Bearded dragon constantly hiding

[premammalian]

I have a female bearded dragon from the end of November of the previous year, and currently she is one and a half years old. She passed very well through hibernation, she ate two days after waking up, she was normal, eating a lot, defecating normally and basking. When not basking, she usually was situated on the branches. She was a little lazy from the start, her previous owner told me that she is very laid back and tolerant of people, but the fact is that she is too lazy.her behaivior started to change though from the end of that June. At the start she started basking slightly off center. I didn’t regard it as strange, because the temperatures had risen and it would be too uncomfortable straight under the lamp in a temperature of 46 C for a long time. At the beginning of July, she was still out. As days passed though, she would be on the ground for more time, and she started using her hide. Previously, she sometimes slept in the hide, but usually she was sleeping near her basking spot. That hide is on the warm side of the enclosure, under the branch of the basking spot, and it is roomy enough to turn around, thus it receives some heat. From then until now, she is usually hiding. She has burrowed there, tearing some papers and wedging herself between them, and she is usually lying flat down, as if sleeping. Sometimes she will go out at the evening and sleep then in another location, and perhapse she goes out in the morning as well, but I wasn’t up to see it. She retains normal, bright coloration and apetite, but her defecation cycles have become more eratic. Usually she defecates every 6-10 days, instead of her normal every two days, but one time near the end of August she took 18 days to defecate. She seems a little constipated, as when she defecates after a long time, next defecations follow the days soon with no problems. I am taking her out nearly every day, but she refuses to sit for long under the sun. She might not be able to stand the heat, so she bolts to a shady corner or under an overhanging object, for example under a flower pot or me. When resting in the shade, although awake with open eyes, she is very apathetic and calm. Neither proding, nor pushing, taking her and leaving her elsewhere, nothing can motivate her to move if she doesn’t want to. But if food is present, or something flies above her, she will get excited, either to catch the food or avoid the presumed enemy. When I put her back, she will stay for a time in the open, and then go straight to the hide, where I hear her digging and getting deep inside. She won’t sit more than a minute at longest under her basking spot.
Near the end of August, when I was away, her heat lamp burned out while I was in vacation. When I returned, she was even more tightly hidden in her hide, instead of being out and seeking heat. The temperature was 32 degrees C, and the normal is to raise the temperature to 35-38 degrees. Probably she had only a day without the lamp. Then I took her out, and she basked for much more time. The next day, I found her out of the hide, with the head looking to the direction of the outside. I took her out to bask, and the next day finally I was able to replace her lamp. Again the same. I thought to turn off her light, but today the temperature fell a little, but even now she didn’t come out of her hide to bask. I took her outside, and she ran to shade again after a few minutes. What is the problem?
Nothing in her diet changed. Her environment is as quiet as it can be – usually only me gets there and disturbs her -, no other animals are around, I believe the summer temperatures were to blame. Temperatures in that room could reach 32-34 degrees nearly constantly, and the problem was that there was no great differencial between day and night. Also shedding might have played a role. From the middle of May until the middle of June she was in a shed cycle, and whenever a large piece of skin was ready to be shed, she would temporarily refrain from basking and select a lower temperature, with the result of delaying defecation. I read that they seek cooler, more humid areas to shed in the wild, so probably she did the same. The problem is that she, just after her shedding was complete, entered a new shedding cycle, now much slower. But is it normal to stay so long hiding just because of shedding? Also, why she doesn’t appear on the basking spot when temperatures fall? Is it possible that she forgot that a basking spot exists? Too unlikely.
I have heard about that phenomenon as hibernation or brumation, but the correct term would be estivation. Hibernation is due to winter temperatures and shortened photoperiod, now we have the opposite. I have read contradictory information wether bearded dragons estivate at high temperatures. But even if they do, why she doesn’t go to the basking spot when she is cold?
I have found plenty of similar topics in the forum that season, and no satisfactory answers were given. Is it a side of bearded dragon biology we know little/? Is it normal?
What is your experience of that behaivior? Please help. I don’t want to lose my animal, neither to have it in a semi-sleeping state forever.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....I'll try to remember what to address as I respond, from the first part of your Q's to the last. I think that she has gotten too hot [ adults usually don't like it above 38 C ] so that probably played a part in her hiding initially. If your room temps. stay at 32-34 she can never get a much needed break from them, so yes she is probably trying to estivate. A temp. of 46C is way too hot for an adult .

Then when she goes outdoors, 2 things may prompt her to run to shade. 1) It could be that she has just simply been staying too warm and is overly sensitive to or just does not want to be in the heat
2) If she is given a nice basking log/branch in a contained area rather than just on the open ground she may climb up it and stay in the sun if it's not blazing hot. My dragons like basking in a screened cage with something to climb, otherwise they seem a bit lost + would probably look for somewhere to run. By the way, how does she stay hydrated ?

