Head Banging

[Mischa]

HI ALL! I have had my girl for over a year, she's a 3-ish year old bearded dragon who I adopted after her previous owner left her with someone who did not like or want a reptile. I had her in a 40 gallon tank with climbing places, fresh water, eating pretty well. Short version: I noticed she was glass surfing much more in the last few months so I started doing my research on what to buy, how big, what to put in it, etc. She measures 19" so I went for the 75 gallon, almost doubling her area; kept her dish, her climbing "furniture"; added a bigger driftwood so she could get closer to the heat for basking...it was lots closer before with her old house. Eventually I am going to turn her home into a bio terrarium but wanted to take baby steps so she wouldn't stress completely out. Her old house had the green flooring that you get at a chain pet store, new house has paper towels as flooring. She always sleeps in her home but last night was the first time she slept in my daughter's bed because she was going nuts and would not settle. All lights off and still no calming down, it was nonstop. She was as happy as a reptile could be. She was snuggled into her blankie and didn't move all night, probably because she wore her little tail off for so long. So today is when we decided to see how she does in her new home. She immediately started to surf, tried to give food - no bueno. I picked her up once calm again, I put her on a branch that she had before. She sat there a minute or two, then went straight back to surfing but she added literally hitting her head on the glass. I hadn't seen this before and scared the crap outta me. It wasn't just her head touching the glass that made a sound, this was sort of rearing back her head (a bit) and intentionally hitting the glass. Nope, Mom isn't gonna let you do this! Picked her up, she was still freaking out, clawing. After some minor first aid on me, I took her to a room where she had full range without any sensory-inducing noises and without anyone watching her. I stayed but was on the other side of the room; wasn't in her face. After about 10 minutes of her climbing the walls, she has finally started to calm down. Not scratching anymore, she wore her little butt out; I call her "fatty" sometimes so she definitely is healthy and not dehydrated. SO!! After all this info, what can I do about her head-smashing and to make it a bit more easier to move her into her new home?

 

[Epicuser]

Take her to a vet to check if she has mites or stuff, which means do a checkup on her. If there are no problems, try to get gloves and pick her up gently and put her in.

 

[Silver dragons]

HI ALL! I have had my girl for over a year, she's a 3-ish year old bearded dragon who I adopted after her previous owner left her with someone who did not like or want a reptile. I had her in a 40 gallon tank with climbing places, fresh water, eating pretty well. Short version: I noticed she was glass surfing much more in the last few months so I started doing my research on what to buy, how big, what to put in it, etc. She measures 19" so I went for the 75 gallon, almost doubling her area; kept her dish, her climbing "furniture"; added a bigger driftwood so she could get closer to the heat for basking...it was lots closer before with her old house. Eventually I am going to turn her home into a bio terrarium but wanted to take baby steps so she wouldn't stress completely out. Her old house had the green flooring that you get at a chain pet store, new house has paper towels as flooring. She always sleeps in her home but last night was the first time she slept in my daughter's bed because she was going nuts and would not settle. All lights off and still no calming down, it was nonstop. She was as happy as a reptile could be. She was snuggled into her blankie and didn't move all night, probably because she wore her little tail off for so long. So today is when we decided to see how she does in her new home. She immediately started to surf, tried to give food - no bueno. I picked her up once calm again, I put her on a branch that she had before. She sat there a minute or two, then went straight back to surfing but she added literally hitting her head on the glass. I hadn't seen this before and scared the crap outta me. It wasn't just her head touching the glass that made a sound, this was sort of rearing back her head (a bit) and intentionally hitting the glass. Nope, Mom isn't gonna let you do this! Picked her up, she was still freaking out, clawing. After some minor first aid on me, I took her to a room where she had full range without any sensory-inducing noises and without anyone watching her. I stayed but was on the other side of the room; wasn't in her face. After about 10 minutes of her climbing the walls, she has finally started to calm down. Not scratching anymore, she wore her little butt out; I call her "fatty" sometimes so she definitely is healthy and not dehydrated. SO!! After all this info, what can I do about her head-smashing and to make it a bit more easier to move her into her new home?

Hello and welcome to the form! Sorry if I'm not understanding this correctly but it seems like the problem is her glass surfing and running into the side of the cage. Since it is a she, she might be laying eggs, is she trying to dig a lot too?