scratching in hide?

[HyperLollipop]

Hey everyone! So I have a bearded dragon, Herman, who is about 7 months old. Yesterday he was acting a bit strange, hiding a lot and his beard was a bit dark, but I attributed it to the fact that we took him outside for a bit too long (yesterday was the first real nice day in a long time, in the sun it was almost 70 degrees) and he wasn't used to it. However today he was in his hide quite a bit, even burrowing under the paper towel that's being used for substrate on that side of the tank right now (we're waiting for more non-adhesive shelf liner to come in, right now we only have it covering 3/4 of his cage with the rest being paper towel). And for the first time I noticed him scratching the inside of his hide, and I'm wondering what could have brought on this kind of behavior. Is it something I should be concerned about?

In case this helps, we've had Herman since the end of October. He has a 40-gallon tank. We recently replaced his basking bulb, and we're planning to replace his UVB after Passover (so in about 2 and a half weeks). His basking temp is usually around 95F, and his cool side stays around 80F, and at night it's usually 69F in the whole tank. He is in the middle of a shed, which might be contributing to the problem. His nose and his lips are currently flaking off, and it looks like his tail is next, but his arms and legs shed a week or two ago and his back/belly and neck/beard/face just finished shedding over the course of Saturday night and yesterday morning. And also my brother had peeled off some of the skin that was coming off already, so maybe he's just feeling uncomfortable because it wasn't all ready to come off yet? Also his nails are getting quite a bit long, I have yet to get in touch with the exotics vet in my area and I am uncomfortable doing it myself. My youngest brother (he's 7 years old and the most adorable thing on this planet, right next to Herman) suggested that he may be scratching because he's trying to shorten his nails. Is that a possibility as well? (And no, this is not the same brother that tried to help him shed.)

I'm not too concerned because even though his beard is a bit dark, when I handle him and he lays on my chest he lightens up and is pretty calm, and he's eating normally. But still, please advise!

 

[Axil]

Beebz (our Dragon) does this occasionally, and more often when shedding. He also would do it at night in his hide when getting ready to sleep. I think it's an attempt to burrow as when he had loose substrate he'd do this and end up underneath it.

I cut up some old felt-type repticarpet for his new enclosure to see if he would use that. He hasn’t yet, but also hasn’t done much scratching in there yet.

 

[HyperLollipop]

Beebz (our Dragon) does this occasionally, and more often when shedding. He also would do it at night in his hide when getting ready to sleep. I think it's an attempt to burrow as when he had loose substrate he'd do this and end up underneath it.

I cut up some old felt-type repticarpet for his new enclosure to see if he would use that. He hasn’t yet, but also hasn’t done much scratching in there yet.

I should have clarified. It's not just him trying to burrow lower down. He's been sort of standing up and scratching the sides of the inside of his hide.

 

[Axil]

I should have clarified. It's not just him trying to burrow lower down. He's been sort of standing up and scratching the sides of the inside of his hide.

Hmm. I did have Beebz sometimes go at the foam rock wall in his old enclosure as well. In the hide I think it was aimed down at the paper towels I had in there. He couldn't stand up in there even if he wanted to though he barely fit.

I always thought when he'd stand and do it, it looked a lot like "glass surfing" which as far as I understand it can be indicative of anything from stress, to boredom, to just normal wierdo Beardy behavior.

Maybe someone has a better explanation. I'm curious as well.

 

[xp29]

For the nails you can place a piece of stone in his habitat. Sandstone, limestone, basalt, granite ect. I gather your probably young yourself(your brother is 7 ), have your parents help sanitize it. You can do so by putting it in the oven at 200 degree for 10 to 20 minutes (Except Sandstone, that one could explode if its wet) thin pieces without sharp edges work best. Your beardie will keep his nails trimmed all by himself (the stone needs to be wide and long enough for him to walk across it)

 

[HyperLollipop]

For the nails you can place a piece of stone in his habitat. Sandstone, limestone, basalt, granite ect. I gather your probably young yourself(your brother is 7 ), have your parents help sanitize it. You can do so by putting it in the oven at 200 degree for 10 to 20 minutes (Except Sandstone, that one could explode if its wet) thin pieces without sharp edges work best. Your beardie will keep his nails trimmed all by himself (the stone needs to be wide and long enough for him to walk across it)

Haha not as young as you think! I was already a high school graduate when we got Herman, but I don't want to share much more info than that. I just have a lot of siblings so there's quite a few years between me and the youngest.
Where would you reccommend getting a piece of stone like you described?

And the scratching shouldn't be something to be concerned over?

 

[xp29]

Haha there is 17 years between me and my brother
Depending on where you live you can pick up some variety of the ones i mentioned in the creeks or desert ect. Any flat rock can be used, mostly your just looking for something with texture so it dulls the nails.
As far as the digging, he was probably stressed from being outside. Beardies see spectrums of light we don't. In direct sunlight we look different to them, it always stressing mine out when i first start taking them back outside in the spring. He should settle down pretty quickly. He also may have just been trying to situate his hide to his liking.