bearded dragon going nuts

[laserladybug]

hey everyone, i don't know why, but my 1.5 year old male beardy is constantly going crazy, and it has also been happening for months now. he is about a pound, lives in a 40 gallon terarrium, has a basking rock underneath his Exo Terra Solar-Glo High Intensity Self-Ballasted Uv/Heat Mercury Vapor Lamp, (about 90 degrees in the lower temp and 110 in the warmer temp) has a bowl of water accessible to him, reptile carpet, and other little rocks and pieces of wood to play on. he has been pooping normally, i give him a bath at least once a week, and he is also a very picky eater but have been having better luck with earthworms, mustard greens, and blueberries which is dusted in vitamins and calcium supplements. i've let him out to roam around plenty, handled him, and recently took him to a specialist and made some changes to his environment and food (put tin foil on his cage amongst a couple of other things) and no matter what i do it is still going on. i also have a background for him but not on all sides of his cage, so him seeing his reflection may be a possibility but he isnt puffing his beard or anything.

the vet said he is healthy, but it has gotten to the point where he is banging his head on the side of the cage, clawing constantly and trying to get out and i can't really do anything/focus on anything because he is so loud, and i'm afraid he is going to hurt himself. the vet also speculated that he may be lonely and wants to mate. does he need to be in a bigger environment with more beardies? i am afraid i am not giving him what he needs, and also i do not think i can handle all this crashing and thrashing 24/7. he is even disturbing my sleep and waking me up. i've been dealing with this now for about 4 months and i am so over it.

i live in portland oregon and if i were to rehome him, i would want it to be with the right people but i am not sure how to go about looking. any suggestions? thank you.

 

[VerriKerri]

Hello there!

I am no expert but I wanted to give you some tips based on what I have learned here on this forum for several years. Do you have a UVB lamp in the tank for him? Also I see you said he has a water bowl in the viv and it's not recommended for them to have water in the tank as it can raise the humidity level. What is his staple feeder insect? I saw he is eating earthworms which is okay but not a sustainable source for a staple for beardies.


My beardie does this frequently when she is hungry and when she can see her reflection so putting the background all the way around the sides might help. Did your vet check to make sure you have a male beardie? Could be you have a female who is scratching and trying to burrow to lay?

I'm curious, what is the tin foil in the cage for?

If you do think you need to re-home we have a thread here where you could find someone in your area.

 

[laserladybug]

yes the lamp that is in his cage provides UVB light. and yes the vet did check to make sure he is male. also, i did not previously have a water dish in his cage and would only mist and bathe him, and my vet who is a beardy specialist said that he should have access to a water dish.

i used to feed him mealworms and super worms but i guess the calcium ratio is more ideal with earth worms. he is not eating very much, but is eating better with the earth worms.

 

[VerriKerri]

I would try feeding him something different. I don't think earthworms are a good staple for bearded dragons. Have you tried caliworms/phoenix worms or dubia roaches? Sometimes the combination lamps don't give off enough UVB so that could be the reason he isn't eating well. Also try the covering sides with a background. He could be seeing himself which can be stressful.

Does he not sleep at night when the lights go out? How many hours of light is he getting?

 

[kingofnobbys]

I concur, earthworms aren't recommended as a staple feeder for beardies . Never heard of anyone using them as a staple live feeder insect for beardies, I recommend silkworms , calci-gents (BSF maggots), dusted gutloaded crickets or roaches, and superworms as a treat.

Beardies require very high levels of UVA ( enhances activity and apetite ) and UVB ( necessary for metabolisation of dietary Ca and formation of VitD ) , a toasty basking spot about 40oC , AND LONG periods to bask ( lights on for at least 15 HOURS PER DAY ).

Your UV source must provide a UVI > 14 WHERE THE BEARDIE BASKS , UVA > 30% and UVB 10 - 12%.

MVBs like your's need to replaced every 12 months. ( keepers who use MVBs here replace them every 6 months unless they have a uv meter which indicates their globe is still working properly.)



At 18 mnths your beardie is still not fully grown, so at least one live insect meal per day , two per day is better.

NO WATER DISH IN TANK.

Beardies are not good at sharing enclosures, they are solitary animals only coming together to mate, and very territorial,they DON'T NEED A ENCLOSURE MATE , a larger tank about 4ft x 2ft footprint is the standard here (Australia) for adult beardies.

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. How are you taking the temps? Some of those mvb bother the dragon for one reason or another. Like it may bother his eyes example. Also how did the vet check his sex? I had a" male"for 5 years until the other day when she laid eggs. Doing the exact thing your beardie is. Drove us nuts the minute she was put in her tank scratching, banging in to the glass trying to jump out constantly. Then the other day she was out running around and I happened to look over laying eggs!! Shocked the crap out of us. So yeah you may want to get a lay box ready just in case.

 

[diamc]

I was wondering too what type of thermometer you're using. A temp of 110 is really too high for a beardie that is 1 1/2 yrs old so he may be reacting to the high temps and trying to escape them. A basking temp of 110 is for a very little beardie.

Also, is the MVB a 125 or 160 watt? DIfferent wattages have different height requirements. What is the distance that you have the MVB to your beardie while in his basking spot now?