But see if you can get her basking side down to about 38....and eventually as things cool off she may decide to stay out.

 

[premammalian]

46 degrees was only the basking spot, not the whole cage. Keepers of other hot climate species like uromastix or monitor lizards make basking spots even hotter, even though the animals don't operate in such high temperatures, and then the animals are basking a little and then get active. Perhapse they don't estivate though. Also her previous owner didn't keep her in the best conditions, he had a basking spot of only 32 degrees, so she might not be acustomed to hotter conditions. But even he took her outside with no problems. He also didn't use a hide.
To say the truth, temperatures outside are extreme at noon and afternoon, the hours I usually interact with her. Areas with darker flooring become too hot for comfortable sitting for more than half a minute,, but white areas become too hot as well. My dragon actually basks a little more if on an elevated place, because the object isn't so warm. Also she knows the outside, and when she is near the door to the inside she feels safe and isn't scared of aeroplanes in that area. I don't ask the animal to stay under baking heat, it can go to the shade, but why it is inactive even in the shade. I am constantly reading here topics about active dragons, dragons who want to explore, dragons that have strong likes and dislikes, mine is too apathetic. Still she takes walks from time to time, she has her likes and dislikes, but generally her curiosity is satisfied just by looking towards the novel object or situation. She is very observant, but not active. And now with that pseudo-estivation even more lethargic.
As for hydration, I don't use a water bowl. I fill it only when I am away, and when I return I find the bowl full of mineral deposites, because the water is too hard. Either she gets the water from the food or by dripping water droplets. I also spray her when in obvious shed. She isn't dehydrated. I pinched her skin and it returned immediately to position, also feces have some fluid with them.

 

[AHBD]

I also hydrate my beardies by dripping/spraying water, no water dish in the tank, plus I offer greens that are fresh washed + wet. Sometimes when I spray their snout I will put a shallow lid under their chin and they will sometimes lower their heads + drink as it puddles. Then I remove the lid when they're done.

As for the high temps., I know about the uro + monitor owners with very high temps. [ around 120 at the basking, some a tad higher ] but adult beardies will always shy away, and if it's that hot at the basking spot it's generally a bit too hot in the rest of the tank including the ambient and then beardies may do what yours is doing and trying to stay out of it.

And yes, the idea I mentioned is to have something to climb on outside and see if she'll perch + bask then.

 

[AHBD]

I forgot to add that beardies all have different temperaments/personalities. Some are much more active than others. Yours is very laid back to the point of seeming uninterested in much of anything , there could be different reasons for this but it's very likely her predominant disposition. But just enjoy her as she is....a unique little creature that depends totally on you. Maybe she'll change a bit in the months/years to come.

 

[premammalian]

My bearded dragon isn't indifferent on what happens near her. I have many times remarked how observant she is, and how she turns her head at the slightest movementh or change. She just doesn't decide to do anything upon seeing something. I thought she was brain-damaged, but now I am releaved it is normal.
I didn't know that bearded dragons cannot stand the temperatures of uros or monitors. I thought they need as much heat as possible, and that they bask all day. I thought that they would just open their mouth to cool off, and move to the shade only as a last resort. I imagined them perched in the highest rocks of the australian desert soaking up the sun at midday in mid-summer with no shade near them. Perhapse my image was to exaggerated. But now I learnt they aren't so heat loving.

 

[kingofnobbys]

My Puff is very laid back, nothing makes him happier than having a long cuddle on dad or mum and having his back tickled the whole time , or sitting in very sunny spot with his head and chest and front legs up on the bottom of the lacey curtains watching the TV.
He'll happily stay put all afternoon and all night (cuddle time) and will only move to snuggle right up cheek to jowl with you.
This time last year Puff's hormones kicked in BIG TIME and we had a torrid 2 - 3 months with him dashing about , doing headbanging at Rex (who was armwaving back and teasing him) and his getting really worked up and doing "inappropriate" things to the metal strip at the edge of the carpet and the lino. Been much more relaxed and so far not much hanky panky from him , though he is starting again to obsess over Rex again (just moving into spring here now).

Rex on the other hand is always dashing about checking everything (looking under closed doors and generally trotting about) and hardly stays put anywhere for more a 10mins (it's like she's got ants in her pants) , she's very mischievous , and is into everything and nothing gets past her without a thorough examination and once over. She only settles for a snuggle once she's got her dashing about out of her system and will then come over an tell me - "ready now daddy".

My bluetongues and water skink prefer 32-35oC at the basking spot.

My 2 bluetongue skinks (George and Mildred) are also very different behaviourwise to each other , as is Wriggles the Water Skink..

5 unique and different personalities.

