My husband and I have had our first bearded dragon for just about 2 months now and he has grown so much since we brought him/her home! I noticed that Norbert has a sort of leopard print pattern on his belly. I have been reading that they can be stress spots. Our beardie though does not seem stressed, so I m thinking it is just his pattern, can anyone confirm this? Does anyone else have a dragon that just always has a leopard print belly? I have never seen Norbert's any other way.
Here is some info about him:
Approx. 3 months old
8" nose to tail
20 gal long enclosure with all slate tile
about 94-96F ambient air on hot side
Basking spot 100-110 F
about 82F ambient on cool side
75 Watt basking bulb (purchased at a reptile shop, cannot recall the brand)
Zilla 150 UVB bulb (plan on switching to the tube UVB fixture soon when we get a 60+ gallon enclousure)
Eats dubia roaches regularly and loves mustard greens
Basking/eating behavior is normal and he is active
Poops regularly (every day, or at least 5 times a week)
Two climbing branches running from upper hammock (hot side) to cool floor corner
Hidey cave on cool side
Water dish available 24/7
It sounds like stress marks to me..other than changing the uvb light, I cant think of anything else that could be wrong. Some get stressed by seeing their reflection in the glass,,,do you have a background on his tank? You could try covering up the sides too and see if that helps.
We have a desert background on the sides and back. He never really glass surfs unless he is getting situated to go to the bathroom, I can always tell his poop stance when his hands are propped on the glass haha. He is kept in the back corner of our living room, only my husband and I live in the house, no kids or other pets, and our beardie can really only see us if we are on the couch or walking down the hall. Here is the best most recent belly photo I have of him, the photo is about 3-4weeks old, we used newspaper before getting the backdrop. I just assumed it was his pattern. I looked through all the pics I have since his first day home and he has always had spots. Hmm.