Why Is He Running Against the Glass?

[SoleSky]

Okay so this morning I cleaned BeeGees viv and now he seems very nervous. His stress marks were very dark at first but then they got gradually white. He seemed so happy except now he keeps "glass dancing". The first time he did it I fed him, then the next time he did it I took him out and he ran around my bed. Then I put him back and he keeps pacing and licking everything like hes nervous. Now he's still doing it after I took him out for the third time. I didn't rearrange his tank at all I just cleaned it. He just won't stop glass dancing, I've tried everything I could think of his temps are normal. 105 on the hot side and 85 on the cool side. He's not thermoregulating he doesn't seem hot. What are your guys' opinions?

 

[Red Ink AUS]

Okay so this morning I cleaned BeeGees viv and now he seems very nervous. His stress marks were very dark at first but then they got gradually white. He seemed so happy except now he keeps "glass dancing". The first time he did it I fed him, then the next time he did it I took him out and he ran around my bed. Then I put him back and he keeps pacing and licking everything like hes nervous. Now he's still doing it after I took him out for the third time. I didn't rearrange his tank at all I just cleaned it. He just won't stop glass dancing, I've tried everything I could think of his temps are normal. 105 on the hot side and 85 on the cool side. He's not thermoregulating he doesn't seem hot. What are your guys' opinions?

New smells so he is unfamiliar with it even though it's the same lay out, think of it as mini relocation stress. He'll calm down soon enough.

 

[SoleSky]

Oh okay thank you for the quick reply

 

[renich]

What did you use to clean the viv?

 

[SoleSky]

Just some baby shampoo for the tiles and dish soap for the bowls.

 

[renich]

Ok. Was curious if it was a strong cleaning product and wasn't rinsed enough. How is he acting? Still glass dancing or has he calmed down?

 

[SoleSky]

Oh he's perfectly fine now. I wouldn't use a strong cleaning product it scares m too much. The only thing that worries me is how he has stress marks all of the time. His stomach hardly gets creamy white. I don't know what I'm doing wrong but I would really like to know.

 

[renich]

Hmm...some dragons are just naturally colored darker than others and their belly patterns are more pronounced.. Can you post of pic of the stress marks?

Also, can you remind me how much UV a day he's getting? And what is the make and type of UV you use?

 

[SoleSky]

Well this is gonna sound bad but I use reptiglo. I didn't know any better at the time and nobody had any different kind so I just bought it. I had a mercury vapor bulb but it cracked if you remember from awhile back. Beegee gets 13 hours from sunrise to sunset pretty much. I'm going to slowly adjust to get dark when it gets dark here. He goes 6:30 to 7:30. Do you think that the UVB is hurting his eyes?

Here is a pic of him, he always looks like this.

 

[renich]

The reason I asked is if they are not getting enough UV, dragons can show their dark sides. So, if your ReptiGlo is not omitting enough UV light for him, he will have his 'stress' marks. Your hours sound fine, but I would be curious to know if you changed the UV light to a ReptiSun 10.0 tube if he would not have as much dark markings.

Did you notice the dark markings when you had the MVB?

 

[SoleSky]

Yes he has had them since the time I brought him home. I would like to switch but it's so expensive, however if it is bad for him then I will buy a new one. Is that what you suggest? He seems fine otherwise. Could it be because I lay my UVB on the side instead of having it pointed straight down? I dont have any other means of hanging it but I just realized this could be the reason. What do you think and how could I hang it up if thats the issue.

 

[renich]

We had a post on this a bit ago and I think the end result was inconclusive. Here's the link to the post:
http://mybeardie.com/bearded-dragon-forum/lighting/verticle-uvb-mount/

So, I guess I don't have an answer to your question. I'm sorry.

To take a step back, based on the pic you provided, he does seem to be accentuated underneath, but not nearly as dark as stress marks get.

 

[SoleSky]

Yes, he never seems aggressive and he has never ever lashed out at me. He seems pretty happy from what I can tell his temps are good and I feed him 3 times a day. I am soon moving him to the 40 gallon so we will see the result. Maybe he feels too contained in the 20 gallon. Either way I will keep you posted. I read somewhere that juveniles get stress marks for no apparent reason sometimes. Maybe thats just how he is. I do appreciate all of your incite though.

 

[renich]

Yeah, nothing is striking out at me here. It could be the small tank and needing more room. They grow to their potential when they are in the perfect surroundings.