Quick question related to beardy stress

[Mastapluck]

My beardy Onyx (Favorite Pòkemon, also Onyx colored) who is a 3 month old I've had now officially a week, was always pretty happy and mobile. But today seemed odd. The night before he was hiding for pretty long periods (Maybe 45 mins to an hour.) This morning he woke up a little earlier than normal and ate a pretty good amount of about 15 live crickets all powdered down but he wouldn't want to bask directly under the heat like he normally does. He was showing his stress lines pretty clearly so I tried to pick him up but he was afraid of my hand and the slightest move. He never does that and just walks into my hand all the time. After about 10 minutes of giving him some space I finally got to get him even though I had to offer some assistance getting onto my hand. I thought maybe it had something to do with his shedding because I've read some people's beardys get pretty stressed and even agitated when they shed, so I ran a warm comfortable bath for him (it was his second one and he honesty did a lot better with this one) When he was done about 10 minutes in I let him bask for a bit and he was loving it. He just started gaping today so I'm assuming it's a good thing (again what I've read about people's juvie beardys) but he just seemed very different today even though everything has up to this point been excellent for him.

P.S. sorry about the long post I just really want my Onyx to be alright. I'm a first time beardy owner and I've honestly come to think of this beautiful creature as an actual child.

EDIT: Beard does darken with the onset of stress marks

 

[CooperDragon]

It sounds like he is OK. I find the term stress marks to be misleading. Most of the younger dragons have lines on their bellies that darken often and while it can indicate mood, it's often related to them trying to adjust how much heat/light they're absorbing (or reflecting). The shed can definitely have him more agitated than usual though. That should pass when the shed completes but sheds will be frequent for a while as he grows. As long as he is alert and active he is probably fine. If you want to post some photos of him, you can upload them here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and post them to your thread using the XIMG button.