Stress Marks on beardie.

[jaxbeardie]

I have a 1 month old baby bearded dragon and whenever I put him in his viv he seems to have stress marks after a couple minutes. I got a tank background but it only fit the back so I returned it. Does anyone know where you can get a tank background for a 20 gallon tank? The dimensions are 30 x 12 x 12

 

[sombra88]

You can find a good background on Amazon, the 3d effect rock backgrounds are my beardies favorites as they can scale them.

There could be a few reasons though, please let us know:

1. How old is your beardie?
2. How long ago did you bring him home?
3. What are the temps on the basking side and low side (not light) side of his tank?
4. What do you feed him?

Thanks.

 

[jaxbeardie]

You can find a good background on Amazon, the 3d effect rock backgrounds are my beardies favorites as they can scale them.

There could be a few reasons though, please let us know:

1. How old is your beardie?
2. How long ago did you bring him home?
3. What are the temps on the basking side and low side (not light) side of his tank?
4. What do you feed him?

Thanks.

My beardie is a month old, at least that's what the pet store said.
I brought him home 4/12/17 aka Wednesday.
His basking side is high 90's mostly 98-100
I feed him crickets and I put a salad consisting of chopped kale and shredded carrots but he doesn't east the salad

Whenever, I handle him his stress marks go away :?:

 

[sombra88]

This is normal, he is stressed by his habitat. It usually takes 1-2 weeks for him to acclimate although that depends. It seems he is already having a good bond with you as a human; this will strengthen and grow through positive treatment.

Give him some time, he is a small baby in a big world and everything is new. It took my beardie about 9 days to get calm in his tank, 7 months later he is a giant loving mess.

 

[jaxbeardie]

This is normal, he is stressed by his habitat. It usually takes 1-2 weeks for him to acclimate although that depends. It seems he is already having a good bond with you as a human; this will strengthen and grow through positive treatment.

Give him some time, he is a small baby in a big world and everything is new. It took my beardie about 9 days to get calm in his tank, 7 months later he is a giant loving mess.

Oh Ok, that's a good thing. I hope in the future he will be a giant loving mess

 

[sombra88]

Very likely he will. All beardies are different. Out of my two one is currently a giant loving mess - the other is still a baby and fearful but sweet. Both were scared the first week to two weeks in their vivs.

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

I just wanted to add in that the "stress marks" as they are so often called are natural markings on baby dragons and are often prominent, especially under their basking lights and UVB. They will darken to better absorb the waves and heat, making these stripes a lot more apparent.

These marks are not always indicative of stress, though with being a new baby as well, he is likely a little stressed by default.

I showed this comparison to someone recently:
Dark in the enclosure, you can see the "stress marks"

Light outside of the enclosure, no longer darkened to absorb lights as he is not under them

These marks fade with age, but are very consistent the younger they are. Do not let the common name for them misguide you, it is natural

 

[sombra88]

Agreed indeed. In my personal case my babie beardie indicates stress specifically with the two flaps on his shoulders; everything else is just light

 

[jaxbeardie]

Ok that's good to know. That's a reasonable answer since my beardie always is having "stress marks" while under is basking bulb. Thanks