Dark Stress Lines - Baby

[Killjoy01]

My baby beardie (3ish months) has had extremely dark stress lines for about 3 days now,

, (these pictures barely do it justice) nothing has changed whatsoever besides now giving her live crickets and taking away her water bowl in favor of a drip/misting. The only times ive seen these lines lighten even a little bit is when shes sleeping and thats not to say that they're not still there. Should i give her her water bowl back? I cant take her off live food because now she wont eat anything thats not moving besides dried tomatoes, please help!

 

[EllenD]

She's perfectly fine...And do not ever take away her live food, she needs it! And no, she needs no water bowl at all in her tank unless she actively drinks from it, which most don't. Actually with babies and juveniles it's typically dangerous to have a container of water in their tanks because they end up falling asleep in it and then they can actually die from being chilled. Dripping water on her snout several times a day to drink is a good practice to get into, as most beardies will not drink from a bowl or a bath, and contrary to popular belief, they do not ever absorb hydration when in a bath unless they actively drink the water. Hydration has to go in through their mouths.

Beardies darken themselves to absorb heat, and some beardies have more markings on their bellies than others, some have none, some have a lot. They have been called "stress marks" or "stress lines" forever, but most people are now believing that they are just markings like they have on the rest of their bodies and have nothing to do with stress at all. Notice it's not just his belly getting darker, it's his entire body coloring that gets extremely dark. He's trying to absorb more heat, as in the desert they attract more sunlight by darkening, just like a dark colored shirt. The only traits you need to watch that indicate illness or discomfort are their beards/necks/bellies turning pitch black (black bearding), or if their actual behavior changes, like they lose their appetites or become lethargic, they vomit, have diarrhea, etc. Those markings on her belly will darken and lighten with the rest of her body when she's trying to heat up and cool down...I would however make sure that you have the 3 major temperatures inside her enclosure within the correct ranges (Basking Spot, Hot Side Ambient, Cool Side Ambient), and that you're using only a digital probe thermometer or a temperature gun to measure temps, please buy a $10 digital probe thermometer at Petco or PetSmart if you don't have one, as those stick-on thermometers are junk and can be off by up to 20 degrees! And make sure you have a large enough enclosure to develop a correct Temperature gradient across the tank.

 

[Savora]

Your baby is perfectly fine As Ellen said, she probably was just thirsty for more light. I find that my beardie, Cactus, gets dark when she's basking. She also gets dark when the temps inside her tank aren't what she wants them to be--like, if her basking spot is at 110 (she prefers between 100-105).

It's weird. Whenever I bring her out and about, like to the vet, she lightens up in color. You'd think she'd be a stressed beardie going out like that. She's beautiful when she's light though, so I'm not complaining :lol: Maybe she knows she's pretty.

I like your username, by the way!