cat, but he did it a few times before we did (I’ve only had the cat for about a week). He doesn’t care about the cat, but he will hiss at it if the cat gets too close whether in or out of the tank (I understand the no lizard around a cat). Anyways, I tried to take him out of his tank because I haven’t been giving him much floor time due to the cat, so I put the cat in the bathroom so he can roam free without stress. He kind of scratched and tried to get away, but once I managed to grabbed him, I placed him on the floor to walk around.

He kinda licks, but doesn’t eat the veggies I’m handing him and I misted him quite a bit before taking him out of the tank. He doesn’t seem to want me to hold him (he doesn’t get aggressive, he just runs out of my hand and straight to the glass door as usual) but he lets me pet him and even though his beard is still black, he isn’t puffing up or hissing. He’s stuck against my sliding glass door right now and sorta chilling.

I used to think it was his temperament if he was missing something (for example: I’ll try to pick him up and he’ll either run away or puff up, but after a slight misting, he will let me touch him, lol). So... may I have some behavior help?

Usually black bearding is either pain, breeding, aggression, and a few other things. Non which are too good. My adult male will puff his beard out in the morning and turn it black slightly for a few minutes before going on about his day, however since your bearded dragon is trying to get away from you when you handle him i would suggest not forcing him to be handled as it can cause more stress than hes already in most likely. What is his setup, uvb lights, heat lamp, substrate and food etc?

I’m using a sand mat (it replicates sand, but it’s permanent), I have a 24 inch UVB light and a 75 watt basking bulb. I feed him primarily crickets and kale and occasionally cilantro and mealworms. I try to give him a bigger variety of veggies, but they usually go bad before he even gets halfway through them, lol. My thermometer says the temperature is around 80 degrees (even after I went from a 50 to 75, but I’m worried about raising it again because he’ll gape his mouth while basking, which as I’ve learned is that he’s reached an ideal temperature and is releasing extra heat.

He’s walking around the living room right now like nothing. I just picked him up and put him on my shoulder and he’s fine. His black beard disappeared. This is confusing, lol

The basking spot should be 95 at the very least as lower temperatures they cant digest their food. My beardies only bask with their mouth open for a few minutes or an hour. Its completely normal for them to do and you shouldnt be scared of them doing it as long as the temps doesnt pass 115. Ditch the kale as its not good at all honestly, get some healthy greens like collard or turnip greens and mustard greens. Any greens that go bad just feed to the bugs. Also i suggest giving him roaches as well as crickets to vary the diet more. He might be too cold and that could be causing his black bearding. Mealworms arent the best and at the very least should probably only be fed 5 each feeding with superworms being fed only twice each feeding since they are probably the worst feeder insect. Is the uvb a T8 or t5?

Yes, I know. I need to change my thermometer because I don’t think it’s accurate. I believe I have a ReptiSun 10.0. I rarely feed him mealworms. I used to feed him super worms, but he doesn’t like to eat them as much. I am probably switching to calcium worms. I would like to feed him roaches, but I can’t find them in person and I once purchased crickets online and they all arrived dead, so I’m skeptical of buying online again.

I’ll switch from kale. I think the grocery store I went to didn’t have it, so I bought the closest thing I could find. I try to mist him regularly (when he wants it) and occasionally coat his crickets in calcium.

He seems very comfortable on my shoulder now (he keeps flattening himself), so, could he simply be riled up by the cat and needs some time to calm down?

Possibly, also Dubiaroaches.com has never let me down so buy your feeders from there. Literally every single order has never arrived dead... and i order a lot to keep 5 lizards happy and healthy. I havent ordered crickets from them but ive ordered crickets off amazon, only once did my crickets arrive dead but it was from the cold. Also i suggest instead of occasionally dusting do calcium 5 times a week and multivitmins twice a week.

Hi there, it may be stress from the cat but male dragons can develop a black beard for many reasons.

I did want to warn that beardies often leap from a shoulder and some get seriously injured at times. Shoulder riding is actually very dangerous, better to hold him against your chest with a hand over him. .

Yes, I’m laying on the couch, so if he decides to move around, there’s cushion. I’ve seen him black beard before we got the cat, that’s why I’m a little confused for the reasons.

Oh, O.K....much safer if you're laying down. And don't read too much in to the black beard but DO keep the cat away , esp. if it stresses him.

But a very dominant male who is in breeding mode can sport a b.b at any time, they can be more hormonal and high strung at times like this boy of mine.
https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/29878/full

Okay! I’ll try to give him a more structured routine and update his lights and diet just so I know it’s just him being him and not anything that’s my fault. Hopefully we can start going out to sunbathe when it’s warm! Thanks for the help!