Odd behavior please help.x

[Mollymoo98]

So my beardie for the past 4-5 days has been running around like crazy, bobbing his head against the glass, doing this weird back and forth head bob thing?, scratching the glass and jumping at the glass from his log.
He is still eating though not as much and he is pooping WAY more than normal about 2-3 times a day.
His tank is 97-105 degree's on the hot side and around 80 on the cool side.
He has a Reptisun basking light that is a 100 watts and a Reptisun t10 10.0 tube UVB light.
His tank is 55 gallons which I know is too small and we are working on getting a 90 gallon.
He is fed Collard greens, Dandelion greens, Escarole, Green bean and Butternut squash as well as crickets as a staple.
He does not have a black beard or stress marks.
He is a rescue from my sister where he was severely malnourished and wasn't given proper lighting for 5 yrs and has recently in the past yr gotten healthy.
He is six yrs old so, I don't think it is puberty but with his unhealthy previous environment could it be? Maybe his development was stunted?
His poop is no longer runny and is the right consistency and he is not dehydrated
He is peeling but this is not his usual peeling behaviour.
He has not been through brumation or an idle period.
Does anyone have any idea what's up with him? It's worrying me a lot and I'm afraid he may hurt himself. I have been taking him out a lot hoping to let him burn energy but it doesn't work.

P.s I have no other beardies
Below are pictures of his set up and him

 

[Janelle]

Are you sure it’s a male? If it’s a female, she could have eggs...

 

[Mollymoo98]

So yes we checked She is a girl. But I don't believe she has eggs as she has never been anywhere near a male also she isn't digging she is jumping and banging on the glass.

 

[Janelle]

A female beardie doesn’t need a male to produce eggs. It may not be eggs at all, but I think I’d provide a laying box just in case, see if she does anything with it.

 

[Mollymoo98]

What is laying box? And how do I proceed to give her that?

 

[Mollymoo98]

I wrapped her in a blanket and she calmed down and went to sleep

 

[Mollymoo98]

Okay so I've felt her tummy I don't feel any eggs

 

[Janelle]

Sweet girl. Have you noticed her gain any weight lately? Or does she seem rounder than normal at all? Do a search for lay box or laying box. I know I’ve seen instructions somewhere around the forum...it’s basically top soil or a top soil/play sand mixed that lets them dig and lay eggs in it.
Maybe she was just crazy-hyper like a sleepy toddler.

 

[Mollymoo98]

No, her weight has been consistent, and her appearance hasn't changed. It's been like this for several days. I'm thinking it might be the tank or she got a bunch of pent-up energy. She is acting like an young dragon but she is 6 but she was unhealthy before I got her could her development have been stunted and she is just now hitting puberty?

 

[Janelle]

I have no idea. Sorry! Hopefully one of the forum pros will have more ideas.

 

[PatsyB]

Could just be normal weird beardie behavior. Can you give her time out of her tank in a room where she can run off some energy? Since her tank is small she doesn't have much room to move around so giving her a safe place out of the tank would help.

Try to put the UVB and the basking bulb one in front of the other. The actual bulbs need to overlap to synthesize D3.

I would get her poop tested. My girl Dolly was a rescue and she would go 4 times a day and it stunk real bad. I had her tested and she had pinworms. After a course of antibiotics, she started going once a day.

 

[Yvonne G]

That tank seems awfully small to me.

 

[Paul&Jessi Hausman]

It does seem normal- maybe now that she's healthy and comfy again she's just being herself But I would suggest an eggbox anyway- if they have eggs and can't get them out it will kill them, and quickly. Unfortunately we lost a chameleon this way because we didn't know at the time, and it took too long to drive out to the reptile vet to find out :'( I hope everything's alright though, and thank you for rescuing this sweet girl. She is gorgeous❤

 

[Neuro]

Hello,

I too have a female bearded dragon. She is almost 3 years old. She has been exhibiting this behavior 2 times a year since we’ve gotten her. It’s to the point where I’m afraid she is going to hurt herself in her tank. We set up a basking spot in the living room and just take her out and let her run.

Once she is out of her tank she is happy as can be. I have her in a 75 gallon tank. So I don’t think it’s tank size at all. Basking bulb is a MegaRay MVB. Temps are good. I even have a Solarmeter 6.5R and have verified she is getting proper UVB.

Honestly not sure why she does this. It happens around April and then again in November / December. Lasts for about 4-6 weeks each time. Very challenging as I have 4 cats and 4 dogs. So we constantly have to make sure she is safe and that no animals get locked in with her. After the 4 weeks or so she is back to normal and will happily stay in her enclosure again.

Never seen any digging behavior. I have been on other forums and some have said it’s normal and they just get stir crazy. Others think she may have eggs but is just absorbing them and that’s why there is no digging behavior etc.

I sometimes wonder if she is in heat and looking for a boy or something, I’m honestly not sure. And the reptile vet in my area is horrible and I don’t want to take her their again unless I absolutely have to.

I don’t have any answers, I wish I did. Just know you are not alone regarding this type of behavior. I even setup a motion detection camera on her tank that will send my phone alerts when she starts flipping out. That way I can run home from work and let her out before she hurts herself. Thankfully I work close to home and have a job that allows for that.

Hope this helps. If anyone more knowledgeable than I can weigh in that would be great. I originally had her in a 50 gallon tank so I thought tank size might be the issue as well. Got her in a 75 and she is still doing this twice a year. :/

Thanks everyone!

 

[Galapoodle]

My beardie girl also does this periodically, usually in Spring, my theory is that she is in heat. An older lady friend I know from Australia suggested it was that when I first described the behaviour couple of years ago.

There are many factors like improved living conditions (more natural light) and improved health that also contributed to my beardies sudden and 4-6 weeks long period like this, it's happened 3 times in the last couple years, she is only 3.5yo now but based on the description, it's much the same. Mine has never laid a still-clutch of eggs yet or brumated either. She's looking for a mate I think. It's a good period of excercise for them, and she'll need to be out of the tank to not damage herself snout running on the glass. It's like babysitting a toddler too when they are out, but it's also hilarious. Head bobbin and climbing and jumping. So much climbing...

I could be wrong but it sounds just like it and same with what Neuro above said.

 

[Latosha Miller]

my beardie is a female around 11mts and she does this behavior of bobbing, and trying to dig the glass when she is ready to lay her eggs. she has already had 3 clutches with about 35 eggs each time. so you might want to get her some dirt to dig in so she can lay them.