learnt behavior: sleeping at basking spot?

[ChileanTaco]

Usually, Taco sleeps in a deep cave he dug himself between an aloe vera plant, the climbing background and a stone.
Once in a while (I'd say once in 7 - 14 days) however my dragon seems to sleep on purpose at his basking spot.
He's not "trapped" by suddenly the light being turned off (timer turns off UV tube -> 20 minutes later basking lamp -> 15 minutes later second basking lamp in order to simulate sunset, after that I turn off the light in the room, and then it goes on in the opposite direction in the morning) and it's not that he falls asleep while the light is still on. Looks to me like he stays there once in a while as this offers him an early start in the day

Have you also observed your dragon doing this?

 

[xp29]

Usually, Taco sleeps in a deep cave he dug himself between an aloe vera plant, the climbing background and a stone.
Once in a while (I'd say once in 7 - 14 days) however my dragon seems to sleep on purpose at his basking spot.
He's not "trapped" by suddenly the light being turned off (timer turns off UV tube -> 20 minutes later basking lamp -> 15 minutes later second basking lamp in order to simulate sunset, after that I turn off the light in the room, and then it goes on in the opposite direction in the morning) and it's not that he falls asleep while the light is still on. Looks to me like he stays there once in a while as this offers him an early start in the day

Have you also observed your dragon doing this?

Mine all have beds and get tucked in every night so unless they get disturbed they are always on their beds

 

[ChileanTaco]

@xp29
Now I want to see a photo - at least one

Taco looks like having done only a short brumation (his first), now he's up under the basking lamp(s), the last one turns off in 10 minutes, he knows the schedule... still up there. Usually this means tomorrow he's super active.
Every day, he wakes up on his own about 1 hour before the first light in the room is turned on (the "normal" light in the room, then comes basking lamp Nr. 1, Nr. 2, UV).

 

[xp29]

@xp29
Now I want to see a photo - at least one

Taco looks like having done only a short brumation (his first), now he's up under the basking lamp(s), the last one turns off in 10 minutes, he knows the schedule... still up there. Usually this means tomorrow he's super active.
Every day, he wakes up on his own about 1 hour before the first light in the room is turned on (the "normal" light in the room, then comes basking lamp Nr. 1, Nr. 2, UV).

Sinatra said he was pretending to be a turtle lol. Personally I think he partied a lil to hard the night before

 

[ChileanTaco]

Thanks for the photos

As predicted from when he did the same, he stayed up there at the basking spot for the night and now is quite active even during the morning.
(On most of the days, he sleeps in his cave, and then slowly comes out on the slope that leads down to his cave, warming up there until he fully climbs out and up the branch or the wall. On some days, he sleeps in a slightly elevated hide.)

 

[NickAVD]

Sinatra said he was pretending to be a turtle lol. Personally I think he partied a lil to hard the night before

So cool! How did you manage to train them to sleep in the bed? mine will sleep in the most uncomfortable position, I feel sorry for him and sometimes I move him when he sleeps to a more suitable place so that he does not fall in his sleep.

 

[xp29]

So cool! How did you manage to train them to sleep in the bed? mine will sleep in the most uncomfortable position, I feel sorry for him and sometimes I move him when he sleeps to a more suitable place so that he does not fall in his sleep.

Mine are our with me every evening and i put them in the beds when i put them back. Unless they get to warm they stay. Usually if for some reason i don't have them out, if their beds are in there they'll get in them on their own.

 

[ChileanTaco]

Totally different than my Taco's sleeping habits, but I think totally fine (and cute )

My Taco usually goes into his favorite hide behind the aloe vera plant as soon as the first lamp turns off, when the second one turns off I can be pretty sure he goes in there, and if he wants to stay at the basking spot sometimes, I'm fine with that - it's his decision (it won't harm him in any way, the place where he sits is twice as wide as his body, I don't have to worry he will fall, and he isn't "trapped" there like with lights suddenly turning off).

(All the nights after, he was again down in his hide for sleeping, and so he is right now - first lamp turned off, he moved down there.)

My Taco is out with me (or with my husband) when he wants and as long as he wants, but not every day. Due to the size of the enclosure, and as it opens from the top and I'm quite a short person, I can only take him from elevated positions (technically, I could get him from everywhere in an emergency, but then I would have to remove the complete top of the enclosure, lamps and all). When he wants out, which can be multiple times a day or sometimes just once per week, he climbs up to an elevated area, looks at me, stretches - and then I open the lid, put my hands in and he climbs up. Well learned Usually, after 10 - 30 minutes, he wants back. Happened to me sometimes I wanted to show him on Skype, but even before the other person was online... Taco had already wanted "back home" or was just trying to get me putting him in.

 

[ChileanTaco]

Him down in the cave where he usually sleeps in one of the two positions:
The left photo actually shows him when he was younger, but he dug out the cave more so he still fits in in this position. The right photo was taken by me just a few minutes ago.

 

[Chris.]

Well Luis varies his sleeping positions also. Some days he sleeps on a branch close to his basking spot and is right in the beam shortly after it turns on. Sometimes he will sleep on the cool side on a piece of bark and won't bask until mid day...
Most days he will sleep in an elevated spot right in the middle though. He never sleeps down on the ground, he always climbs up (unless he sleeps in his cave which he hasn't done since brumation).

 

[ChileanTaco]

That's interesting
Taco is for sure a "cave-sleeper", either down there (I'd say: 5 - 6 out of 7 days) or in a slightly (10 cm above ground) elevated cave (about 1 day per week). He prefers spaces where he fits in very tight. He for sure sees the cave as his burrow. I had to add a bit of sand a few weeks ago, and he was watching me especially all the time when I filled sand in around the area of the cave - that I'm not destroying it He immediately tested his cave after I was done - yep, fine, still there
He's now done with brumation for sure - he's running, jumping, eating, pooping, observing anything, so much more energy than before, and as it should be, hadn't lost any weight (he weighs 473 g now at 10 months age) - and still, as before, prefers to sleep down there.

He would not sleep on the open ground, or easily visible on any other surface than his basking spot (about 1 - 2 days per 14 days). Other than for the basking spot, for sleeping he wants something that's enclosed on 4 - 5 sides of 6, so a cave, or a place that's open on the front and side.
Btw.: Sometimes not basking until midday is also something that he does. It's rare, but it happens.

In nature they're semi-aboreal. This could explain why some dragons always sleep on an elevated spot.
I've also read that in nature, when they sleep in cracks between stones or in natural "walls" on the side of hills, they slip in and slightly puff up.