7 Month (Juvenile → Sub-Adult/Teenager) Behavioral Changes

[MrSpectrum]

I would have added this to the "Week of Firsts" thread, but it's been well over a month, and I'm thinking this most recent bevy of changes may :dontknow: be more/specifically related to transitioning from Juvenile*to Sub-Adult* (Beardie "Teenager" :laughing6: ).

* http://beardeddragoncaresheet.weebly.com/general-info.html
Bearded Dragons can be broken down into 4 age groups. Hatchlings is from 0-2 months, Juvenile is from 2 months to 7 months, Sub-Adult is from 7 months to 18 months, and Adult is 18 months on.

After a growth spurt (avg. ~25g/wk) over the past 2 months, ZARDOZ has undergone some behavioral changes. I'm guessing they're most likely typical adolescent/teenager stuff, but I'm (colloquially) throwing them up against the wall... ?

• 
  He's (somewhat suddenly) become quite tame--lost a bit of his "attitude" (I have mixed feelings about this). He no longer runs away or hisses at me when I pick him up (unless he's annoyed :roll: ). He's alert, curious & squirmy/wiggly, but will calm down & eventually fall asleep/nap on me while I'm binge-streaming. Does not react to beardie vids. All that is good, but his attitude has been fun/entertaining/interesting as well. :roll:
  
  He went through a brief (3-day) period of what I would call "hormonal stimulation": running around, glass surfing, climbing up & down, head-bobbing, destroying plants, and humping planters. His previously-reliable hygiene (paper-training) has abruptly gone out the proverbial window. Kinda like an incel. :laughing6:
  
  His appetite has suddenly (overnight) decreased from ~30 dubias + 10 supers/day to ~7 supers/day (I've had to resort to hand-feeding supers to get him to eat anything); he's refusing dubias & greens entirely. I hesitate to incentivize him via starvation, as I don't really want to attenuate/stunt any growth at this point.
  
  The past 3 days, he basks/hides all day & shows little/no interest in eating. He's not backed up, though he's gone from daily to every other day, but normal. Right now he's surfing again, which usually precedes making a deposit. ? [A Few Minutes Later...] Yup. ?

Does any of this look/sound familiar?

 

[MrSpectrum]

Does any of this look/sound familiar?

Apparently it does... Hi Littlebuddysmomma! :wink:

I was going to post an addendum because he hasn't eaten in 2 days (as unheard of for this guy as it is for Ol' Furface :shock: ), and I was about to break down & try the starvation incentivization. But I just checked, and lo & behold (how often does one get the chance to use 'behold' in a sentence? :lol: ) he polished off a whole bowl (15-20?) of num-numz. Now I just have to see if he'll take anything for "supper". :dontknow:

He dood it yesterday, so I'm not expecting another performance until tomorrow.

Still don't know the reason(s) for the behavior changes, but at least one other person and dragon are going through same...

 

[Littlebuddysmomma]

Just noticed your comment above! Thanks for bringing me here

A couple of hours ago, for the first time in a little over a week, Cookie ate some of her greens without needing a bath first. No idea why the bath has been prompting her to eat them, but it has worked every single time. I take her out of the bath, she basks for about 30 mins, then immediately eats her greens and poops shortly after. So weird. I hadn’t gotten to the bath yet today, but looked over and she was chowing down on some collards! She didn’t eat as much of them as she usually would prior to this phase, but some is better than none. Still waiting to see if she’ll poop.

I do feel much better knowing that my dragon is not the only one! It can’t be a coincidence that they’re the same age, so I think there is definitely something to this thought of it being due to transition into sub-adult.

 

[McBeck]

He went through a brief (3-day) period of what I would call "hormonal stimulation": running around, glass surfing, climbing up & down, head-bobbing, destroying plants, and humping planters. His previously-reliable hygiene (paper-training) has abruptly gone out the proverbial window. Kinda like an incel. :laughing6:

Wait, this isn't everybody's typical weekend!? :shock: :shock:

 

[MrSpectrum]

Wait, this isn't everybody's typical weekend!? :shock: :shock:

Not after forty-mumble years. The spirit is willing, but... Y'know. :roll: :dontknow:

 

[McBeck]

I'm well past 40. If I want to catch her, I moved the furniture around before she gets home. That way she's confused on which escape routs to use... 8) :lol:

 

[MrSpectrum]

I'm well past 40.

