13 Month Old Glass Surfing!! Help!!

Status
Not open for further replies.

SavyCat8000

Member
Beardie name(s)
Rexy
Hello thank you for taking time to help me.
I got my beautiful female bearded dragon almost exactly a year ago. She was living with my friends 8 yr old cousin, who had no idea how to take care of a beardie. I'm no perfect caretaker either; occasionally when life gets busy I unintentionally neglect her. (Forgetting to feed her for a day or two; infrequent bathing; missing a daily trip outside the enclosure; etc.)

She is glass surfing constantly. She starts at 9am when her lights turn on and runs along the sides of her cage until a few hours before bedtime. This started about a month and a half ago. It's a very frantic running and scratching; occasionally she gets herself stuck between her hammock and the wall and I'm afraid she'll do that while I'm gone.

By the way, I am a homeschooled 14 yr old but I did lots of research before I got her. I am home all day except for a few outings. Since this I am unable to do my schoolwork in my room so I do it at our dining table which is not ideal.

Her enclosure is a glass, double door, 40 gallon 18x18x36. She has a 75 watt basking bulb and a ceramic heat bulb in a dual dome, and a T5 10.0 uvb bulb mounted under the screen like it should. On the cool side of her enclosure I have a regular light bulb only for lighting purposes; it gives off no heat.

Thanks so much for any suggestions!! I'm sorry that was so long.
7DA62808-C5E8-4287-B6FE-F0F739E266D7.jpeg
A625F52D-01A6-4383-9E75-B9917995FD7E.jpeg
EDB22156-1FBA-4543-848D-644764C42243.jpeg
 

SavyCat8000

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Rexy
By the way, she gets usual daily trips outside the enclosure. Typically I let her roam my floor for 15 minutes, although she does glass surf my walls too. She gets a bath about once a week, but more often when she's shedding. I'm about 98% sure she's a girl... but it's hard to tell. Her enclosure is bioactive if you can't tell. All of her plants are alive and most are from my backyard (I live in southern florida so we have plants year round!)
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Her enclosure looks really nice. If you haven't done so already, it might be good to double check surface temps around the enclosure to make sure everything is OK on that front. Sometimes they glass surf is something like that is off. In this case, it sounds like she might be active due to hormones or maybe just curiosity and she wants to get out and roam around. Do you know how old she is?

Surfing the walls of the house when she's out of the enclosure reminds me of my dragon when he's in a hyperactive phase. There's not a lot to do about it in that case except wait it out and give her as much time out of the enclosure to run around and burn off some energy as you can.
 

SavyCat8000

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Rexy
Thanks for your reply. She is about 12.5 months old; I got her as a baby around last Christmas. How long do the hyperactivity phases usually last? Also how should I check temperatures of the surfaces? I currently don't have an infrared thermometer gun right now, but I plan on getting one soon. If there's any alternatives for the mean time I'll take suggestions! Thanks again.
 

SavyCat8000

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Rexy
Oh and if I get a thermometer gun, then will I still need the digital thermometer or can I frequently check her warm/cool sides and basking surfaces with the gun? The digital one I have right now lost its main suction cup so it's a pain to have in her enclosure. If you couldn't tell, I'm new here, and this forum is going to be a lifesaver if me and my beardie run into any more problems!! Thanks!
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Oh and if I get a thermometer gun, then will I still need the digital thermometer or can I frequently check her warm/cool sides and basking surfaces with the gun? The digital one I have right now lost its main suction cup so it's a pain to have in her enclosure. If you couldn't tell, I'm new here, and this forum is going to be a lifesaver if me and my beardie run into any more problems!! Thanks!
You want a digital probe thermometer two of them one for the basking side and one for the cool side -- these are a MUST - IR guns are good to have but not as accurate as the digital probe ones - IR guns cannot read off of certain materials --
 

