Black(ish) beard

Hello, my beardie has had a some what black beard the past few days. Not all the way black, mostly on the lower part and a little on the sides. He is very attentive, and has a crazy good appetite and has energy. I noticed he didn’t go potty for a day, but other than that he goes once a day. He only spends his time on his basking spot. I’ve had him for a month and a half. Got him from a pet store.

Lately he has been getting stressed when I walk into the room to work on homework or clean up.

The only thing I have been doing different this week is that I forgot to wash his collard greens for three days. (I freeze them and unfreeze them using warm water) and I switched to adult crickets but that was after his symptoms.

Beardie age estimated at 5-7 months, estimated gender - male.

He is shedding.

———————————Viv specs—————————

40 Gal Br, Powersun MVB, night ceramic heat, things to climb, hiding spots, cozy spots.

Basking spot is a flat area that ranges from 105(on one side) down to 85(on the other side), humidity goal 35% but varies from 35, sometimes down to 16 (if I’m gone too long and haven’t misted) humidifier running (it’s a mini cheap one- I’m upgrading it).

Diet - dusted crickets once a week (just switched to adult), dusted Dubai roaches every day, collard greens(sprayed with distilled water) everyday.

I clean his viv everyday and give it a full clean at the end of the week.

Try to bathe him once a day, he doesn’t like it and hate getting misted. (I’m thinking about stopping the baths because he freaks out and gets stressed) I haven’t bathed him since his symptoms have shown.

Regularly handle him at least once a day. He will wait for me to look away then try jumping out of my hands to run away and hide from me.
————— ——————End of viv specs————

He could be scared of you, hence the black beard. However, I'm sure it could be something else, just a thought. To see if he is, try putting something in front of his tank so he can't see you and, if his beard isn't as dark as usual, he's scared or you. I should note, beardies always have a somewhat black beard, just quite minimally black. Also, about humidity, beardies come from a deserty climate. So, if you're trying to help him shed, just bathe him if he can't get all of the skin off, give him time to get it off himself before you bathe him to minimize stress. Also, if he's scared, try minimizing contact with him for a while then try bonding with him again after a while of leaving him alone and see if he does any better around you.

KeyBlu422":2v4bx05l said:

He could be scared of you, hence the black beard. However, I'm sure it could be something else, just a thought. To see if he is, try putting something in front of his tank so he can't see you and, if his beard isn't as dark as usual, he's scared or you. I should note, beardies always have a somewhat black beard, just quite minimally black. Also, about humidity, beardies come from a deserty climate. So, if you're trying to help him shed, just bathe him if he can't get all of the skin off, give him time to get it off himself before you bathe him to minimize stress. Also, if he's scared, try minimizing contact with him for a while then try bonding with him again after a while of leaving him alone and see if he does any better around you.

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Thank you for the reply! Okay, maybe it’s just how his beard is after he shed. I don’t think it’s from being scared because after 12 hrs of being gone I looked in his viv without him noticing and it did look a little black.

Today I have both sides of the family come over and I could totally tell he was stressed. Poor buddy! His beard was pretty black. But when I held him and fed him it went away. But it came back a little later.

But you could be right, maybe I’ll keep minimal contact with him for a day or two and see how he is doing?

Thank you I’ll upload some picks.

Yeah, I was in the same situation as you are a little while back, took me a while before I realized that he's not really freaked out at me. Plus, I let him roam around in a small room with me and he would willingly walk around and on me to explore so I knew he wasn't terrified as I'd previously thought. About the pictures, I would absolutely love to see your new pet, if getting a second reptile myself this weekend. I'm getting a bluey, for some reason i feel my collection will mainly consist of New Caledonian geckos and Australian lizards when I get more reptiles.

Here are some pics of him. The close up of his face is what i'm talking about.



Poor guy got stressed from me taking pics!

Thanks for the reply Blu! Sounds like you got a nice family going!

sparrowstune":2fzby397 said:

Thanks for the reply Blu! Sounds like you got a nice family going!

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I sure hope to develop one! I can't help but notice how elaborate your setup is and the fact that you're using a superworm bowl in the tank(lol, I have one but don't use it too often). Another thing, whenever i see stress marks I always think of thinly sliced almonds for some reason... Great looking beardy to go along with the setup too. Im glad to have helped if I did(I hope) and I wish you many great years with your beardy.