Bearded Dragon Behavior Questions

[ashleylimbo]

My bearded dragon has had a charcoal black beard all day. It's not puffed out but just black. She's also running around her tank like a bat out of hell, glass surfing and head bobbing. My assumptions are either she's cranky cause she hasn't pooped or her temp isn't right. We don't have a temp reader yet but will be purchasing one as soon as possible because I think the temp might not be where it needs to be. We have a 40 gallon tank and are using a 150 watt heating lamp. I tried to give her a bath cause she usually poops in her bath but that didn't seem to work either. I turned off her heat lamp right now and she has calmed down. Can someone tell me what would be the right temp for her. And or what the problem might actually be. I'm almost positive it's one of the two things I mentioned.


Please help this fairly new bearded dragon mom make her baby happy again (;

 

[PatsyB]

How old is she? Temps should be 105-110 degrees in the basking area and around 80-85 on the cool side during the day. Nighttime temps can go down to 65 degrees, anything less than that you need a CHE to heat at night.

Head bobbing is something they do to show dominance. It sounds like there is something she sees outside of her tank that she feels threatened by. Maybe a dog or a cat, even something simple as a fish in a bowl or even her feeders. You can try covering 3 sides of her tank to see if she calms down. She could also just want to get out of her tank and run around.