MartiSutton":3l1ybvn2 said:
Recently, he’s begun an excavation project, and now is the only thing he focuses on. He tries to do it in his tank as well, although nothing has been changed (diet, temp, and regular exercise has all remained the same). Do you have any idea how to curb this behavior or what is causing it? It doesn’t seem very healthy but he is gaining quite a bit of muscle.
What is causing it is instinct, which is one of the more difficult kinds of behavior to curb, but you are correct that behavioral modification is the solution. How are his claws/nails? Are they perhaps too long--inducing him to dig in order to maintain them?
If he were a she, I'm pretty sure you would've seen eggs long before 3-4 years.
Your mention of an excavation project reminded me... In HS (early '70s), I raised/trained a couple of male mutt puppies (GSD mixes from different parents). That summer, we had to have a water heater replaced, and the old one had to sit in the back yard until pickup day. During that week, the two pups (more like doggie adolescents/teens)--
working together--managed to dig a trench around and under the water heater, eventually causing it to drop over a foot into the ground. We joked about how they must not have liked it in their yard, so they were trying to bury it. :dontknow:
The muscle comment reminds me of the first "fancy" hamster we had that used to stand on top of her wheel and try to push the screened top up off her aquarium to escape--up-down-up-down-up-down. We had to weight it down, first with a book, then two books, then a brick... Eventually, she began to look a little like Sylvester Schwarzenegger, with
ENORMOUS arms... :laughhard:
Sorry about all the reminiscing; I've been using the time spent typing to think about your question. :roll:
As far as outside, I would move his exercise area away from where he's digging so he can't continue. Some type of fence/pen/barrier may be required.
Inside, what type of substrate is in his enclosure? My own dragon--
ZᴀRDᴏZ--occasionally scritches at his rough tile substrate, which kind of takes care of dissuading his digging by itself. He never gets anywhere, so gives up rather quickly (though he continues to try to open the sliding glass doors, which is building
his arms up pretty well too :laughing6
.
Rough tile floor/substrate
should dissuade the behavior (not instantly--it may take a while), and should keep his claws/nails maintained so you won't have to trim them.