My beardies like the basking spot not hotter than 40oC.
You can indeed overheat an adult bearded dragon. They tend in the wild to seek shelter and to get out of the blazing midday heat for the 3 - 4 to 5 hours centred on midday in the wild. You'll find them perched on rocks , termite mounds , tree stumps . fallen tree branches, and fence posts taking in the sun in morning and evening in summer in the wild while it's not deadly hot and only getting up into the mid 90s oF.
Not like some of indigenous monitors who are very active even at 50oC and higher.

 

[premammalian]

My own when she is exploring generally walks some distance, then chekcs the place out. Then she might decide to return or not. She knows to return back to me or near her cage, particularly if the temperature is lower and she needs some basking. The problem is that she likes to get under objects, from where it is not certain when she will come out. She might go out again after a half minute, or after an hour. For that reason I must know where she is to get her out.
Today I took her from her hide and put her on the basking spot. Because the temperature was somewhat lower, she stayd for much more time there, then she went down and remained in the open. Then, an hour before the lights would go off, she hid again in her hole. I believe she will start coming out on her own.
The difference between skinks and dragons makes sense. Skinks are active foragers, searching through a large area in order to find food of various types. They use both vision and olfaction to find it, also by moving are more prone to predators, and they are more cautious. They are more intelligent than dragons. Dragons are mainly ambush foragers, sitting somewhere with their camouflaged body and waiting for insects, which they catch quickly. Being also partly herbivorous, they must move more than other agamids, but still retain the same general biology.
Do you have any information about bearded dragons in the wild? Do you have them near you? Have you observed something of significance?

 

[premammalian]

Today at noon, when I went to check out my dragon, I found her in her hole with head towards the entrance. I tried to take her out, but she resisted, she was going again back. Finally she came out, and I put her on a branch, whereupon she went to bask. If I put her in the same place at the hottest days of summer, she would turn to another direction, but now she went under the lamp. Then I took her a little outside, when the sun came out, because before it was cloudy, and then again in the basking spot. At first she was uncomfortable there and went down, then I put her again and sat in a more comfortable position for a long time. Now she is sleeping, fortunately with the head looking out. The problem is, when will she rutinely go to bask on her own?

 

[AHBD]

You might try taking the hide out for a while to see how she'll act. I can't remember if you say she's eating well ? What is her weight like ? I know that overweight dragons can be more likely to become inactive + a bit lazy. And no one can really tap in to exactly why they act the way they do with increased or decreased activity levels, they are all different. It still may be a reaction to a long period of high temps.

 

[premammalian]

Yesterday night she was sleeping with the head towards the entrance, so I dragged her a little out. Today she had changed position, still with the head at the entrance, but I don't know if she came out a little or not. She wasn't sleeping, just hiding. I put her on the basking spot, I noticed she clings forcefully to anything and I cannot prode her to walk forth. She finally went by herself, she basked, but then I took her out in real sunlight. When I returned her back, she got away from the basking spot soon, probably because she had reached optimum temperature. She eats very well, I gave her two dubias today and they were eaten immediately. Then I blocked the entrance of the hide with cardboard, and I sat and observed. She was positioned on a branch near the basking lamp, then she descended. She remained still and relaxed in the open for a few minutes, and then I saw how she actually hides. She ran quickly towards her hide. Why so quickly? Is something stressing or frightening her? Then she found the obstacle and seemed confused. She looke left, right, and finally she remained in that position. I felt bad for this, but it is for her own good. I don't want to miss valuable fat-storing days, because I will hibernate her in winter. When she will adopt the habit of basking consistently again, I will open the hide again. Now she can semi-hide under the lower parts of thicker branches. Perhapse she associated the basking spot with intense heat, and doesn't approach it for that reason. When I was putting her on the basking spot for the first times, she went away because in summer she was burning there. But then she realized that now it wasn't so hot, and stayed there. I am also not feeding anything these days, in order to make her search for more food. I don't believe that I will carry it out, because every time I say it I give her something, but I nevertheless must say it.

 

[kingofnobbys]

My own when she is exploring generally walks some distance, then chekcs the place out. Then she might decide to return or not. She knows to return back to me or near her cage, particularly if the temperature is lower and she needs some basking. The problem is that she likes to get under objects, from where it is not certain when she will come out. She might go out again after a half minute, or after an hour. For that reason I must know where she is to get her out.
Today I took her from her hide and put her on the basking spot. Because the temperature was somewhat lower, she stayd for much more time there, then she went down and remained in the open. Then, an hour before the lights would go off, she hid again in her hole. I believe she will start coming out on her own.
The difference between skinks and dragons makes sense. Skinks are active foragers, searching through a large area in order to find food of various types. They use both vision and olfaction to find it, also by moving are more prone to predators, and they are more cautious. They are more intelligent than dragons. Dragons are mainly ambush foragers, sitting somewhere with their camouflaged body and waiting for insects, which they catch quickly. Being also partly herbivorous, they must move more than other agamids, but still retain the same general biology.
Do you have any information about bearded dragons in the wild? Do you have them near you? Have you observed something of significance?