Likewise, but I was referring to how long we've been together--which is actually closer to 50 now than 40.

 

[McBeck]

Good for you! I am only at 32 years together. Even after a lizard for Valentines Day, I like my odds for one more...

 

[MrSpectrum]

OK... MY imagination is duly boggled. :lol:

One more... ? Anniversary? Lizard? Wife? Nookie? ????? :shock:

 

[McBeck]

OK... MY imagination is duly boggled. :lol:

One more... ? Anniversary? Lizard? Wife? Nookie? ????? :shock:

One more year. I am subtly putting out the feelers on how it might be received sneaking a Chameleon in to the house. Mother's day is coming up....

 

[MrSpectrum]

BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! :lol: A (panther) chameleon has been my plan from the beginning!
Too bad I had to wait for retirement to fulfill that bucket list item.
The plan was to get one at the most recent reptile show, but... !@#$%& COVFEFE-19 had to happen. :x

I don't mind getting one thru the mail (or driving 100 miles), but the way my projects usually run, one trip to Home Despot (for enclosure materials) usually turns into 6 or 10 or more...

 

[MrSpectrum]

OK, I'm officially concerned. His nibs has been particularly destructive this week, which I just attributed to "teenager" stuff/spring fever... whatever. This included digging up/destroying a few plants that he's left alone since Day 1.

This week, he's eaten very little, if any at all, and I just did his weekly weighing measuring, and he's LOST 10 grams--first time ever. He's also been shedding this week, and while it makes him cranky, it's never affected his appetite before. I thought it was just a battle of wills because I cut back on his super worms, but the last couple days, he's even turning those down.

He strew his paper towel (the ones he usually deposits on) all over the enclosure, and even dragged a piece into a hide and slept on it last night. He's only slept in a hide twice before.

Since the whole enclosure was a mess, I decided to do a major cleaning--replacing/replanting damaged/dead plants, vacuuming everything, cleaning the tiles & slate... even cleaning the glass doors. While this was going on, I put him in his original baby enclosure--a Sterilite bin, with an assortment of dubias & supers. He wouldn't eat anything (it's been 3-4 days). He spent the first half-hour scritching in a corner (which didn't surprise me; it's gotten a lot smaller since the last time he was in it) but then he did something strange... he turned around, and froze like this for the next hour...

Didn't move/twitch a muscle. :dontknow:

He's back in his home now. No idea what's next.
Like I said, it's the first time I've been concerned since moving him in there (late Nov/early Dec).

Any thoughts/words of wisdom?

 

[Littlebuddysmomma]

Have you tried giving him a bath to see if it’ll prompt him to eat? Still no idea why it kept working with Cookie, but it did, without fail, every time.

She sent me into total panic-mode the other day when I thought she might be gravid. For two days she would not settle down. She started digging like a lunatic and made a huge mess of her tank. I threw together a lay box for her, which she mostly just seemed confused by, so I put her back in her tank, she started going nuts again. So I took her out to give her free reign of our apartment. She ran around for a bit before finding a darker corner to hang out in for awhile. She puffed her beard at me when I went to put her back in her tank, but she has been totally settled since then (two days ago). For whatever reason, I think she just really wanted out of her tank.

I also saw on reddit recently someone mentioned that male dragons may be acting crazy right now due to breeding season beginning. I’m not sure if this really affects dragons in captivity, but a thought to consider maybe?

 

[MrSpectrum]

Thanks, I have been considering that. He seems a bit young at 7 months, but he's my first.
I've also not heard of that causing weight loss. Last time I gave him a bath was about a week ago when he hadn't gone in a few days, but he's been more regular since then, so not really any reason to.
I could give it a try.

 

[McBeck]

Wish I could offer advice. I am still learning as I go. Good luck, I will be watching/waiting for a positive out come.