Beardie Started Glass Surfing Constantly

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Hexical

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Hey guys! First post here but I've been an owner of a bearded dragon for about a year and a half, maybe 2 years now, so heres a bit of preface. I got peep at a rescue and she was fairly small, probably just around the age beardies are normally sold off as pets - The people at the rescue had no clue on her age because the place she was rescued from had 0 info on her either. I'd wager she is maybe 2 years old, maybe a bit under. Here is the most current picture I have of her.

image0.jpg


Now, the problem is that after over a year and a half of owning her, she has started CONSTANTLY glass surfing. I don't mean every once in a while - its pretty much right from when she gets up to about an hour or two before she lays down and I think she only stops at that point because she has exhausted herself. I will literally pick her up from the spot shes surfing, and she will try to wriggle herself out of my hand to get back over to where she was like she really wants something over there - but the only thing to the left is a window - and it doesn't matter if I leave it covered up with my blackout curtain or leave it wide open with the sun shining in, she just surfs on.

The only thing I have actually changed was the arrangement of my room - which I feel like would be such a crazy thing for her to react too - especially when its been almost a whole month since I've done it. It also didn't happen right away after I re-arranged, it happened a week or so after. She shows absolutely no signs of stress, like at all. I don't see her black beard, puff out, hiss, etc. Her beard is actually bright orange and tends to stay that colour.

I've tried so so so many things. I gave her a dig box thinking maybe she wanted a place to dig, or maybe she was gonna lay eggs. She dug around in it for a day - made a huge mess in her cage, and then continued to glass surf. I tried putting up cardboard inside / or outside her cage to stop reflections, she just started surfing the cardboard. I take her out of the cage and she just sits on me and chills out like everything is alright and dandy and she isn't trying to break down the glass walls of her enclosure.

My tank setup is pretty normal, here is the most recent pic of it. (A tad dirty because of the dig box incident, on top of her, always running into the glass causing smudges, but yeah). Heres a pic. You can even see her "surfing" in action.

image0.jpg


It's a 75-gallon tank, tile as the substrate, I have the correct UVB Bulb along with her temps and humidity being correct, ambient is around 80F, Basking around 100F, humidity sitting at 26% currently. My only guess about the tank would be the size not being big enough. I even bought a heating pad (stuck to the back, not under her tank no worries) to see if possibly it was just a tad bit too cold but that didn't do anything.

Other than that, some important things to note are that I feed her greens every day with calcium and vitamin supplements (not that every day too but you get it lol), along with 10-minute feeding sessions every 2 days. I take her out of the cage and let her waddle around when I can, cats get in the way of that sometimes but I always make sure she has her time. She eats normally, acts normal, and other than the glass surfing has shown absolutely no signs of being sick or stressed out.

At this point, I'm just worried. She isn't showing anything to me that glares out as a problem, and I've gone through so many threads and forums trying remedies that just don't seem to work for her. My girlfriend works night shifts and can't even sleep during the day because of surfing and in general its just a huge stress for me. I want my girl to be happy and content and its really getting to me now :(.

Does anyone have a clue what I should do? Should I just accept defeat and bring her to the vet? It hasn't been too long since she's had her checkup and everything was absolutely fine according to him and he was really impressed with how well she was taken care of compared to the other reptiles he tends to get. Should I just buy a new tank and cut the losses on that money pit now instead of waiting? UGH this sucks for me and her.

Thanks for taking the time to read and I really hope someone can help me pin point what I'm doing wrong because I know shes acting out for a reason.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
There is no reflector on that bulb that I can see - you need to get the tube into a fixture w/ a reflector - as of now shes been basically getting no UVB - the rays need to be reflected toward her and right now they are going every where but - I am not saying thats gonna change her behavior at this point but I would start there --- also for a 75 gallon tank it looks small-- others on here might have some ideas as well --------------what is the UVB tube -- brand and bulb please?
Karrie
 

Hexical

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":3ml6wozz said:
There is no reflector on that bulb that I can see - you need to get the tube into a fixture w/ a reflector - as of now shes been basically getting no UVB - the rays need to be reflected toward her and right now they are going every where but - I am not saying thats gonna change her behavior at this point but I would start there --- also for a 75 gallon tank it looks small-- others on here might have some ideas as well --------------what is the UVB tube -- brand and bulb please?
Karrie

You are correct in there being no reflector but I was also told it would be fine without one. I'll go ahead and buy one now just for security of my own mind though, any recommendations on fixtures I could possibly get on amazon? (That aren't $60-80 preferably, but I can eat it up if I really need too because I love my beardie too much lmao) I've also been using this light / fixture for a while now - wouldn't signs of MBD / Calcium Deficiency show by now?

It definitely feels like its smaller but i've done the measurements and used calculators online and it comes out to 75 gallons.

The bulb is this one on amazon https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AQU8HAO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1.

