Recently my bearded dragon (who I've had for a little more than a year) has been scratching at the side of her cage. She does it in the morning when I'm sleeping and it wakes me up? It makes a huge mess and she keeps doing it. Whenever she does it her chin gets black and other parts of her body get darker. Yesterday I tried giving her a bath but she was just scratching at the side of the tub. Today I tried to let her roam around my room (with a boundary set up so she can't get anywhere) and as soon as I set her down she ran up to the edge and jumped. I grabbed her then moved her somewhere else but she still jumped. I really need help and don't know what to do. I've contemplated getting rid of her or giving her to someone else. I'm undecided.
Hi Logan....a black beard means she's very irritated and/or stressed . Can you post pics of her + her set up ? What are the temps, have they gone up lately ? Are you positive it's a she ? If so, she may be carrying eggs + need a lay box set up ASAP. A medium plastic tote with about 10" of sand damened to hold it's shape a little is what you can use.
Uhhh it's sad that you would like to get rid of her because of that. But! For me it could be
a) she's stressed and tries to get out and hide (did you changed anything in her cage recently, or maybe moved the cage?)
or
b) she'll lay infertile eggs and needs a laying box... even females that never had contact with males can lay infertile eggs and will look for sutiable place when they are due to. If you'll give her a suitable box (not sure what it should be like as I never bred dragons, for snakes it needs to have some damp moss/vermiculite in it) she should lay her eggs in a few days and calm down.