Sudden darkness in beard

[YesIJustGotADragon]

I left Ozzi alone for an hour and in that time their beard went from slightly gray but mostly white to almost pitch black (just around the bottom of the beard and their neck). Ozzi did go into a partial shed a few days ago... could that be it? He doesn't seem aggressive otherwise, and the rest of his body is mostly white. I'm assuming it's shedding because I know areas get dull before they come off but it surprised me so much that I want to make sure he isn't sick or something.
He was in the room alone, the temperatures are fine, and I fed him right before I left.
Anything weird possibly going on?
Thank you.

 

[kingofnobbys]

How old is he ?

Are you north or south of the equator ?

what was he doing when this happened ?

Other animals in the house he can see ?

 

[YesIJustGotADragon]

He just turned 6 months old.
I live on the Northern side of the equator.
I don't know what he was doing; I was downstairs. When I came back he was on top of his hide in the middle of his tank.
We do have three cats, but the door was shut for 100% sure.

The window was also open a little bit, but he's on the other side of the room (if that helps at all).

 

[kingofnobbys]

He just turned 6 months old.
I live on the Northern side of the equator.
I don't know what he was doing; I was downstairs. When I came back he was on top of his hide in the middle of his tank.
We do have three cats, but the door was shut for 100% sure. <<<< it will have been one of the cats was trying to get at him . I'd bet one of them sneeked in when the door was open last time you or someone else visited the room.

I hope his tank is PROPERLY CAT PROOFED (mesh lids / wire lids ARE NOT CAT PROOF) and you take steps to exclude the cats from the room his tank is in , and the cats are never allowed in the same room when he's out of his tank.


People who think their cat/s and pet lizard/s are best pals and love each other are deluding themselves and living in a fool's paradise.

Eventually a cat will lash out and bite or attack a lizard or a cat will break into the tank to attack and torture the lizard. This never ends well for the lizard.
The window was also open a little bit, but he's on the other side of the room (if that helps at all).

Consider this incident a wake up call.

 

[MarlowAndMe]

Hiya, sorry to hear something is going on with your beardie. If you know no cats were in there and 100% sure then that cannot be it.
How is he looking now? Any change in the beard colour since it was dark?
Is it black black or greyish? Shedding is greyish not black so if it’s black something has/is upsetting him
What did you feed him last? When did he last poop?

 

[kingofnobbys]

glass tank ?

 

[fcooper]

This could indicate a few things. This may be due to stress. If the beard is black due to a stress related reason, then you may want to check that the bearded dragons temperatures and substrate are not bothering it. You may also want to make sure that nothing is bothering the dragon, such as another pet, and make sure that you give the dragon attention. A black beard can also indicate fear. This is usually in response to being startled or hearing a bird cry. It is usually accompanied by stressed scrambling and a puffed up appearance. I have found that my bearded dragon’s beard turns black when she is out in natural sunlight, or has been sitting under her heat lamp for too long.

If this continues, take your pet to the vet, if possible, to get it checked for possible illness, such as MBD or stomach parasites, and to make sure that your temperatures are right.

 

[YesIJustGotADragon]

The coloring went away thankfully and I'm chalking it up to a bird or bat, or Ozzi's reflection because yes, I have a glass tank.
The door I have is a weird one that you need to pull hard enough to hear a click to know it is properly closed and I do that every time I leave. The cats weren't in the room because they cannot physically open the door when it's like that (though they tear the carpet away beneath the door trying to get in). I asked everyone in the house if they'd gone in, but no one admitted to it and they're really honest when it comes to Ozzi.
I fed him an hour before I came back to find him dark and he had pooped right after he ate (on my carpet pft)
Thanks everyone, though I'm pretty sure I just got worried over nothing. He's eating fine and hasn't gotten anywhere near as dark since. A bird might have hit the window or a loud car drove by (maybe a motorcycle? We live on a busy street)

While we're at it, I was wondering if anyone has advice on picking my beardie up. Sometimes he runs along the glass and I assume he wants out but when I put my hand in to try to pick him up he avoids it or just runs straight over it. He never puffs up, darkens or hisses so I assume he's messing with me but I don't want to hurt him. My dad suggested picking him up at least once a day without food to lure him and doing it firmly, but I don't want to scare him. I know not to come from above like a bird and to pick him up from below, but I don't know how long I should try or when I should stop and leave him alone. Thanks again!

 

[kingofnobbys]

If the tank is glass , and he's a juvenile (as you said) , he's likely entering his puberty and getting a bit hormonal , he likely saw his own reflection and got cranky about the ghost dragon always staring back at him.

Getting him out, try coaxing him with a wormy or buggy food treat , place it on the open upturned hand and place the hand where he can see it (and the treat) , when he's come over to take his treat , slip your hand under his tummy and place the other hand over him and lift out onto your lap or tummy or chest and deposit him there with the covering hand still over his body.
Do this at the same time every day and make a routine / ritual of it , he'll soon be coming to you wanting to be picked up and snuggled.

I take it your tank is top opening - he's seeing a looming figure and then scary snake things , and that's why he's scared of being picked up.
This is one of the reasons why top opening tanks are a very poor choice.
This issues is easily solved by converting the existing tank to front opening - see this for how : viewtopic.php?f=34&t=246739

It's perfectly OK to let him explore the floor IF YOU MAKE THE FLOOR BEARDED DRAGON SAFE (block off any places he can slip under / behind and anything on the floor that's small enough to be ingested and might pose an impaction risk is removed from the floor before hand (we run the vacuum over the carpet to be sure and remove any dead or dying roaches that sometimes find there way inside from nextdoor, and we never use surface sprays or flysprays - a few spiders, flys and roaches in the house are tolerated) , and KEEP THE CATS OUT OF THE ROOM .
I generally start letting my young dragons have short periods of supervised freerange time from about 6 months old (about 200g) . In our case they get access to the lounge - room , the living/dining room and kitchen and hall (that leads to the bedrooms, study, bathroom and laundry whos door are all closed) and half the floor they have access to has carpet , the other half is lino.
They are usually hilarious to watch on the lino when all four legs are going at warp speed and they are not moving very fast at all because their tummy is on the lino … pitta patta of tiny feet...