Beardie has been black bearding for hours for no reason

[erikadickson]

Milo has been black bearding today for more than 3 hours. He was in his hide and then I put some greens in his cage for him to eat. He ate some and then randomly started black bearding (but not puffing or hissing or anything). He's been sitting in the same exact spot for the 3 hours that he's been doing it. His lights and temps are fine so I'm not sure why! He's 11 months old but small for his age. No other weird symptoms- he's been very active and normal, has been eating a lot and pooping a lot. Also, his whole entire beard isn't black. The area closest to his mouth is white, and only the bottom is black. I've noticed that he's been puffing his beard lately but assumed he was just stretching it since he looks like he is going to shed soon. Anyone know what's going on?

 

[CooperDragon]

Has he been acting aggressively? Black bearding, puffing beard out, and head bobbing are common as they reach maturity.

 

[erikadickson]

No he hasn't been aggressive at all! He's only black bearded one other time (it was last week) and it was because I accidentally scared him. But it's good to know that it's normal with aging! I'll keep an eye on it though

 

[CooperDragon]

I remember that. It could be the shedding that has him irritated or he could be hitting his teenage years, although the aggressive behavior usually comes with that. Just keep an eye on him and let me know if you see any other abnormal behavior like lethargy or lack of appetite. Since he's acting normally and is active he is probably OK and just in a mood, that's my guess.

 

[erikadickson]

Okay thank you so much! He's still sitting in the same spot with the black beard and it's been almost 6 hours

 

[CooperDragon]

Can you post a photo of him? 6 hours in the same spot with a black beard doesn't sound right. He isn't acting lethargic, just sitting in the same place?

 

[erikadickson]

Exactly- not lethargic just sitting in the same spot. He's been alert with his head up. Thankfully he finally stopped black bearding a few minutes ago and moved onto his log where he likes to sleep (it's almost bedtime here). But we'll see how he is tomorrow!

 

[CooperDragon]

OK good to hear. Please keep me posted on him =)

 

[erikadickson]

Thanks! He seems perfectly fine today thankfully.

 

[erikadickson]

Is hiccuping normal..? I was sitting near his cage and all of a sudden he started puffing his beard and doing a sort of hiccuping thing, and then started licking the way he does when I drop water on his snout. Not sure if I'm being super paranoid or if it's actually something worth worrying about

 

[CooperDragon]

How far after mealtime was it? I see them burp like that once in a while but just figure it's a burp.

 

[erikadickson]

I fed him around 2pm and he was doing this at 8pm it freaked me out a bit as I've never seen him do this before but he stopped!

 

[CooperDragon]

Still may just have been a burp. Is his beard still back to normal color?

 

[erikadickson]

Yes his beard has remained his normal color! Something else I noticed today when I took him out of his cage today is that there was some blackness on his back. It was like something was on it. At first I thought he may have gotten poo on his back somehow, but there's no poo in his cage so I'm really not sure what it is. I'm going to give him a bath tomorrow and see if it comes off. It's black and it's three dimensional-- it's not just like his scales are black, they're raised. It's hard to explain LOL but I'll see if it comes off and if not I will post pictures.

 

[CooperDragon]

Perhaps he picked up some schmuck while roaming around?