Stress Marks

Hi everyone! I am a new beardie owner, and I have some questions about the stress marks my juvenile bearded dragon Autumn has developed. When I first received her for my birthday present, she didn't seem to show any stress marks about being in a new place. I handled her and fed her daily, and even though I've only had her for maybe two weeks I feel like we're starting to get to know each other. My family goes out of town fairly often; so, of course, we took Autumn with us, along with her food and heating light. She was totally comfortable with the change: allways eager for her meal, always bright, and always alert. When we got home, I noticed the next morning (two days ago) I noticed that she was darker than normal, and kept a close eye on her throughout the day. She was still active, still eating fine, but darker than usual. I figured she might need a bit of time to settle in. Today, she's still darker than usual, so I made some changes like moving the basking light higher, thoroughly cleaning the tank, and removing extra objects that could stress her out. Autumn is still dark colored, but she's eating fine and is as active as usual. When I take her out of her tank, the mark disappear. She doesn't mind the tank, she'll jump onto her basking spot when I lower my hand in her cage. She's shedding on her front legs. Should I be worried? Any help anyone can offer? Thanks so much!!!

SG

She's completely fine. They aren't "stress marks", just normal markings on her belly, just like she has everywhere else. When she turns darker she's doing it on purpose in order to absorb more light/heat, and the marks on her belly just turn darker right along with the rest of her. So she's just regulating her temperature at that particular moment. If she's nice and bright then she's not needing to attract more light. I don't know how that myth about "stress marks" ever got started, but she's totally fine.

She's completely fine. They aren't "stress marks", just normal markings on her belly, just like she has everywhere else. When she turns darker she's doing it on purpose in order to absorb more light/heat, and the marks on her belly just turn darker right along with the rest of her. So she's just regulating her temperature at that particular moment. If she's nice and bright then she's not needing to attract more light. I don't know how that myth about "stress marks" ever got started, but she's totally fine.

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Thanks so much EllenD! I had read about temperature regulations but I firmly believe that prevention is the best cure. I'm trying to be really careful, I love Autumn so much and I want to keep her healthy and happy.

Thanks again!

SG