Not Basking, hiding all day

[samchavles]

Hi Everyone,
My BD has been hiding a lot lately and not really basking for more than 30 minutes to 1 hour a day. It's worrying me. Only thing that has changed is that we have moved as of two weeks but his entire life we have held him and taken him all over the house. At first we thought the hiding was shock of the new space, but we have been taking him outside every night and he basically knows where everything is now. When in his tank he is brown and beard is black, but he is still eating some and then running under his hide. Whenever I have him out or he is sleeping, he gets bright orange, white beard, and happy! I've tried new tank setups, no dice.
ENCLOSURE:
Exo Terra Terrarium. Large, Medium Height (36Lx18Wx18H).
One 60w Halogen Bulb, basking spot is at 103
Cool side of the tank is 80
Arcadia 10.0 12% D3 UVB Tube Bulb, 8 inches from basking spot.
Eats Phoenix Worms dusted in Vitamins twice a week. (Was told Phoenix worms require no Calcium dusting since they are so rich in calcium.)
He still makes regular BMs, and is very well behaved! Now I notice a park of his face is getting lighter, looks like shed, but he usually sheds his entire head at once, which makes me worry. What are your thoughts? Parasites? Still getting used to his new space? Let me know!
Also, he is a year old in a month, and is only 15". I notice most BDs go through a transition to where they get really wide and wide headed. He seems to have skipped that and only stuck to length but he eats until he's full. Maybe he's just the runt of the litter? Parasites? And if it's parasites, will he grow more after they are removed?

By the way, here's some pics of the little guy!

 

[Jaskotch]

he may be coming of age. mine is brumating now- took me awhile to recognize that's all that was going on, and i don't like it because he's missing the best part of the year in terms of stuff from the garden to eat and warm sun to enjoy... but, c'est la vie! they gotta do what they gotta do.
perhaps yours is going the same. my advice is to send off a poop for fecal analysis (Bearded Dragon Co does them for $5) just to be sure he's not carrying a heavy parasite load, and let nature take its course.

 

[Nattyklis]

Yours looks like mine! Kasai is about a year and a bit and he hasn't filled out either and about the same size. I'm here to say its ok. They go through those phases where they are just not active. You can try moving his tank to a different location. I find mine hates living rooms and places where theres a lot of noise and prefers quieter areas like bedrooms.

 

[ILoveLemmonade]

He is beautiful! He looks healthy enough. As said by the above posters you may want to do a stool sample just to double check. Your sounds to be good, but I didn't see a substrate. What do you use? Also what are you using to measure temperatures?

 

[samchavles]

Substrate is slate tile, and I use a zoo med probe thermometer. And the brunation theory makes sense! He's in the living room but that's the quietest room in the house. No noise at all. Ill send a fecal off

 

[ILoveLemmonade]

Substrate is slate tile, and I use a zoo med probe thermometer. And the brunation theory makes sense! He's in the living room but that's the quietest room in the house. No noise at all. Ill send a fecal off

Or he may just be in that transition into adult. All dragons are different so as long as he looks healthy I wouldn't worry too much.

 

[samchavles]

Alright everyone, thanks! How long does this transition take? Today I caught him basking finally! Only for a brief minute then he went right back in his cave:

 

[Jaskotch]

Or he may just be in that transition into adult. All dragons are different so as long as he looks healthy I wouldn't worry too much.

that's the way i look at it, as long as he's healthy .
but i'm curious, what do you mean "that transition into adult"? is that something other than brumation?
my guy's been acting this way for 2 months now. he mostly is in the hide, but usually comes out every 4 days or so for some basking, and will eat dubias some of those times. i assume that is his version of brumation, but i'm curious if you are saying there is some other thing that is happening at this age. i'd like it if this was not something that was going to occur every year at this time (brumation)... i hate him missing the warm weather and fresh greens/veggies that we only get for a few months out of the year...

 

[ILoveLemmonade]

Or he may just be in that transition into adult. All dragons are different so as long as he looks healthy I wouldn't worry too much.

that's the way i look at it, as long as he's healthy .
but i'm curious, what do you mean "that transition into adult"? is that something other than brumation?
my guy's been acting this way for 2 months now. he mostly is in the hide, but usually comes out every 4 days or so for some basking, and will eat dubias some of those times. i assume that is his version of brumation, but i'm curious if you are saying there is some other thing that is happening at this age. i'd like it if this was not something that was going to occur every year at this time (brumation)... i hate him missing the warm weather and fresh greens/veggies that we only get for a few months out of the year...

Well I'm actually just going on what I've heard about beardies around that age. My beardie is about to be that age so I will see what happens soon. What you describe seems like brimstone thiugh.