SavyCat8000

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Rexy
You want a digital probe thermometer two of them one for the basking side and one for the cool side -- these are a MUST - IR guns are good to have but not as accurate as the digital probe ones - IR guns cannot read off of certain materials --
Ok thanks! Darn I was kinda looking forward to taking out the digital haha. I'm going to the pet store tomorrow so I'll be sure to pick up another digital thermometer. I should still buy the IR gun right?
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Ok thanks! Darn I was kinda looking forward to taking out the digital haha. I'm going to the pet store tomorrow so I'll be sure to pick up another digital thermometer. I should still buy the IR gun right?
Yes I would I actually use all 3 types I have a stick on that gives ambient temps on the hot side plus I have 2 IR guns and 4 digital probes -- I have two tanks - I use all of them
 

SavyCat8000

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Rexy
Yes I would I actually use all 3 types I have a stick on that gives ambient temps on the hot side plus I have 2 IR guns and 4 digital probes -- I have two tanks - I use all of them
Sounds great!! Are both tanks beardies? Just curious :) I think I'll pick up another digital then a stick on for ambient temps like you said.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Sounds great!! Are both tanks beardies? Just curious :) I think I'll pick up another digital then a stick on for ambient temps like you said.
Yes --- do you have a hygrometer in the tank ? If not you might want to get one - I recommend a digital probe one -- place probe on the back center wall of your tank it will read the whole tank -- optimal humidity is 40-50% you dont want it under 20 or over 70%
 

SavyCat8000

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Rexy
Yes --- do you have a hygrometer in the tank ? If not you might want to get one - I recommend a digital probe one -- place probe on the back center wall of your tank it will read the whole tank -- optimal humidity is 40-50% you dont want it under 20 or over 70%
Yes, my current digital thermometer has a hydrometer built in. (the one I have is the zoo med one you recommended) It usually hovers around 40%-50%, depending on the day. The soil is usually dry and soaks up excess moisture.
 

SavyCat8000

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Rexy
Yes, my current digital thermometer has a hydrometer built in. (the one I have is the zoo med one you recommended) It usually hovers around 40%-50%, depending on the day. The soil is usually dry and soaks up excess moisture.
Actually I have a different one. It looks very similar but mine has two probe/cords; one for temperature and one for humidity.
 

SavyCat8000

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Rexy
Actually I have a different one. It looks very similar but mine has two probe/cords; one for temperature and one for humidity.
Update - I had to get oral surgery yesterday so I haven't been able to go to the pet store yet for bugs. She's had her daily salads, but she's very picky. She's still glass surfing, although she's starting to calm down maybe? Hopefully, but its hard to tell. She's starts when her light turns on but if I manually turn it off she'll calm down, which is making me thing she doesn't want/need the hours of light I give her. Right now her lights are on 9am-9:30pm. If it's too much or too little please tell me!! I am going to research it right now though.
 

SavyCat8000

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Rexy
Update - I had to get oral surgery yesterday so I haven't been able to go to the pet store yet for bugs. She's had her daily salads, but she's very picky. She's still glass surfing, although she's starting to calm down maybe? Hopefully, but its hard to tell. She's starts when her light turns on but if I manually turn it off she'll calm down, which is making me thing she doesn't want/need the hours of light I give her. Right now her lights are on 9am-9:30pm. If it's too much or too little please tell me!! I am going to research it right now though.
So I just looked it up and it says for about 10-12 hours of day light so i will definitely change her schedule to be a bit shorter!
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
So I just looked it up and it says for about 10-12 hours of day light so i will definitely change her schedule to be a bit shorter!
You can try that -- everything looks good so far just make sure your temps are in check - if its not that I am gonna say its the hormone thing -- Hiccup has been running his tank the last 2 weeks maybe --- so I have been bringing him out and he is calmer after wards so -- but I am used to him doing this -- its normal for him every Jan - Feb he gets like that
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Members online

Latest resources

Latest posts

Latest profile posts

I miss you so much, Amaris 💔
What is a quick way to warm up a cold beardie? His heating element went out overnight and now he's very cold.
Pearl Girl wrote on moorelori1966's profile.
i feel so sad reading your about me 😢
Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

Things to do:
Buy calcium powder
Material to raise surface for basking spot
Scenery decals for back of tank

Forum statistics

Threads
155,903
Messages
1,255,709
Members
75,967
Latest member
Newbeardiemom09
Top Bottom