Ellentomologist
Hatchling Member
Hiya all,
So, if you aren't familiar I have a male normal named Guacamole Kangarilla. He's quite the dude and I love his dearly, and essentially since I've had him I let him free roam the house for 30 minutes-1 hour after I get home every day. Usually this doesn't result in much - he likes to "watch" TV on my significant other's lap, lol - but since I moved back in August he's been going a bit crazy when I let him out.
Previously, and in two different settings/houses, Guac would explore a little, climb, and of course I'd keep him restricted to beardie-safe areas so he could wander about without any danger. It was nice and I think everyone enjoyed it. Entertainment for the humans, exercise for the liz...
Since moving to the new place however Guacemole always, without fail goes into TURBO LIZARD mode when I let him loose. He's zippy! And, most peculiarly, he jumps a lot? Not straight up or anything, he'll just like leap from surface to surface and be an odd energetic boy. Occasionally he'll randomly black beard and start bobbing his head at me or boyfriend, but if we either ignore it for a few minutes or put him back in his enclosure he'll calm right down and look happy as a clam again. Maybe once every 20 times he does the black-beard head-bob thing, he'll do a couple arm waves once his beard is normal colored again of we haven't disturbed him... Whenever he's in his tank, he acts near identical to how he used to.
Usually after a few minutes of being the fastest lizard alive and doing a few laps around the apartment, he'll chill out and act like his normal self again, but it's really quite a drastic behavior change. Does anyone have any ideas for what might be going on?
During the move, we did have a minor catastrophe and break Guac's custom build 4 by 2 enclosure, and he's been in a 40 gallon breeder temporarily until I can afford to build him a new one. Could it be he's a zippy boy just because he's got more pent up energy than usual? I also corrected his UV slightly, as I realized I had previously had his T5 HO bulbs a bit further away than optimal. Otherwise husbandry is the same - same diet, same temperatures, etc. Eating like a champ, will even to climb up and nosh on my (beardie safe) house plants while he's in TURBO LIZARD mode... On a final husbandry/health related note, he just broke a pound (in 467g) and finally looks like he's at a perfect weight after being slightly skinny for about 9 months.
He seems healthy and happy, just way more energetic than usual, and I want to make sure the type of black bearding I'm seeing is some kind of misplaced mating or domination display and not him exhibiting displeasure.
Thank you much,
-Ellen
So, if you aren't familiar I have a male normal named Guacamole Kangarilla. He's quite the dude and I love his dearly, and essentially since I've had him I let him free roam the house for 30 minutes-1 hour after I get home every day. Usually this doesn't result in much - he likes to "watch" TV on my significant other's lap, lol - but since I moved back in August he's been going a bit crazy when I let him out.
Previously, and in two different settings/houses, Guac would explore a little, climb, and of course I'd keep him restricted to beardie-safe areas so he could wander about without any danger. It was nice and I think everyone enjoyed it. Entertainment for the humans, exercise for the liz...
Since moving to the new place however Guacemole always, without fail goes into TURBO LIZARD mode when I let him loose. He's zippy! And, most peculiarly, he jumps a lot? Not straight up or anything, he'll just like leap from surface to surface and be an odd energetic boy. Occasionally he'll randomly black beard and start bobbing his head at me or boyfriend, but if we either ignore it for a few minutes or put him back in his enclosure he'll calm right down and look happy as a clam again. Maybe once every 20 times he does the black-beard head-bob thing, he'll do a couple arm waves once his beard is normal colored again of we haven't disturbed him... Whenever he's in his tank, he acts near identical to how he used to.
Usually after a few minutes of being the fastest lizard alive and doing a few laps around the apartment, he'll chill out and act like his normal self again, but it's really quite a drastic behavior change. Does anyone have any ideas for what might be going on?
During the move, we did have a minor catastrophe and break Guac's custom build 4 by 2 enclosure, and he's been in a 40 gallon breeder temporarily until I can afford to build him a new one. Could it be he's a zippy boy just because he's got more pent up energy than usual? I also corrected his UV slightly, as I realized I had previously had his T5 HO bulbs a bit further away than optimal. Otherwise husbandry is the same - same diet, same temperatures, etc. Eating like a champ, will even to climb up and nosh on my (beardie safe) house plants while he's in TURBO LIZARD mode... On a final husbandry/health related note, he just broke a pound (in 467g) and finally looks like he's at a perfect weight after being slightly skinny for about 9 months.
He seems healthy and happy, just way more energetic than usual, and I want to make sure the type of black bearding I'm seeing is some kind of misplaced mating or domination display and not him exhibiting displeasure.
Thank you much,
-Ellen
