Darkens while basking

[Chirple]

Hello !

I've been looking this up and have been finding conflicting information.

When he is basking, his scales on top of him turn pretty dark. When he's out to play or asleep, he gets much lighter. Is this normal ? I've heard it is to better absorb heat and that it is normal, but I've heard other things, too.

Thank you.

 

[Luthien]

If your beardie is still eating, drinking, sleeping, going to the bathroom as normal and only goes darker while basking then yes it's just because he's absorbing more heat. We all know that black attracts heat so turning darker attracts it for beardies.

What temps do you have his tank at? Turning darker like that tells me he's not getting enough heat.

 

[Chirple]

Thank you !

I actually discovered the problem - he was seeing his reflection and was stressed by it. I put paper towels up on his walls and now he stays a light color all the time. He's being treated for parasites, so I didn't want to put a permanent background in the tank - but after watching him, I realised he *can* see himself in the glass and felt threatened by his terrifying self. Now he doesn't darken, the light stress marks are gone, and he seems more relaxed.

 

[Luthien]

That's awesome news!

Ya these little guys don't like "other beardies" around their homes, even if it's only their reflection Crazy critters. Glad everything worked out for you!