Tank Surfing - Stress Marks

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Relienna

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I'm a detailed person, so I apologize for the length of this post! lol

Hey Guys!
Relienna is my usual pen name/videogame alias, but my real name is Tori :)

I have adopted a bearded dragon who is a little over a year old from a friend 2 months ago. Her name is Saphira! (I guess it's a dragon from the Eragon series? :) - I considered changing the name, but it suits her so I have kept it!) The friend is moving overseas with her husband who is in the military and they had to re-home all of their creatures.

I LOVE bearded dragons and have been wanting one for some time now, so I offered to take her since they were giving her away with the entire tank set up for free to a good home!

Saphira is a bit of a sassy dragon and I absolutely adore her! She loves snuggles and car rides and we go to the park now and then, but she is one of the more wiggly/restless beardies I have met.

Recently - the last couple weeks - she has been tank surfing a LOT. I thought it was her reflection, so I got a backdrop for certain parts of the tank. Didn't help. The local reptile store manager suggested that maybe she is in season for wanting to breed and it's possible she could just feel restless because of that. But, it's been awhile now and she still does it. I have tried letting her run around certain rooms in the house thinking she needs to stretch her legs (has to be supervised because we have a total of 4 cats lol). But, she just finds a wall and sits against it.

She has also been picky about eating her veggies lately.

I didn't really realize how much she was doing this on a regular basis until I pulled her out today and saw that not only are all of her back claws grinded down to the quick, but her poor little hind leg is scraped up on her "knee" area! :( I feel like such a horrible mom!

A few weeks ago I did purchase an extra log, a rock hide, and some fake vines for her to add a bit more to her tank since it was kind of empty. Today I took out the extra climbing stuff and tried to re-set up her tank similar to how it was before in case she didn't like all the changes?? It also means less stuff for her to scrape herself on or fall off of if she continues to do this.

Anyone have any ideas or suggestions for anything else I could try?
I just want her to be happy and healthy :cry:

Here are some pics of my girl! <3

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CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Sometimes they just go through restless phases like this. She's still a bit young, but it's possible she has developed eggs and is trying to find a spot to dig. It may be worth putting together a dig box for her and see how she reacts. A bin full of damp play sand and organic topsoil mixed to a consistency that will support a tunnel should do the trick.

Since she is causing damage to her nails, it may also be a good idea to put something soft down for a while to give some relief. Try using fleece which is soft, easy to clean, and won't get caught up in her nails. She may also turn out to enjoy burrowing into the fleece so it could become permanent if she likes it.
 

Relienna

New member
Original Poster
Thank you for the response!
Once I get paid this upcoming week I will see about building her something to dig around in!
I was hopeful that removing all the extra "furniture" in her tank would make her feel like she had more space or something.

But, alas, she's still tank surfing and digging around like a mad woman today :(
 
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