Can You Guys Talk About Male Puberty Please?

[Roja]

My 10 month old has stopped eating almost all together about 10 days ago.. he's picked at a few things here and there but hardly anything. He doesn't seem to be getting skinny for some strange reason though. He's gotten completely black (down even to his belly) a few times in the past week and has started to puff up his beard HUGE.. bigger than I've ever seen.

He also tries to leap at the top of his glass tank and slides down and will jump at it again.. I almost think he see's his reflection and is attacking it.

He started refusing crickets about a month ago and would only eat supers and wax's... now he won't eat supers. I just got my first order of rusty red roaches and waiting to see if he'll go for them.

He's still drinking water, but wont eat his salad anymore either.

I tried searching in the board archive to see what info there is on puberty, but its only random posts and I don't have a clear idea.

Is this around the age that this will happen? Does this even sound like puberty? Anything else you think it could be?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Gail]

Actually, it sounds more like breeding behavior then puberty. During puberty they can get testy with people and may like to be handled much be should still eat normal, it usually happen around 5-6 months old.
During breeding season, males only have one thing on their mind and its not eating. He is a little young but male can breed as young as 6 months. You might try covering the back and sides of his tank to reduce reflection and if he gets real crazy, let him out to run off some steam. If he keeps refusing food or noticeably loses weight, a vet visit would be good to rule out parasites.

 

[Roja]

Actually, it sounds more like breeding behavior then puberty. During puberty they can get testy with people and may like to be handled much be should still eat normal, it usually happen around 5-6 months old.
During breeding season, males only have one thing on their mind and its not eating. He is a little young but male can breed as young as 6 months. You might try covering the back and sides of his tank to reduce reflection and if he gets real crazy, let him out to run off some steam. If he keeps refusing food or noticeably loses weight, a vet visit would be good to rule out parasites.

So they exhibit these behaviors during "mating season" even if they've never been around a female? how long does it last? He's going on 2.5 weeks without eating but a bite here and a bite there...

 

[Gail]

yep, they don't need a female around to act this way, it can last a couple weeks to a couple months. Did you try covering the cage sides at all?

 

[Roja]

yep, they don't need a female around to act this way, it can last a couple weeks to a couple months. Did you try covering the cage sides at all?

I've got terrarium backing on one (desert scene) and the back and other side is covered by linen cloth. I've tried dark fabric, light fabric... the reflection issue seems to be the same regardless of what I hang. I'm thinking about putting it on the inside somehow..

I searched for some kind of backing online, and haven't found anything. I was thinking about maybe trying the frosted glass stuff you can put on windows to see if that helps cut down the glare.

But he's also still in the 3' X 1' X 18" tank and I really think I need to build him a bigger one. I'll do it with wood when I do.

 

[Gail]

You can get aquarium backing at a pet store and tape it to the inside.

 

[Toyguy]

This sounds almost exactly like Dash's recent behavior. I was chalking it up to a semi-brumation after the vet gave him a clean bill of health, but maybe it's the ol' sex drive!

He goes absolutely bonkers if I leave the screen top pulled back a little and he can see himself in the fluorescent reflector. Same behavior as yours - the blackest beard I ever saw on him and I didn't know he had enough skin to puff it out that much! Then he leaps for the cage top, hits the floor and goes into this wild head bobbing display.

I'll be this is what it is, the more I write about it.