New Beardie owner

[KhalDrogo1]

(gender assumed, I think he’s a guy) He is young, the lady at the pet store said he’s “intermediate” & he is small. Over all he’s eating well, crickets and greens, also bell peppers and carrots! I was surprised but the lady said they keep their lights on all the time, after researching I learned that’s not a good idea, so tonight I turned his lamps off, I wanted to test if I’d need a heat emitter, and about a minute maybe two after I turned the lamps off he started jumping around his tank clawing at it, is that because the lamps were off maybe? I got him out and he literally nudged his head against my hand a few times and started closing his eyes like he was falling asleep, I will mention he has been shedding a lot. I notice if I walk by his tank he will sometimes walk in the direction I’m walking, or stare at me and tilt his head too, I don’t know if he just likes me or I freaked him out by turning the lights off lol.

 

[CooperDragon]

Welcome to the forum! He sounds like a curious little guy which is a good sign. If you have a safe place for him to be outside the tank he may like some time to explore (well supervised). As far as the lights go, they tend to like a long daytime cycle but also need a dark and cool night period. Usually 14 or so hours of "daylight" is good. It helps to set the lights on a timer so you can set that and keep a consistent schedule. Sometimes they don't like to go to bed right when the lights go out and the sudden change is disorienting. It's not harmful but if he responded well to you holding him at lights out you can certainly do that and just put him back in the tank when you're ready.