Male Bearded Dragon Agression need help!

[jbrown5056]

My male beardie draco is a little over a year and a half years old everything was fine he wanted to be handed all the time and never was aggressive but then i adopted two female beadies and also got him a new enclosure (4x2x2) his enclosure is stacked on top of the females. I noticed him head bobbing fast and then slow a few times and his beard was black witch i knew he could do but he never did before so i just thought he sensed the females presence maybe? So for a while it was fine i would take him out and he still loved to be handled and would come right up on my hand but as the months progressed he started head bobbing and black beard when i tried to take him out so i would let him calm down and try again in a little while and everything was fine but recently whenever i try to handle him he dose the same head bobbing but now he actually jumps and tries to bite me it docent hurt bad but it is making everything extremely difficult to even change his water dish...what happened to the beardie who loved to be handled..is this territorial or is just because of the females?

additional info
uvb: 34" T-5 HO Fixture *High Output* with ARCADIA D3+ 12% HO Bulb
Temp: Cool side around 80-85 hot side around 90 with a basking spot of about 100-105
Protein: Dubia Roaches for feeder every other day dusted a couple times a week with calcium
Salad: Gets Dandelion greens and carrots for vegetables once a day
Water: Misted every other day and he soaks in his water dish on his own time
Substrate: Washed Play sand

Any thoughts/advice would be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[AbigailRBD]

Hey Jbrown, how's it going? A few things jump into mind when you talk about the situation with your beardie. First, he could be upset because of the change in environment or something in/about his new enclosure. Have you moved anything into the room and his field of vision since the transition that he's getting stressed about?

As a test, you could try moving his enclosure into an entirely different room (if you have the space to do so) and see if he starts behaving differently. I would say that this is normal mating or territorial behavior if he could see the females but you said that the enclosures are stacked. It's possible that he's sensing them, but unlikely.

Another note - your set up sounds great except for the play sand. A lot of people say that play sand is okay for older dragons, but it's a breeding ground for bacteria. Essentially, having your dragons in sand of any type is like having them live in a litter box. Phenomenal alternatives are just regular slate tile, paper towel, or Exo Terra's Sand Mat! Hope this helps