Thanks for the reply!
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
www.pangeareptiles.com has a 24" fixture w/ reflector for $32-- check that out--- since it's a T 5 it should be 12-15 inches from basking decor-- start there and see what she does --
Karrie
 

Hexical

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":dmd3gfcz said:
http://www.pangeareptiles.com has a 24" fixture w/ reflector for $32-- check that out--- since it's a T 5 it should be 12-15 inches from basking decor-- start there and see what she does --
Karrie

Thank you! I'll place an order with them ASAP, I will order a new UVB Bulb too because it has been about 4-5 months now since I've ordered my last and I know they go bad. It just seems like her behaviour isn't correlated with the lights because admittedly I've tried turning both off individually to see if maybe her heat lamp was too hot or bright or something, along with the UVB light messing with her but she still does it!

At this point though I'm willing to try anything lol, I just want her to stop and be happy
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
T 5's will last a year-- it's the T 8's that need to be changed out in 6 months-- what are her basking temps and how are you taking them? No stick ons! That too if tank is too hot will cause the constantly glass surfing
Karrie
 

Hexical

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":1p6u2fut said:
T 5's will last a year-- it's the T 8's that need to be changed out in 6 months-- what are her basking temps and how are you taking them? No stick ons! That too if tank is too hot will cause the constantly glass surfing
Karrie

I use a temp gun to check her basking temp, I only have the digital thermostat for ambient temps / the humidity gauge it comes with. Her basking temps are normally around 100F, tank sits around 80F. Is 80F too hot for her maybe ambiently?
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Nope cool side should be 80's so your good on that---- I would invest in a digital probe thermometer from Petco pet smart $5-- just to have on hand- if she's not digging and since you said you tried that I can only think it might be that UVB- how have her poops been? They should be formed moist and dark and urates formed moist and white-- do they smell so bad they drive you from room? Us she eating?
Karrie
 

Hexical

Member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":3hkk8f8n said:
Nope cool side should be 80's so your good on that---- I would invest in a digital probe thermometer from Petco pet smart $5-- just to have on hand- if she's not digging and since you said you tried that I can only think it might be that UVB- how have her poops been? They should be formed moist and dark and urates formed moist and white-- do they smell so bad they drive you from room? Us she eating?
Karrie

She dug for a bit, I used coconut husk as the substrate. She only seemed interested for that day I put it in though, otherwise, I'd have to physically put her in the dig box and she would dig for a little before hopping back out.

Her poops actually have been a bit odd for a little bit previously, where she would poop and only the pee part would come out and it would be in like a spiral shape? I also thought it might be impaction, so I've been giving her warm baths and things with no luck.

She did have a poop just this morning though, probably a week after all of this started happening - it was firm and full, didn't smell absolutely horrid - just like the normal smelling poop she always had where I kinda turn my nose but it doesn't make me want to hurl. They were always moist with a bit of wetness coming out along with it.

She does eat normally, she will eat her greens no problem and bugs aren't a problem either.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Ok so no parasites that we're suspecting- it could be spring fever- mine was doing samething for weeks - he has finally calmed down this week-- but he was driving me crazy- I would let him out for a few hrs per day some days even that wasn't long enough--- we'll get your UVB in the fixture see what happens it will help w/ her health for sure- if its spring fever you may just haft deal w/ it--- others on here have been dealing w/ samething- besides me--- and my UVB is in a fixture w/ a reflector so ...
You can only try and see what happens
Karrie
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Sp just to confirm, you have the HO t5 version reptisun, not the standard t8 version?

If so, you probably dont need a reflector for your setup. Without reflector it needs to be about 8 inches from the basking site. It looks like it might be that already. If you get the reflector you'll have to make sure the bulb is 12-15 inches from the site.

I'd go to a home depot if you have one and buy a bag of playsand for 5 bucks. Itll be more sand than you need, but she will feel more comfortable digging in that than the coco husk. Sometimes they wont lay eggs of they feel the spot isnt suitable. Just make sure the sand is damp and will hold its shape like a sandcastle.

I'd go back at it with the dig box and if still no go after a week of trying, I'd chock it up to just being some runaway hormones :) your setup seems fine.

-Brandon
 

Hexical

Member
Original Poster
claudiusx":3kqlqfu2 said:
Sp just to confirm, you have the HO t5 version reptisun, not the standard t8 version?

If so, you probably dont need a reflector for your setup. Without reflector it needs to be about 8 inches from the basking site. It looks like it might be that already. If you get the reflector you'll have to make sure the bulb is 12-15 inches from the site.

I'd go to a home depot if you have one and buy a bag of playsand for 5 bucks. Itll be more sand than you need, but she will feel more comfortable digging in that than the coco husk. Sometimes they wont lay eggs of they feel the spot isnt suitable. Just make sure the sand is damp and will hold its shape like a sandcastle.

I'd go back at it with the dig box and if still no go after a week of trying, I'd chock it up to just being some runaway hormones :) your setup seems fine.

-Brandon

Correct, its the T5 :) Also correct on it being about 8in away from her basking site!

I do indeed have one and I'll go ahead and do that for her. If that doesn't work out I'll just live it out ahaha. Crazy how hormones can make them react like that. I do want to buy her a bigger tank anyway, but I've been saving up gracefully for one of the nice DIYCages from the site.

Thank you guys for all the replies and great help, I appreciate it greatly - and I'm sure peep will too because I won't be as frantic about this.
 
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