I think my Dragon is going CRAZY.. any thoughts?

[Jam]

Ok, so I noticed a few weeks ago that his behavior has changed and I just figured it was because he was shedding. Well I don't know, he is really trippin now. He is my first dragon, he was hatched on 1/12/14 so he is still a babe and I don't know what is up with him.
A few weeks ago he was doing this side snake robotic dance, then he was acting like he was seeing things ( that I couldn't see) then he was going after his food that was in front of him in a different direction. Like he really struck his tongue in the wrong direction.
This morning I feed him mealworms dusted with VC in a plastic container and he ate them and then about a minute later I hear this sound and come back to check on what the noise is and it's him. I wanted to upload videos from a few weeks ago but for some reason youtube will not accept my iphone videos via my laptop and so I had already removed them from my phone so ehh....

I caught Happy (my dragon) just now doing what ever this is needless to say he does not and I mean does not like to see my camera out. I swear I think I have a strange dragon. Does anyone know what in the world is going on ? Is this normal?



http://youtu.be/NICj6e4jH38

http://youtu.be/2zZkkQ7-5j0

I am new to this forum, hopefully I am doing this right.


Thanks in Advance

 

[CooperDragon]

It looks like he's breathing hard, but no black beard or other signs of stress that I can tell. How are the temps in the tank? What kind of lighting to you have set up for him?

 

[Jam]

Yeah he is breathing hard because he is going crazy on the plastic container and typically I have to check to see if he is breathing because he is super calm. I have three main lights, basking, uvb and night heat bulb. Sometimes I put the 2nd basking light on in the morning if its really cold in the house. His tank is normally between 95 to 105 on the therm and his cool out reads at 80. He never goes into his hide area but he does drink water from his bowl. I have seen him perched and opening his mouth a few times here and there but he does not do that too often. His tank is in the living room so I do see him alot.

He has those red brown and green pellets (24/7) which he likes alot. I mist him twice daily. bath once a week because it stresses him out to be handled. He eats the mealworms, waxworms, crickets, dubias, ambrosia apple slivers, carrot slivers in rotations. He will NOT eat green veggies at all! I try to go easy on both the mealworms and waxworms because the waxworms blow his tummy up and it makes me worry about his back legs and the mealworms because I keep reading different things about them and digestion.
His breathing is heavy on this video because of what he is doing and that is what I am trying to understand, why is he doing it and all his other recent strange stuff. My gut says it was the last batch of Dubias I gave him, he was doing the rubbing on grapevine & carpet stuff before them because of his shed but everything else seems to have been after those dubias. I bought them from a different place this time.


I gave him a bath yesterday and he was 1000% pissed at me, so much he showed me black beard and I have never ever seen that before. He had poop on his back foot and I had to get it off and he was done with me. Also, instead of him being more comfortable with me he is super jumpy. I have had him since 2/14/14 and he was good with me, even would sleep on me but it changed. I don't know, too much stuff and I have no clue what it really is. It's starting to give me anxiety.

 

[Taterbug]

In the videos, it looks like he is trying to dig in that cup. You could consider giving him a dig box. He sounds like he is full if energy.

How much are you feeding him? Is it possible he is still hungry and looking for more dubia?
How are you measuring temps?
Are you dusting all your feeders with calcium?

Waxworms are pretty fatty, it's best to limit them for that reason. Mealworms can cause digestion problems so they should be avoided if possible. Crickets and roaches make a good diet, with wax worms and other worms thrown in occasionally. You will want to offer greens everyday even if he doesn't eat them. Try different options as the veggies you are offering are not the best in regards to calcium content. If he doesn't like green color try butternut squash or spaghetti squash, they are orange/yellow and a better options than fruit or carrots.

 

[Jam]

Yes, I believe he is full of energy as well. Whenever I do handle him (past month or so) he is too quick for me. Ok a dig box with what in it, sand? or something else?
I feed him twice a day and I have the temp readers that give degree & humidity on seperate dials. I wanted to get the digital temp readers but worker at petsmart told me they weren't good.
I only dust one day of food as I was told they don't need it every single meal.

He actually only eats the green pellets in his bowl and will only touch the brown and red if its the only thing left. So I don't think it's the color green, I also have that bag of dehydrated veggies that you add water to and he wont touch that stuff at all.

He loves the dubia but they are pricey to have as an everyday feeder, and the crickets he enjoys. I don't like the smell of the greens, and maybe that is what was the issue for him as well. I will go grab some more today but those lights really get them to smelling up the place, uggh I hate the smell of collard, mustard & Kale greens! (my issue not dragons I know)

What about the little flight less flies? I think he might be entertained with those (lol) not sure of the nutrients but it might be good as a variety.

Alright, I will switch things up and see what results. Hopefully his weird behavior (or what I think is weird) will change back to norm.. Thank you!

 

[Taterbug]

It's worth investing in a digital thermometer (accurite is an affordable and reliable brand, they have a probe so you can measure at a specific area) or an IR temp gun. The dial thermometers are relatively inaccurate and only measure the temps at the glass, not on the basking spot. It will help you manage your temps better for sure, the dials could be pretty far off. Sometimes digging and glass dancing is related to trying to escape the heat.

A dig box can have something like alfalfa pellets, coco coir, or millet seed. Some folks use dried dandelion greens or shredded paper too. Just keep an eye that he is digging in and not eating whatever you choose.

Dubia are pricey to buy, but easy to breed if you feel up to it. You can also order some other buggies online for variety, Phoenix worms, silk worms, hornworms etc. The fruit flies are probably too small, dragons don't care to eat things they don't feel are worth the effort. Some people let the Phoenix worms pupate into flies and their dragons seem to enjoy chasing them, I've never tried it.

Personally I dust almost all the bugs I feed but some people don't and it doesn't seem to cause a big problem. The dust is to balance the calciumhosphorus ratio, and since insects are generally poor it doesn't make sense to me to not do all of them.

I can't hardly smell greens you must have a good nose. If they are rancid he won't eat them, they should be fresh enough that you would eat them (if you were so inclined).

I'm not sure if my suggestions will change anything, but it's what I'd check/consider if my dragon was acting up.

He's pretty cute btw :3

 

[Drache613]

Moved by Moderator from General to Enclosures

 

[hannahs283]

I would try switching to a non-clear feeding dish. Maybe the sight of the flooring (looks like you have carpet) isn't matching up with the feel of the plastic. Or perhaps he's seeing his shadow?
I'm not an expert at dragons by any means but my cat used to do something very similar when I fed her from a clear dish. I changed to a white one and the behavior stopped. Maybe its that simple?

Good luck! c:

 

[diamc]

Was there anything in the feeding dish for him to eat when he was in it? To me, it looks like he wants some feeders. Also looks like there might be some calcium in the plastic dish or underneath it that he was trying to get to. If I put calcium on a slate tile in my female's tank, she will scratch a little and then tip her head like yours was doing to try to get to it so she can lick it up.