Beardie not eating ?

[JadeB2000]

Hello! Had my beardie for 9 days. He was doing so well with me. But after I put him in a deeper bucket to clean his tank yesterday, he’s not being eating his meal worms which are usually his favourite! I even left some in his cage and he hasn’t touched them. Same thing this morning. He was very restless. Running away more than usual while trying to pick him up. Not sitting in his feeding bin like he usually does. Running up my arms instead of sitting in my hand. Could this behaviour just be stressed ? Will he calm down? How can I help him. His tail is also lighter than his body—I’ve heard this is a sign of shedding? Could this be contributing? Please help! Thanks!

 

[CooperDragon]

It could be stress, but my first guess is that he's restless due to an oncoming shed. Since you've identified the lighter color skin patches, I'll bet that's what has him fired up. Loss of interest in food is also common during sheds. Once he works through the shed, his appetite and normal behavior is likely to return. Shedding is pretty frequent when they are young, but will get less frequent and patchier (rather than full body at once) as he gets older.

 

[CooperDragon]

Moved by moderator from General Discussion to behavior.