Thanks! That's a relief. And yes, when I move out he is coming with me. His tank is large but just had a few blocks of wood. I've reconstructed it and added a log for rubbing- his pores were clogged but we got that taken care of a few days ago and they look good now. I'm attaching pictures since any feedback about his tank set up is nice. I've spent hours researching on the internet and watching videos. The problem is I'm a broke grad student, so most of his tank is stuff I had around the house. He's getting lots of different veggies now and loving it. Before my mom was putting in collard greens on the week he didn't get crickets and he hated them so he didn't eat them. He was pooping like once a month- if that. Now we've tried all kinds of greens but the ones I can trick him into eating are mustard greens and dandelion greens (though dandelion greens are pricey). He loves small bell peppers (like the red and orange sweet ones) and butternut squash. I've also started giving hornworms when I have some extra funds. I just ordered some dubia roaches but I'm squeamish so I don't know how that will go.
My desk is right next to his tank so that's how we started bonding. I began looking up things about beardies and learned he was not having all his needs met. It took me about a month to work up the nerve to touch him and then another week to be able to hold him. I have been bitten since he did not want to go outside and got stressed. But now I hold him all the time without fear and learned how to read him better. He still acts like I stress him out sometimes though- closing both eyes and huffing. Though sometimes he opens his mouth when he's laying on my stomach and I know people say it's a sign of aggression but he seems kinda content when he does it in that context. He'll lick a bit when he does it too.
I wrapped his tank in paper since he was glass surfing a lot after being held and I thought he may have been wanting a hide. He hasn't surfed since. The house here is cold so he has both his lights and then a heating bulb but at night I just keep the heating bulb on. He was getting the red light at night but I'd read those weren't good.
I will admit I've gotten a bit obsessed with him but there's no one else to talk about it with since everyone else in the family thinks he's gross, or his diet is gross, or unclogging his pores is gross, etc. It makes me wish I knew more pro-reptile people.
For Christmas, I'm asking for a real background for him since I was reading that they don't like their reflection and the paper around his tank doesn't limit that.
Sometimes I wonder if he would be happier if I just left him alone like my mom had been, since socializing him is slow going. :/ But I'll admit I'd be sad if I couldn't interact with him.
Here's a pic of him today
And here's the cage as I've set it up. As I said, feedback on it is welcome since I'm new to this. (Ignore the crickets, it was feeding time but I'll remove the excess before bed. Some people said to feed outside the tank but he gets stressed in the tub and refuses to eat) Oh and it's hard to see cos the lamp on the right is hiding it, but there's a thermometer with a humidity checker thing on the cool side and the hot side of the tank.