Greatly confused about temperament/housing...?

[ZambieMaster]

Okay, I post again feeling like I'm doing something wrong or I'm possibly stupid. Kratos (male) and Athena (female) whom I posted about before have broke my understanding on bearded dragons. we changed their enclosures entirely to be massive for them, changed their lights around greatly, got different ones and types and heating/UVB and everything. We did all this for them and they became aggressive and restless 24/7 in what was a factually better enclosure and were even fed feeder insects more often than just dead ones before and during the change. That said we gave it a month and without any change in them we put them back in the small enclosures which are not "good" for their health because of size and length, but Athena calmed down a lot almost instantly, but Kratos has had no change whatsoever in either tank.

We adopted them, knowing they were abused and both housed in a 20 gallon tank together, so we figured a slow introduction to a better and healthier enclosure would be better, but I don't know what to do anymore and we're borderline thinking of getting rid of them because of how they've become because we don't know what to do or fix. I feel like I've done everything wrong by trying to help them. Is it possible for a beardie to like something bad for them or find comfort in it, or am I really doing something wrong and just don't know? They're not sick, they're -extremely- active, have stress marks, Kratos is shedding only on his head and Athena bruised or possibly busted her lip on the "better" enclosure with how much she was glass surfing and slamming her body into it.

I don't want to give up on them but they're driving me to that point, so please, if anyone has advice or can help me please tell me. I don't know what should be done anymore about them.

 

[Skybug]

Are there backgrounds in the enclosure? IF a beardie sees their reflection that can be a stresser , i dont know why theyd be banging around and acting aggressive towards you , whats the new setup look like?

 

[ZambieMaster]

Are there backgrounds in the enclosure? IF a beardie sees their reflection that can be a stresser , i dont know why theyd be banging around and acting aggressive towards you , whats the new setup look like?

It was this (we re-done the lights entirely to where they were above them so the picture is dated in that regard) and we had acrylic glass which was non-reflective because we knew of Kratos being greatly stressed from his reflection before thus the acrylic instead of paneled glass. View attachment 25583

But now Athena is back in a 40 gallon tank View attachment 25586
(inside look is dated but same tank) and Kratos is in a plastic non see-through tub here but i have no clue on gallon size though.


View attachment 25589

I just know that what they had before wasn't really healthy for them, and my parents gave me the choice that they can be misserable in a healthy enclosure, or happier in a bad one, but it seems like both of them have left them unhappy more or less.

 

[ZambieMaster]

Are there backgrounds in the enclosure? IF a beardie sees their reflection that can be a stresser , i dont know why theyd be banging around and acting aggressive towards you , whats the new setup look like?

(Don't know how to delete the previous reply so please ignore that one cause well; major edit on my part, had to fix images as to not crash my entire pc omg, please don't mind the links, my pc did not like the pictures at all so look at this reply and not the broke one, if it is broke on your end, my computer froze 8 times replying!)

It was this: (image link instead on my previous post) https://www.beardeddragonforum.com/threads/two-separate-beardies-hate-their-new-better-home.24105/

(we re-done the lights entirely to where they were above them so the picture is dated in that regard) and we had acrylic glass which was non-reflective because we knew of Kratos being greatly stressed from his reflection before thus the acrylic instead of paneled glass.

But now Athena is back in a 40 gallon tank

Tries to mate but doesnt?

Hello, I'm brand new to these forums and I've ran out of ideas as to where to turn to for this question as videos and google has failed me thus far. I own two beardies, they are rescues and both to my knowledge full grown adults. The female is small and I can assume a hypo beardie and is very...

www.beardeddragonforum.com

(inside look is dated but same tank) and Kratos is in a plastic non see-through tub here but i have no clue on gallon size though.

Tries to mate but doesnt?

Hello, I'm brand new to these forums and I've ran out of ideas as to where to turn to for this question as videos and google has failed me thus far. I own two beardies, they are rescues and both to my knowledge full grown adults. The female is small and I can assume a hypo beardie and is very...

www.beardeddragonforum.com

I just know that what they had before wasn't really healthy for them, and my parents gave me the choice that they can be miserable in a healthy enclosure, or happier in a bad one, but it seems like both of them have left them unhappy more or less.

 

[Skybug]

The only things i can see in your tank setup that might be contributing to stress, are the lighting being close, they need to be 9-11 inches off the ground so the beardy doesn’t burn themselves or break the bulb i know it seems like its not possible , with the way the dresser is , from your previous posts it sounds like you have tried almost everything , dont ping pong them between the tanks anymore, and remove all the little decor for a while , i dont see any hides in their tanks? IF u can put even a cardboard box in there that might help, who has the worse temperament of the two? The boy? I know it seems hopeless at this point, dont give up just yet, boy bearded dragons are very crazy so he might not change (know that goin forward) id focus on the girl if you can ,right before my bearded dragon uses the bathroom she runs all around her tank very crazy like, bumping,glass surfing, trying to get out etc., are they eating? If they’re so stressed they wont eat then id br concerned, i knoe u said its been a month , really thats the minimum time it can take for them to settle In, how active were they before? They could have alot of pent up energy being in shoe box together, let me ask in their new setup does air go between the two tanks? Like if the boy farted would the fumes go up and into the girls tank? If yes make shure the boy is in the top (we dont want to stress the female with the smell of the male) honestly at this point id worry only for the female sanity, ive seen alot of crazy male beardies, but the female should be calm, get them a cardboard box cut a hole big enough they can squeeze in, theres no where for them to go so they want to go through the front, please dont give up just yet, there were lots of moments i was frustrated with my beardie, aswell i just kept up with repitition and consistency, aslong as they’re not hurting themselves on the new lights , i think you need to try and pull through, putting them back in the old tank was a set back, u basically told them(when u guys act up i give you wat you want) try and cover their tank with a towel maybe outside stimulation is getting them upset, try and give updates if you can. YOU can get through this dont be discouraged, , not all beardies are fat slugs that just sit there, some can be very active, try and take them out (separately) to get their wiggles out, sorry if i havent said anything new : / ur situation is quite perplexing

 

[HoomanSlave]

This sounds a bit odd, but a pattern I've noticed is that beardies who are separated from their partners seem to go through a period of stress. Maybe it was the sudden separation and enclosure change that's bothering them? Not necessarily because they were bonded, but because they were used to living together and that abruptly stopped.

