my beardie is burying himself at night...

[BabySkales]

I have 2 bearded dragons, a couple of nights ago i noticed one of my beardies wasn't at his usual sleeping spot... when i finally found him..he had dug him self a little spot in his substrate and buried his head under the substrate.. i didnt think much of it.. but the first night he did this i picked him up and put him at his usual spot....

the next two nights he did the same thing.. so i figured it was okay and let him be.. last night i went to check on him and same thing... he was in a little pocket of substrate and his head was buried.. but my other beardie was also doing this. Ive have them for almost two months and this is the first time they have done thing.

The both have a basking spot lamp and 10.0 UVB. There both great eaters and they always eat their veggies, veggies are put out in the AM and left all day, they get cricket/roaches 2 times a day with a multivitamin dust at the 2nd feeding. Nothing has changed since ive had them. they are housed individually.

Is this normal?

 

[dylanravenj]

Yes a lot of beardies like to get all snuggled in something while they sleep. But can I ask what substrate you're using?

 

[Taterbug]

Burrowing is a natural behavior - some dragons love to do it others never really do. If he is hiding his head in particular.... Do you use night light or something else he could be trying to hide from?

 

[BabySkales]

Yes a lot of beardies like to get all snuggled in something while they sleep. But can I ask what substrate you're using?

I cant remember what it called... but it looks like wood shavings/chips.

 

[BabySkales]

Burrowing is a natural behavior - some dragons love to do it others never really do. If he is hiding his head in particular.... Do you use night light or something else he could be trying to hide from?

no. All lights are out at night. The only tank that has a light at night is the frilled dragon.. and its the red heat light.. and hes on the bottom self so the beardies dont even see it. could they be hiding from noise?

 

[CooperDragon]

In my experience, noise doesn't seem to bother them too much. I wonder how he'd react to something like a sleeper sack or a small soft blanket to burrow in at night.

 

[BabySkales]

In my experience, noise doesn't seem to bother them too much. I wonder how he'd react to something like a sleeper sack or a small soft blanket to burrow in at night.

I might just end up making one for each of them.
I forgot to mention.. they are both burying where the basking light is it.. after it turns off.

 

[CooperDragon]

Try swapping their substrate for something solid (ceramic tile, non adhesive shelf liner, etc), but then provide a soft place (fleece blanket or sleeper sack as I mentioned) and see what happens. It may provide them with what they need without having the dangers of a loose substrate.

 

[BabySkales]

Try swapping their substrate for something solid (ceramic tile, non adhesive shelf liner, etc), but then provide a soft place (fleece blanket or sleeper sack as I mentioned) and see what happens. It may provide them with what they need without having the dangers of a loose substrate.

Is loose substrate really that bad? I was planning to get tile... But not till I got their permanent enclosure.. They are currently in exo terra tanks.. I guess I can put the tile in there.. I don't even know what kind to get

 

[jarich]

Certain types of loose substrate can promote dehydration, which has the potential to lead to impactions. However, a solid tile bottom takes away the capability of the dragon to regulate internally through behaviour like you are describing, so its up to you.

 

[CooperDragon]

I was thinking more along the lines of it being tough to keep clean. Similar to living in a litter box. For now some non adhesive shelf liner or even butcher paper would work as it's easy to clean/disposable. For tile, you can get any ceramic tile that you like the looks of that has a little bit of texture to it. I got mine at Lowe's and had two tiles cut to size and they cost a couple of dollars each as I recall.

 

[BabySkales]

i started with paper towels.. and it was a no fun.. all the bugs would just crawl under and my dragon wouldnt get to eat any... so i did away with that. The stuff i use doesnt work like cat litter.. but i just take a plastic spoon and scoop the substrate out with the poop and its worked out fine. I mostly feed them in a dish... and once in a while i let a few crickets loose so they can hunt them down.
if they want to dig and bury themselves i dont want to take that away from them if its "normal" behavior.

 

[dylanravenj]

As stated, loose substrates can be very dangerous. Especially ones like wood chips that have sharp edges and can damage a dragon's digestive tract if ingested. I have to agree that tile is the best way to go. It is very easy to clean, retains heat well, and carries no risk of being ingested.

If you want, you can provide a dig box for your dragons. Fill it with something like flax seeds, coco coir, alfalfa pellets, or organic soil. That way if your dragons do want to dig, they can go in their dig box

 

[BabySkales]

its not really wood chips.. they are super thin and broken up pretty small.. i will look into the shelf liner and tile.

is there any kind of tile i should avoid?

 

[CooperDragon]

Not really. I'd avoid glazed tiles or smooth tiles like that because the dragons will have trouble getting traction on them. Tile that feels slightly rough (not sandpaper rough, but like unglazed ceramic) would work well to provide plenty of traction (and keep nails trimmed).