constantly glass surfing?

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I’ve had my bearded dragon for pretty much a year now and he’s doing quite well. Recently though he’s been running all over his tank and scratching at the glass. At first I thought he was just more energetic since the warm weather started coming in and let him roam around my room more often. But as soon as I put him back in his tank he would sit for a while then start back up until around after supper when he starts to get sleepy. I tried leaving more veggies in his bowl to see if he was just hungry but he mostly just tossed them around the place. I took a few things out of his tank to give him more space (and I was tired of him flipping stuff over) and he seemed to chill out a little bit more. He’s in about a 50 gallon tank right now and hes around 14 inches I’m wondering if it’s possibly time to move up to a 75 gallon tank? Or is it possibly something else?
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
The bigger the better -- it could be spring fever -- what are you using for a UVB? Any colored lights - is he basking ? Temps in the tank - basking should be 95-110 taken w/a digital probe thermometer cool side 80's during the day --- just want to rule out lighting - and temps that is always a possibility
Karrie
 

Ellentomologist

Hatchling Member
Hiya,

So there's a few options here.

First of all, it is entirely possible he does need a bigger tank. Instead of giving the measurement in gallons, could you give the width/length of the tank? They come in different dimensions and my advice regarding tank size partially hinges on that.

Second of all, what kind of enrichment opportunities are you providing him? Does he have multiple hides and perches? I've found that this can go two ways - My boy Guacemole has gotten "angry" at me for moving his favorite hide and glass surfed until I put it back, and I've also had him glass surf for a few days until I re-did the interior of his enclosure and swapped some of his enrichment items. I also have found that a lot of BD owners don't give their animals suitable hides and that glass surfing behavior often improves when they have 1-2 available. This one might be particularly suspect based off the body of your post.

Third, is there a particular wall of his enclosure that he's surfing on? What kind of enclosure is it? Most beardies to best with 3/4 walls of their enclosure opaque. If you're using an all glass enclosure, you can tape construction paper to the outside to achieve this effect. You also might want to check if he's seeing his own reflection in the glass - many beardies will attack or try to run away from their own reflections, which they perceive as another dragon.

Finally, and honestly most likely given the temperature change, have you double checked your enclosure parameters? AKA is the basking spot, warm side, and cool side still ideal for a beardie? My experience is that I need to change my heat source from a 75 to a 50 watt bulb for the summer, then back again for winter to prevent my BD's enclosure from getting too hot/cool, despite the fact that my interior temps remain much the same.

Good luck trouble shooting! I hope this helps!

Best,
-Ellen
 

RandomLizardOwner

Member
Original Poster
He doesn’t have any coloured lights and he’s basking about the same as usual. The basking area is around 90 and the tank is a pretty standard tank I’m not sure what type since it was given to us by the person we got him from. It’s about 36 inches in length and 18 in width. He usually runs along the front of the tank and the left side. I did cover the back wall, he’s never had an issue with the glass so I didn’t see it necessary to cover the other sides but I’ll give that a try! He has a log and a hammock that he spends most of his time on and a few fake plants. Hides wise I’ve tried a few different ones but he’s never seemed interested and almost never uses them I usually cover him with a light towel at night. Thanks for the suggestions! I’m hoping it’s just spring fever and if nothing works I’ll look into a possibly larger tank.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
I would say he needs a bigger tank --- and he does need a hide -- I would not be covering him at night - the basking temps could be higher 95-110 is what we recommend --
Karrie
 

RandomLizardOwner

Member
Original Poster
Thank you! I’ll probably get a better thermometer to double check his temperatures just to be safe aswell. I’m still pretty new to this so thank you!
 
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