 

[ZambieMaster]

The only things i can see in your tank setup that might be contributing to stress, are the lighting being close, they need to be 9-11 inches off the ground so the beardy doesn’t burn themselves or break the bulb i know it seems like its not possible , with the way the dresser is , from your previous posts it sounds like you have tried almost everything , dont ping pong them between the tanks anymore, and remove all the little decor for a while , i dont see any hides in their tanks? IF u can put even a cardboard box in there that might help, who has the worse temperament of the two? The boy? I know it seems hopeless at this point, dont give up just yet, boy bearded dragons are very crazy so he might not change (know that goin forward) id focus on the girl if you can ,right before my bearded dragon uses the bathroom she runs all around her tank very crazy like, bumping,glass surfing, trying to get out etc., are they eating? If they’re so stressed they wont eat then id br concerned, i knoe u said its been a month , really thats the minimum time it can take for them to settle In, how active were they before? They could have alot of pent up energy being in shoe box together, let me ask in their new setup does air go between the two tanks? Like if the boy farted would the fumes go up and into the girls tank? If yes make shure the boy is in the top (we dont want to stress the female with the smell of the male) honestly at this point id worry only for the female sanity, ive seen alot of crazy male beardies, but the female should be calm, get them a cardboard box cut a hole big enough they can squeeze in, theres no where for them to go so they want to go through the front, please dont give up just yet, there were lots of moments i was frustrated with my beardie, aswell i just kept up with repitition and consistency, aslong as they’re not hurting themselves on the new lights , i think you need to try and pull through, putting them back in the old tank was a set back, u basically told them(when u guys act up i give you wat you want) try and cover their tank with a towel maybe outside stimulation is getting them upset, try and give updates if you can. YOU can get through this dont be discouraged, , not all beardies are fat slugs that just sit there, some can be very active, try and take them out (separately) to get their wiggles out, sorry if i havent said anything new : / ur situation is quite perplexing

As said before the pictures i had there were older and i did add two hides in the tanks, they were tubs of sorts that we make-shifted into being hides one grey and yellow one and the lights were completely re-arranged because the lights were a problem we knew of and then went to fix. The craziest one was in fact the female which then made the male start acting out immensely, but she's calm and the male hasn't calmed down since. We also tried having the male on top/female on bottom which made the male even more angry, we switched it around then the female got angry so both options left one or both angry. The female was pretty much never active before because she went through brumation and pretty much stayed in her hide 24/7 even a few times when she was awake. They both have still been eating, live/dead food pretty good and still accept water and misting. I also did have the tanks covered because that was a concern of mine too was them being stressed by the outside (and we have a cat who would smack the glass and upset them so i tried that) but my parents got mad at me and made me stop taking the blankets/towels down and really those didn't calm them down much. I took a lot of info from previous posts to try and figure this all out, but the females been calm since yesterday being in the 40 gallon but the male is still super-agro in both tanks and even pricked me in the hand when I tried to scootch him from banging his head against the top of the tub he's in. :I

 

[ZambieMaster]

This sounds a bit odd, but a pattern I've noticed is that beardies who are separated from their partners seem to go through a period of stress. Maybe it was the sudden separation and enclosure change that's bothering them? Not necessarily because they were bonded, but because they were used to living together and that abruptly stopped.

We had thought that too at one point, but when we put them together again they almost within seconds tried to fight one another. Not the average male-female 'dance' but tail and foot biting from the female who flattened out and puffed herself up and the male doing the same but biting the neck -as if he were- to mate, but never has with her, just always got on her, bit her and drug her around black and puffed as he could be, but never doing anything than actually just causing her harm. Before all this he ripped a spike out of her head and made her slam her head into a hard rock which stunned her for awhile in the past which is what enforced us to separate them, but she was also extremely submissive before and calm with lots of foot waving at least daily, slow head bobs and movements all the time which have now ceased since moving them.

 

[Emilia Thuet]

Do completely separate them, like don’t even take them out at the same time and give them a week to get used to their new homes. So don’t take them out or anything and slowly over time they will get used to them. I’d watch the female just in case she is in fact pregnant so if she does any scratching on the floor or like she’s trying to dig put in a dig box so she has some place to lay her eggs. From now on don’t take them out together, do separate outings and let them adventure in another room so they don’t see each other. Hopefully after you give them this time to adjust and they destress from not being together anymore they will go back to their normal selves. You just have to give them time

 

[Broly]

What UVB’s did you get in the end? Did you get the T8 that takes up approx 70% of the length of the tank and mount it from directly above? And remove any coil UVB’s? And also, your UVA Heat bulb, it’s above them now right? What distance and what temps are you getting directly under on their basking spot? I apologise if you’ve answered these before but I’m not entirely sure from these msg and your older post. (Asking those Q’s in regards to the new enclosures because I guess ideally you’ll be moving them back into those as the small one and the plastic tub aren’t suitable as you know) - x