Help for a Newb! Why does my beardie like the corner!?

Hello! I have a quick question:

I have a little guy who is about a week old with a beautiful spacious tank, proper heating/lighting and things to climb on, but he only wants to hang out in the far side corner of his tank! Sometimes he tries climbing, but mostly he just chills there and sometimes sleeps.

I read somewhere that he might be bored, but when I take him out, he doesn't want to go anywhere, he just naps in the crook of my thumb!

Tank rundown:
55 gal feeder
Cool side is 75-80
Hot side is 100-110
Offer kale, pellets, and BSFL
UVB strip light
Humidity is nil (I live in AZ)

Some help, please!

He may just like the corner. They all have different personalities, preferences, and quirks. It may take him a while to really settle in and get used to his new home either way. The temperature gradient in the tank sounds good. What style of UVB do you have T8 or T5? How far is it mounted above the basking area?

CooperDragon":22xo9cjp said:

He may just like the corner. They all have different personalities, preferences, and quirks. It may take him a while to really settle in and get used to his new home either way. The temperature gradient in the tank sounds good. What style of UVB do you have T8 or T5? How far is it mounted above the basking area?

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It's a T8 and it's approx. 10-ish inches above him.

Is he only 1 week old or is it that you have only had him for 1 week? I assume the latter. How old is he?

It my be only relocation stress

What live feeder are you offering him?

SDragons":251vm87e said:

Is he only 1 week old or is it that you have only had him for 1 week? I assume the latter. How old is he?

It my be only relocation stress

What live feeder are you offering him?

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Nope! He is only one week old! Hatched sometime late last week, I think. He had his egg sac attached to his little belly button, so after that fell off he took a couple of days, but now is feasting voraciously on Phoenixworms 2x-3x a day

ONLY ABOUT 1 WEEK OLD .... and someone sold him to you/ gave him to you ? shocked .

Or is he (?) one of your's from an clutch laid by your own adult beardie ?

If you bought him that young - IMO not good.
I think reputable breeders here wont let a hatchling leave their care until they are about 4 - 6 weeks old and eating well (on live insects and even eating some greens and grated vegs).

That said can you post some pictures if him (?) and let us how much he weighs ?


I suspect your tiny hatchling is probably very stressed and overwhelmed by the huge expanse of the enclosure you have it in. It will be more comfortable in a smaller home for now - perhaps a 30L - 50L tub with a good hide, paper towels for bedding, and some tree branches to climb on.
He (?) can move into the enclosure when he's (?) more developed and needs the space.

Or

you could partition off the big enclosure so he has access only to 1/4 to 1/3 of the floor space for now - this will be less overwhelming to him. 55 Gal is 210 L, he'd be a lot more comfortable for now in 50 L.

kingofnobbys":246bur8n said:

ONLY ABOUT 1 WEEK OLD .... and someone sold him to you/ gave him to you ? shocked .

Or is he (?) one of your's from an clutch laid by your own adult beardie ?

If you bought him that young - IMO not good.
I think reputable breeders here wont let a hatchling leave their care until they are about 4 - 6 weeks old and eating well (on live insects and even eating some greens and grated vegs).

That said can you post some pictures if him (?) and let us how much he weighs ?


I suspect your tiny hatchling is probably very stressed and overwhelmed by the huge expanse of the enclosure you have it in. It will be more comfortable in a smaller home for now - perhaps a 30L - 50L tub with a good hide, paper towels for bedding, and some tree branches to climb on.
He (?) can move into the enclosure when he's (?) more developed and needs the space.

Or

you could partition off the big enclosure so he has access only to 1/4 to 1/3 of the floor space for now - this will be less overwhelming to him. 55 Gal is 210 L, he'd be a lot more comfortable for now in 50 L.

Click to expand...

Well, it's actually a pretty funny story how I got him.

I have a friend and they've had beardies forever. They have a sweet girl who is 3-ish years old. My friend's wife (who's active duty military) went TDY, so my friend decided to visit family and left her beardie in the care of someone else who had a beardie. Well, the beardies met and did the wadda wadda bing bang.

My friend and her wife got orders to move to Korea, but (surprise!) their beardie was laying clutches of fertilized eggs now.

Since I've been wanting one, I took one on and they let some of their other friends have some hatchlings before taking the rest to a reptile pet shop to be raised and sold.

I basically have one of the love child of a beardie who decided to party while her parents were away lol

I can't partition the tank, since there's a big glass window in the middle of the top screens that would prevent me from getting the temperatures right. I'll look at getting a sterilite container, I think. He seems okay, though. He's figured out his basking spot and his hide-y hole. And besides waking him up in the morning (which he loathes) he seems pretty receptive. He hasn't started eating greens yet, and he's not a big fan of crickets, but he sure does love his Phoenixworms!

I don't have a weight (as I don't own a kitchen scale) but here are some pictures of him!

Oh wow, yeah he's still a really little guy. It's good that he's making use of his hide as needed and is basking. I'd move your T8 just a bit closer. 6-8'' is optimal for those. If you upgrade to a T5, you can set that at 12-14'' for optimal output so they're best for larger tanks and greater distances.

For now, I'd just be really gentile with him and make sure the bugs you're offering are quite small so he can handle them. Keep a close eye on his weight and record it so you can monitor his progress.

Wow .... he's tiny .... I reckon a 4L or 10L tub would be perfect for him for a month or so.


I've had a juvenile water skink called Lucky (I rescued him from a cat - started off 4g and grew to 20g before the cat claw bacteria bloomed again in his system and killed him), and more recently a 38g adult water skink called Wriggles living in a 10L tub for over 2 years until I decided to give her one of the spare 100L rearing tubs.

A 10L tub, converted to ultrasmall rearing/bed tub , would be perfect for him (?) for a month or so , will be very easy to keep warm with a 5W heatpad under it too (so he stays warm overnight).
A little hide can be made from cardboard box, and you could simply place the lizard and tub in the big enclosure with a ramp for it to crawl in and out.