Bearded dragon meltdown!!

I am very new to the bearded dragon game, only got my little lady a week ago and it's been a steep learning curve. She is a 3 year old female beardy who came from a family who could no longer take care of her. She is settling in really well, I have made quite a few changes to her diet and set-up as there were a few things that weren't quite right but she has adapted well.

She seems happy in her vivarium and I get her out daily for cuddles and a run around. I have added a repticarpet to her viv which she seems to love. When she first came to me she had no substrate and wouldn't get down of her logs (I think the floor was too slippy and it scared her). She now happily moves around and for the most part sits near the front of the viv looking out the window or basking on her log.

Now here comes the issue. I am quite ill and have a lot of physical disabilities so need to sleep sometimes during the day. But if I close the curtains she completely freaks out. Her light and heater are still on, so she has plenty of light to see, but she starts darting everywhere, jumping up at the walls, scratching at the floor. Complete madness until I open the curtains again and she's absolutely fine. What worries me is that she might hurt herself, today she jumped so high she actually landed on her UV strip light and was hanging off it for a few seconds!!!!! :shock:

The simple solution for now is I have to sleep with the curtains open, but this isn't necessarily a long term solution as I have severe migraines at times and seizures so sometimes a dark room is a necessity.

Any advice on what might be going on? One thing I thought about was it could be shock, like she thought a bird was hovering overhead or something? I didn't know whether to start doing some sort of training where I just close the curtains a tiny bit and see if she reacts, maybe give her a treat or something if she remains calm. I just haven't really seen anyone else mention this sort of behavior as a reaction. I know "glass-surfing" happens, but with her it's purely when the curtains are closed.

Help.

I'm not sure why closing the curtains would set her off specifically. Do you have any other animals in the house? If not, try setting up a portable basking spot outside her tank and just let her roam around while you're asleep. She will get to burn off some energy but can still return to the portable light to warm back up while she's out and about.

We have two dogs, but they are generally out the room when I sleep and she doesn't seem to bothered by them. She is up on a shelf so they can't jump up and bother her. Well there has been a slight update. Today she has been doing it all day. I have let her out three times for a run around and each time she calmed down for a minute or two then started off again. My mum came in earlier and took her out for the third time and walked around with her on her shoulder looking out the window which seemed to calm her down and she has been fine since. So confused...?

She seems happy, she's eating and her color is amazing, she's getting more and more yellow with each passing day (she was quite dull brown when she arrived). So I don't know whether it's just she's never had all this energy and excitement before. The only one thing I am waiting for is a bed for her which also like a cave hide as at the moment she hasn't really got anything to hid under so I'm hoping that might help if it is her feeling threatened. I'll keep you up to date of any progress.

It sounds like she's happy, just full of energy. Giving them time to look out the window usually works well. My guy loves looking out the window so I set a small dog bed into the window sill for him. Try to secure her tank so she isn't likely to get hurt if she jumps around but don't worry about it too much as she will eventually calm down if she needs to stay in the tank. It's good to provide her with as much time outside the tank to roam around and explore as reasonable though. I like to allow my guy free range when I'm home as much as possible. He his kind of hyper/highly energetic like your girl is.

Thank you so much for the help. I am having a look at some playpen type material so I can set up an area that I can let her out and she can roam and I'll put a little ledge so she can see right up to the window.

I'm hoping in the summer to maybe take her out into the garden on days when it's warm enough. Just for a few minutes to really have an explore. Obviously not at the same time as the dogs. I'm keeping them apart for the moment until she's fully settled in and I know how she'll respond.

For myself, I use a blackout sleep mask. Really helps for the early morning sunrise. Maybe you can get your sleep & your Beardie can his UVB.

CooperDragon":2xdaey77 said:

I'm not sure why closing the curtains would set her off specifically. Do you have any other animals in the house? If not, try setting up a portable basking spot outside her tank and just let her roam around while you're asleep. She will get to burn off some energy but can still return to the portable light to warm back up while she's out and about.

Click to expand...

Glass sided viv ? The glass is acting like a mirror as maybe 8% of the light that falls on the glass is reflected back , and against a darker room , the reflection of herself will be very obvious to her , she thinks she sees another girl beardie. http://glassproperties.com/reflection/

I think when you draw the curtains and she only has light from her UV source and basking globe she is freaking out because she is seeing her own reflection and it's staring back at her no matter where she looks.
Try placing some paper or cardboard against the reflective inside surfaces of her viv up to above her usual eye level (when she's "on the floor" of the viv) , I suspect this will help as she will no longer be "haunted" by the ghostbeardie all the time and will only see it when she climbs higher than the top edge of the "screen/curtain" of paper.

Thank you, I will give that a try and see if it helps. I think it could be a mixture of both as the curtains have been open all today and yesterday but she is still having the odd meltdown and only really calms down after she's had a run around. But I'll definitely give it a go.

The sleep mask is a good idea, I've got a good one somewhere that I used to take into hospital with me so I'll dig that out and see if that does the job. I'll update you in a week or so to see if anything has helped. It'll also give her some more time to settle in and get used to her new surroundings and diet as I don't think she's ever had this much energy before.

Thanks everyone

Kingofnobby's. Do you think something like this might be a solution if it is the reflection?

http://prodisplay.com/wp-content/uploads/anti-glare-film-specsheet.pdf

sparkybeardyandme":2smegu8g said:

Kingofnobby's. Do you think something like this might be a solution if it is the reflection?

http://prodisplay.com/wp-content/uploads/anti-glare-film-specsheet.pdf

Click to expand...

I'd just get a few sheets of printer paper and sticky tape them to the inside surfaces.... cheap , effective and easy to place there.

Kingofnobby's. Stupid question I know, but which sides do you mean? I read your earlier comment again and just to clarify, not all four sides of her vivarium are glass. Only the front one. So would your solution still work?

sparkybeardyandme":14wiuszm said:

Kingofnobby's. Stupid question I know, but which sides do you mean? I read your earlier comment again and just to clarify, not all four sides of her vivarium are glass. Only the front one. So would your solution still work?

Click to expand...

All the interior glass surfaces where the dragon will be able to see it's own reflection.

So if only the front is glass, this is the surface.

OK thanks. My brain went to sleep lol :lol:

Thanks again