Video of Dreganna (formerly Dregan) scratching new tile

[YavannaV]

At 10 months old, she isn't old enough to be scratching due to needing to lay a clutch of eggs, right? I asked earlier on here and was told they needed to be at least 18 months old but usually closer to 2 years old for eggs.

It's rather comical to watch, she's been scratching like this a few times a day for the last week since we replaced the reptile carpet and put new tile in her enclosure.

Here's the video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkd2jp36OTE

 

[dylanravenj]

That's hysterical she seems so confused :laughhard:

 

[YavannaV]

It's sand colored so I think she's trying to dig in it b/c she things it's actual sand.

 

[YavannaV]

I'm not sure what you mean by adopted? I'm not looking to sell or rehome my dragon. I just made a video of her because her behavior with her new tile is cute and a bit funny.

 

[MikeILC]

That is absolutely adorable! How is she doing now with it?

 

[YavannaV]

She's still doing it. I guess it will keep her nails filed down and is good exercise. I don't think that it's stressing her out. She's still active and eating well. She doesn't seem to mind if I pet her or pick her up while she's scratching at it. I am considering getting her a dig box but if I keep buying items for her enclosure there won't be room for her too. I think I need to get hubby to make me a custom sized enclosure that's a lot larger,lol.

 

[Momswims1]

I watched the video on youtube. Showed it to my 14 year old son and we thought it was so adorable, we had to watch it twice. Thanks for sharing that with us.

 

[RainMaiden]

That is adorable! :lol: Thanks for sharing.

 

[diamc]

Moved here from General Discussion forum as it is about her behavior.

It is very possible that she is gravid with infertile eggs. Sometimes they lay them as young as 8 mo old and can actually start puberty as young as 5 to 6 mo old. Just to be safe, would be a good idea to give her a lay box to see if she does indeed need to lay eggs as you certainly wouldn't want her to become egg bound, that is very serious and can be deadly.

How long has she been doing the scratching behavior? Does she act hyper? Has she cut herself back on her protein intake?

 

[YavannaV]

She started the scratching the same day that we put tile in her enclosure. I'd say a week to ten days now. I've felt her tummy but it is soft. I'll read up on what to do for a lay box. I asked on here when she kept up the scratching and was told she needed to be at least 18 mo old before eggs.

 

[YavannaV]

She isn't acting hyper. Her appetite is slightly less but she's still having around 10 worms and 30 small crickets a day. We switched from three meals a day down to veggies in the am and protein in the early afternoon as was suggested by the vet to do at age 9 months. Before that she would eat twice the amount of protein per day.

 

[YavannaV]

I've been doing more research into beardies having infertile eggs and it looks like Dreganna isn't fitting the pattern for that at all. She's too skinny for one, she can still flatten like a pancake when she's cold in the am and trying to warm up. Also, she's taking some days off from the scratching and only doing it for 2-3 times a day, max of 5 minutes at any given time. No glass dancing. She's not acting hyper or restless at all. She's still eating. So, I think this is her just believing that the "sand" colored tile is real sand and should be dig-able. I'm going to get a plastic container and put alfalfa pellets in it to give her something to dig in. BTW, she's not been around any other beardies of either gender since I brought her home as a baby so she shouldn't have the need to lay yet this early (10 months old).

 

[diamc]

That's good that perhaps she was just checking out & experimenting with the tile. Sometimes a change like that really sparks their behavior and they act differently. Good idea giving her something to scratch in, hopefully she won't show an interest in eating the pellets.

BTW, she's not been around any other beardies of either gender since I brought her home as a baby so she shouldn't have the need to lay yet this early (10 months old).

It really doesn't matter if they are around other beardies or not in order to lay infertile eggs. There have been quite a few beardies on this forum that have laid infertiles at 10 months and younger though. As I had mentioned before, they can start puberty as young as 5 or 6 months, even though their bodies are not anywhere near fully developed or grown.