tank scratching!

[dukeofprunes]

hello! i adopted a 5 year old female about 7 months ago. she lives in the tank she lived in with her former owners (40 gallon). she has always scratched at the tank door when she wanted to poop, but recently she has been scratching at the door all day long. she gets all stressed out and her beard is all black and i will let her out and she just kinda walks around the house. at first she was stressed because she could see her reflection in our living room mirrors and she would bob her head and act aggressive towards it. but yesterday i covered up her sightline on the mirrors and she seems to still be all stressed. she spent hours out of the tank this morning chilling in the sun but as soon as i need to leave and put her back in, she wants out again. its driving me nuts because i hear the scratching from other rooms in the house when i try to escape it. any information would help. thanks!

 

[CooperDragon]

The scratching can mean a few different things. As you've mentioned, it can mean she just wants out to roam around. It could also indicate that she's having a problem with something in the tank. Maybe the heat or UV gradient isn't quite right, or something else in there is stressing her out. I would double check your temperature gradient first and make sure that is 100 in the basking spot and down to 75-85 or so on the cool side.

 

[TheDragonKeepers]

It could also be that she needs to lay eggs - Mocha always goes a bit dig-mad. Get a box of compost in her tank for her, slightly damp, nice and deep.