As far as I know . no bearded dragons (would be easterns here) in my immediate area, there are eastern water dragons (I even have the eastern water dragons visit my yard occasionally) and I'm told by the local kids there are jacky dragons in local areas of bush too.

I've often encountered bearded dragons when travelling about especially out west of the ranges. Seem very laid back even in the wild - can walk right up to them when they basking on stump or termite mound or fence post - pretending they are a bit of the stump and reach out to pick them right up in your hand when basking , some try to wriggle and get away, others do the threat bluff thing , others just turn around and look at you as if to say ..... "what are you ?" Never been bitten by a wild beardie I've caught by hand to look at , been bitten by plenty of skinks though.

 

[premammalian]

Now, with the blocking of the hide, Annabella (the name of my dragon I forgot to add it) is hiding near the base of a branch, where she can be seen but she feels safe. It is a secondary hide for her. She moves a little more, climbing on her hide, which is under her basking spot and atenuated heat reaches there. I put her to bask, and after a while she went down. She the ran to her usual hide just from habit. The problem isn't only that she doesn't bask, it is more general, she doesn't climb much. She can also climb with out necessarily basking, but she doesn't do that. Whenever I put her on a branch, most of the times, not always, she wants to descend. Is that brumation or estivation behaivior ?Also I fear much if I had made her dependent on me for basking. I usually take her out to bask every day, today as well, and now, with the lower temperatures, she basks much more time. I fear if she is now waiting for me to take her every time out in the real sunlight instead of going to the lamp. Outside it is better, there is ample room to spread, but nearly no climbing areas. Inside there are some climbing areas, but the basking spot is small and maybe somewhat uncomfortable. How can I make her bask a lot again? I don't want to discontinue the trips to outside.

How were bearded dragons in Australia? Were they in the desert? How was their environment? Is there any difference between eastern and common bearded dragons in behaivior? Where in Australia are you? Is it tropical or temperate? Can water dragons live in temperate areas and away from water?
Here in Greece from where I am we have only one native agamid species, the starred agama Stellagama stellio. It is aproximately 30 cm long, with long, thin tail, flattened body, spiny scales around the ear, rough general scalation and spiny scales on the tail. It looks much liek the bearded dragon, but the body shape is most probably convergently derived. It is mostly a near-eastern species which reaches the coast of Egypt in Africa and Greece, mostly islands and a small part of the mainland, in Europe. We call them agamas, starred dragons, just dragons or little crocodiles. I have them in my general area, though I never found them. They are said to be very easy to approach for a photo when basking, but they are very quick and cannot be caught. The same I heard for herpers going to the deserts of the Middle East, agamids are very easy to approach. Do water dragons behaive the same?
I wonder how bearded dragons survive in the wild with so ineffective predator avoidance skills. Perhapse they didn't react much because they don't kno so large predators? On the other hand, Australia had larger predators before some tens of thousands of years ago, and humans continued to hunt them until recently. I cannot find a good answer. Birds certainly frighten them much though. My own, when she is outside, whenever a bird flies high or an airplane passes, she ggoes crazy and bolts to a shed spot, under overhanging objects or under me. Small and low flying birds usually don't righten her, but if they aproach she might retreat. She gradually learnt though, that when she is near the door to the interior, she is safe, and she doesn't run away from airplanes, just she watches them intently.
The funniest thing was in the first times I took her out, when sometimes she put up a full defencive display with puffed up body, puffed up and black beard and all to frighten airplanes. She also displayed to me once, when she wanted to get away and I caught her forcefully, because she tried to hide behind too many objects.

 

[premammalian]

I have also noted that she makes hard urates when pooping. The problem started at the end of June, and it is more noticeable if she has a lot of time to poop. I didn't think that it is a problem, until I searched for it today. Usually they aren't so hard when they come out, but later they dry out into a hard material like a piece of chalk. Dehydration is apparently not the cause, as she has normal eyes, she is plump and soft, and the skin does not remain in place if it is pinched. She has eaten less moist foods in the recent weeks though.

 

[premammalian]

Today she basked a little in the morning, then hid again. Even without her hide she manages to get under the sheets of paper if one is displaced, and hides there. I moved her again to the basking spot in the afternoon, and she sat for sometime, then gave her a large dubia roach. Still she runs to her blocked hide from habit, and today I saw her trying to push the paper blocking the entrance with her head for an instant. If she develops a good basking rutine, I will open her hide again. Her previous owner whome I contacted yesterday told me though that I must not be anxious, she knows best and will bask on her own if she feels the need. In his care she also retreated in high temperatures, and then basked only to digest.

ps. Were is Kingofnobbys to answer my Australia-related questions?