sparkybeardyandme
Member
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.
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.