Dragon beards in the morning while basking

[Miller Time]

Lloyd - my Dragon is about 5-6 months old, and I've never seen him (assuming male..) beard until a few weeks ago. I have his UV and heat lamps on a timer and they come on at 6am. I usually get up about 10-15 minutes before that so I often see him getting started in the morning. Over the last few weeks I've noticed several times that not long after moving from his sleep spot (a rediculous position of straight up against the back wall) to the basking spot, he will flush his beard out several times. He just lays there moving his head around and every now and then he puffs it out real quick then draws it back in slowly.

I'm not really worried about it since he doesn't seem to be reacting to anything around, just curious if that was common or if anyone knew why he might act that way? I like to think he's still sleepy and trying to scare the light away..

 

[diamc]

The behavior is normal, mine do it in the morning all the time. Perhaps they're trying to stretch out their beards so they have more room for the food. They also do it on & off throughout the day when their heads are shedding. So, no worries. :wink:

 

[mpal]

Spike (7-8 months) will sometimes puff his beard in the morning as well. After making his way out of his blanket, I catch him flaring on his basking spot sometimes. It's funny because when I catch him, I'll start speaking to him and he'll slowly retract his beard. Or I'll pet him and stroke his beard and he'll just retract it. I just think sometimes he wakes up in a mood and needs to be comforted.