How to deal with beardie meltdowns?

[solei]

I originally posted this in behavior, because it seemed more fitting, but I haven't gotten any responses, plus the situation has become a bit more urgent than before. Let me know if I shouldn't repost my own topics, I really don't want to do anything wrong!
I have a 3 y.o. female beardie who is extremely sensitive to barometric pressure. (i make fun of her, but i do the exact same things she does ?) Some of her symptoms, aka weird behaviors include:
- Running full-speed across the length of her tank, hitting her face on the glass
- Pooping more frequently (pooping every day in random places (including my furniture) rather than every other day in the same spot as always)
- Scratching frantically and trying to jump down whenever she’s held
- Sprinting away from people when let down (or, when jumping from a chair or someone’s hands)
- Being very light-colored - i don’t know if that’s connected, but it’s very interesting (she’s most often light colored when inside her tank)
- Trashing her tank - pushing objects around, knocking down her hammock, getting poop everywhere
- Just overall being more alert, anxious, and scratchy than usual.

What do I do about this?? The tip-of-her-nose scale is already bent from running into glass, and I don’t want her to be uncontrollable and stressed whenever the weather gets colder.

 

[KarrieRee]

What is the UVB you are using ? coil or tube? where in the tank is it? Basking temps what are they and how are you taking them? NO stick ons please --- what is the humidity level in the tank and how are you taking it?

 

[solei]

What is the UVB you are using ? coil or tube? where in the tank is it? Basking temps what are they and how are you taking them? NO stick ons please --- what is the humidity level in the tank and how are you taking it?

UVB is Reptisun 10.0 coil (I know I shouldn't use coil UVBs, but I'm working on getting a new tank for her that can use tube UVB and basking lights). UVB is on the "cooler" side, away from the heater - where she spends most of her time. Basking temps are 99F under the heater and 91 under the UVB. She has a hide that's probably around 80. I'm taking temps with an infrared thermometer gun. I'll admit I'm not fully caught up on humidity - I'm still using stick ons. However, we live in a VERY dry place, so I know she's not freaking out because of a humidity related respiratory illness. Like I said, My theory is that she's either freaking out due to barometric pressure, new environments, or because she's about to poop (which she does more often when cold fronts come in anyways). Just for the record, (this might be related), she mostly eats collard greens and green beans, with freeze-dried mealworms, grasshoppers, and crickets; and sometimes live mealworms. She isn't freaked out all the time, which is weird - most of the time she's pretty chill and passive.

 

[KarrieRee]

The coil UVB needs to be replaced ASAP-- at this point shes getting slim to no UVB- too dry of environment can cause RI's-- what is the humidity in the tank--- I would not wait to replace the UVB- what size tank do you have now?

 

[CooperDragon]

Sometimes they do get really agitated when they need to poop, especially when in an enclosure. It may be possible to develop a routine to let her out of the enclosure and give her a spot to poop that is easy to clean (tile or vinyl flooring, easy to clean doormat/carpet etc). If you give her access to the area on a regular basis at around the same time, she may learn that's the spot to go. It's not a perfect solution and can take some time to develop, but it may be worth a shot.

They also tend to go through energetic phases in which they are more active and restless. When this happens I usually just try to provide as much time out of the enclosure as possible so they can burn off some energy running around and exploring.

While this can also be a response to something in the enclosure causing them distress (temps, lighting, space, sanitization, etc) as mentioned earlier, it's not necessarily an indication of a problem.