Crazy beardie scratching (not on glass)

[stinkysmommy]

My male beardie scratches and rubs his face/tries to burrow (?) into a particular decoration we'd added to his tank. It's a National Geographic Geode mini cave, and the outside of it is grey and rocky-looking. That's where he tries to dig.
Here is a video of it (yes, I'm aware he's looking a little dehydrated. He hasn't been a very good eater lately. I'm doing all I can to fix him up.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKgLzsd4AQ0

Does anyone know what's going on? Should I remove the decoration from the tank? I'm not sure whether he likes it or dislikes it.

 

[ofcourseilikepasta]

Well that's odd... Can't say I've ever seen that before. He doesn't really appear to be upset though. Gary does similar things like that when he wants to hide his face and sleep.

I'm going to follow this post because I'm very curious of what other might think this is.

Good luck!

 

[stinkysmommy]

Well that's odd... Can't say I've ever seen that before. He doesn't really appear to be upset though. Gary does similar things like that when he wants to hide his face and sleep.

I'm going to follow this post because I'm very curious of what other might think this is.

Good luck!

Right? I thought he was trying to hide his face as well, but after I stopped filming he got up and went back to his log!
By the way I LOVE your posts, Gary is an absolute sweetheart

 

[stinkysmommy]

Does anyone know anything that could be helpful? Even if this isn't distressed behavior, I'd still like to know what he's doing :lol:

 

[CooperDragon]

I'm not sure what's going on in his head either, but I have some guesses. It could be a nice rough area that he is rubbing his face on to help with an itch or shed. I see them do similar on bark and carpet. He could also want to burrow but I'm not sure why he'd choose to burrow into something that looks like a rock. It may be worth putting in some scraps of fleece for him to dig around in so he can burrow down a bit and see if that satisfies him.

 

[stinkysmommy]

I'm not sure what's going on in his head either, but I have some guesses. It could be a nice rough area that he is rubbing his face on to help with an itch or shed. I see them do similar on bark and carpet. He could also want to burrow but I'm not sure why he'd choose to burrow into something that looks like a rock. It may be worth putting in some scraps of fleece for him to dig around in so he can burrow down a bit and see if that satisfies him.

Hmm he could be! He does a lot of scratching on it with his claws though. I'll definitely try out that fleece idea! Thank you so much

 

[stinkysmommy]

Bump!
I've taken the decoration out of the tank for the last week and he hasn't displayed the behavior again, or anything like it. Does no one have any idea what's going on yet :lol: ? I've put hours into searching the web for an answer but I've yet to find anything plausible.

 

[stinkysmommy]

Does anyone have any idea what this could be yet?
It's been at least a month and he hasn't quit this behavior unless we've taken out the decoration!!! Has your beardie ever done this before ?

 

[BabylonsMommy]

When my guy, Babylon does this, he usually wants to cuddle. I'll pick him up and lay him on my chest with his head covered and he will fall asleep. Is he still doing it? I'm curious too

 

[Carmalitaaa]

Maybe it was a shed spot at the tip on its snout that it needed help with? Or it simply didn't like the decoration. Either way I would have suggested to remove it to prevent abrasions

 

[Skipper7]

Hey there (If you see this),

I've seen this somewhere before. It was actually with the same exact decoration. There are minerals/mineral salts in the rock, and the beardie can sense them one way or another. Try soaking the rock in vinegar to leach them out.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Hey there (If you see this),

I've seen this somewhere before. It was actually with the same exact decoration. There are minerals/mineral salts in the rock, and the beardie can sense them one way or another. Try soaking the rock in vinegar to leach them out.

Most likely Ca and Mg , very common in rocks and clays. Many animals harvest these minerals by eating the chewed up / scratched rock and clay.