What the heck is my dragon doing?

[NaTasha Brinkley]

I'll post a video of it in the pic/video thread a little later when I'm on my own computer, but let me explain it and maybe one of you guys can shed some light onto this mysterious behaviour.

Earlier today after misting my beardie (he's shedding) I put him back in his viv and he started doing something weird with his mouth, chin and chest. He would open his mouth at the corners only, puff out his chin slightly and while doing this his chest would suck in (kinda like an exhale motion, but really deep) then he would lick his chops a little. It got me kind of worried. It kind of looked like he was trying to hack up a cricket or something. It reminded me of what a dog looks like right before he vomits. But after taking the video he stopped doing it and was breathing normally. Was this just a stress reaction?

 

[Germ]

Sounds like he may have been stretching\rearranging his skin to help loosen the shed from the Beard Spikes, wait until you experience for the first time, the 'Eye Bulge' to loosen the skin around the eye area, if you want to be freaked out .

 

[blackclaw83]

HAHAHHAHAHa i am SOOOOOO happy i was asleep during this part

 

[NaTasha Brinkley]

you know, I had a quick thought that maybe that's what he was doing, stretching to get his skin loose, but I wasn't sure... thanks! I'm not so worried now b/c he's back to normal now.

 

[Aleena]

As Germ said, the eye bulge thing is pretty creepy! I have some pics of Cass doing the beard stretching thing somewhere... hrrmmmm...

 

[BeardieBaby]

Oh my goodness...when I first saw Baby do the eye bulge thing I thought his eyes were going to explode or something! This was about 2 months ago when I first got him(OH, and I found out today my beardie is a HE) But anyways, I panicked when that happened and I know it sounds stupid that I thought his eyes were going to explode out of his head but when you don't know about the eye bulging in beardies, it looks like they really are going to! My beardie has been rubbing his face for a few days now and has been doing the eye bulging thing so I am assuming he is about to shed, but what I am wondering is why it's taking so long for him to shed because there has been signs for days now and nothing has happened. Does that mean something is wrong? I have been misting him to try to help the shed but it doesn't seem to be helping much. He still has a great appetite and is still doing his poops everyday, but he does seem a bit more stressed or grumpy. His skin is a lot darker and I am sorry to repeat myself because I think I have mentioned this in other posts but I figured it would lighten up when he sheds, but he's not shedding so I am getting a bit concerned. I did just transfer him to a new habitat, a little bit of a larger cage so he may be adjusting to that, but its been about 3 days now so shouldn't he be used to it by now? Not sure!!! Anyone has any feedback I would greatly appreciate it because I worry immensely all the time about my beardie! Thanks for reading this!

 

[Aleena]

It takes about 7-10 days for a bd to acclimate to a new environment, and your bd will lighten up just prior to a shed. I would back off a bit on the misting until this happens

 

[Germ]

He will shed when he's ready, it can be a long drawn out process at times.

 

[BeardieBaby]

Oh wow I did not realize it can take 7-10 days for a beardie to get used to his environment. That makes me feel better! And Germ, thanks for letting me know it can sometimes be a long drawn out process because I didn't realize that either. I kind of thought it just happened quickly. Thanks you both for helping me out!!! I feel much better now!