Glass Surfing

[grayliz]

My little buddy Ron likes to glass surf if he’s been left in his enclosure too long. Not sure of the gallons because it’s a weird size but his enclosure is about 4x3, and has a hide, some wood, a skull, his food bowls, and plenty of spaces to roam/explore. When I bring him out he calms down but just sits in one spot looking around, so I’m not even sure whether he enjoys leaving the enclosure. If I leave him in there, he surfs and digs in his little sandbox area (rest of the tank is tile substrate) but doesn’t appear to be doing this with the purpose of making a comfy spot to lay. I think he just likes flinging sand. He’s about 2 years old; I got him from a family in the city who didn’t have time for him and have had him for maybe a week, so we’re still learning about each other.

Any thoughts as to why he’s up to these shenanigans?

 

[Hdrydr31]

More than likely he's doing it because he's male and it's warm and he wants to find a mate. There are some that surf and surf and surf for really no reason.. Pasty (other admin here) her male surfed for years driving her crazy he has settled but he is who he is.. lol Mine surf because they want out. I have a room that is safe from everything and I let them run free in there to get the energy out, doesn't always work but oh well lol

 

[xxlissydollxx]

How long have you had him? Snowball has a permanant callus on his lip from glass surfing so long (I rescued him about a year ago).i found that after a few months in my home, and lots of attention he stopped. Now it might sound silly, but do you have him in an isolated spot? I had snowball In a room all alone, and he glass surfed like crazy. . I brought his tank down to the livingroom where there are people and a tv, and he hasn't since. Only when he needs out to poop. Maybe he needs entertainment? That's from my personal experience, they are very social creatures im not a pro lol

 

[Kel1203]

Mine used to do it all the time, I'm no expert but I do have 8yrs experience. Beardies 'surf' generally for two reasons:

1 - he is experiencing pure out-of-your-mind type of boredom - I used to have a cat who would have killed him if given the chance, so I couldn't get out of the viv much, but now there's no danger he has the run around of the flat. The only time he did it then, was for reason 2.
Please note that because mine has no sense of height and thinks he's superman, he's only generally allowed to be on floor level, I also have a barrier to prevent me squashing him when I open the door and enter the room (just so you know!). They also like to lay on extension sockets for the heat, so cover that too, if you do decide to let him out.
2 - animals can't see glass so he is trying to find a spot where there is no glass in order to get out, for whatever reason, good or bad.
Mine did it even when both glass doors are in the middle on the runners, so I put some tape on the glass so he can see it and it changed his habit immediately. He hasn't done it ever since - at all, not even once. Watch him closely, does his beard tend to go black? That's likely to be frustration.

I also expect that he is being so still when he is out, because he is assessing the new -or fairly new- situation (again, mine does that too), for little guys like him, your one room is MASSIVE, he doesn't know that there is no danger...maybe he's doing it for that? Also, we need to remind ourselves of what they do in the wild, they have to be still to e.g. hunt for jumpers too, who would otherwise hop away.

I'm am hoping you will find a way to let him come in or out as he pleases. My beardie loves the doors just to be open, for fresh air I guess, he likes to 'chill' (and sometimes sleep) - by laying along the glass runners.

Watch some videos, do some research yourself. Watching video's is the easiest and most convenient way to learn, and because YouTube's 'addictive' you'll find you've learn't a lot more than what you went there for! This website has great links too, but I'm new to the website so I haven't figured out the map yet. I found a great link and printed off the text, but I can't seem to find it again I'm afraid.

Best of luck!
Kerry

 

[PatsyB]

My guy glass danced for 3 years! I always let him out of his tank and gave him plenty of free roam time and he ran and ran and then would find a corner to sleep in. As soon as I put him in his tank he would start dancing again. I just accepted him for the free spirit that he was and eventually he calmed down and stopped.

 

[Kel1203]

Oh wow, really...a staff actually thinks he's dancing?!

Poor 'guy'. He stopped because he's given up, and they find a spot to sleep because their search has exhausted them, what is/was he trying to find?- did you not ever, over those years wonder that?

Here are a very basic fact about BD's:
- Is 'dancing' part of their natural behaviour anywhere? - no.

I'm actually glad you responded, I came on to your website for advice so I posted a few threads to see how reliable your advice is or who your followers are - 'dancing' answers my question. Tell a vet that you think bearded dragons dance, they'll be shocked you said that too.

 

[PatsyB]

Oh wow, really...a staff actually thinks he's dancing?!

Poor 'guy'. He stopped because he's given up, and they find a spot to sleep because their search has exhausted them, what is/was he trying to find?- did you not ever, over those years wonder that?

Here are a very basic fact about BD's:
- Is 'dancing' part of their natural behaviour anywhere? - no.

I'm actually glad you responded, I came on to your website for advice so I posted a few threads to see how reliable your advice is or who your followers are - 'dancing' answers my question. Tell a vet that you think bearded dragons dance, they'll be shocked you said that too.

So if you’ve been around beardies for 8 years you know that it’s typically called glass dancing or glass surfing. Are they grooving to a beat? No. Do they do it in the wild? Probably not but I’ve never seen one in the wild. Why do they do it? Who fucking knows. I gave my boy hours upon hours of free roam time inside and outside and he still “surfed” in his tank.

I’m just a moderator in a group that i didn’t start. I never claimed that this was my site.

 

[Hdrydr31]

Oh wow, really...a staff actually thinks he's dancing?!

Poor 'guy'. He stopped because he's given up, and they find a spot to sleep because their search has exhausted them, what is/was he trying to find?- did you not ever, over those years wonder that?

Here are a very basic fact about BD's:
- Is 'dancing' part of their natural behaviour anywhere? - no.

I'm actually glad you responded, I came on to your website for advice so I posted a few threads to see how reliable your advice is or who your followers are - 'dancing' answers my question. Tell a vet that you think bearded dragons dance, they'll be shocked you said that too.

It doesn't matter what it is called Dancing or Glass Surfing, they will all do this at some point in their lives, some will dance/surf more than others, some want out, some want to poop, some want to be with you. And another reason they dance/surf is to find a mate. I would imagine that somewhere in nature they come up on an object that they want to get around or over the action will likely be the same as what our domesticated dragons do and that's a "surfing" action..We as people see this and describe the action to what we think fits..

Patsy is well versed in dragons and is very in tune with her pets and she tried everything to "calm" him it never made a difference in his behavior. He is a wild child and getting him time to burn off his extra energy never made any change. Likely he wanted to find a mate, but with patsy being responsible she wasn't going to let that happen. As with any living being the older they get the less they move around.

So some people call it Dancing some call it glass surfing and I would highly doubt that a vet would be shocked they would know exactly what was meant as that's what it looks like.
We all are here because we have dragons and want to share experience and knowledge NONE of us are vets, NONE of us know everything but we all start somewhere..However we always try to speak in terms that most novice people will get and relate.
So if you don't think the advice given is to your liking you don't have to stay..