Help, bearded dragon outside over night.

[Sunny lil dragon mom]

Yesterday my 11 month old bearded dragon escaped outside and ran into our woods at about 2pm when it was 70 degrees F outside. We searched the woods and couldn’t find him. Temp dropped down to 41 degrees F last night. Today at around 2pm, I went back out into the woods to look for him and I heard something fall in the tree I was standing next to, it was our bearded dragon. He was not moving and I thought for sure he was dead but when I pulled him out of the vines he was caught in he opened his mouth and started thrashing his body. I’ve put him back in his cage and currently have him under his basking light. I’m not sure what I need to do from here. I don’t know if he can recover but I want to give him the best chance I can. What should I be looking out for? Any suggestions?

 

[Sadie]

Yesterday my 11 month old bearded dragon escaped outside and ran into our woods at about 2pm when it was 70 degrees F outside. We searched the woods and couldn’t find him. Temp dropped down to 41 degrees F last night. Today at around 2pm, I went back out into the woods to look for him and I heard something fall in the tree I was standing next to, it was our bearded dragon. He was not moving and I thought for sure he was dead but when I pulled him out of the vines he was caught in he opened his mouth and started thrashing his body. I’ve put him back in his cage and currently have him under his basking light. I’m not sure what I need to do from here. I don’t know if he can recover but I want to give him the best chance I can. What should I be looking out for? Any suggestions?

Wow you were lucky to find him so fast- look for black bearding and his normal behavior - he might be a little traumatized from the adventure- eating might be off - give him a few days see how he acts

 

[Sunny lil dragon mom]

Wow you were lucky to find him so fast- look for black bearding and his normal behavior - he might be a little traumatized from the adventure- eating might be off - give him a few days see how he acts

He started acting off a few days before he got loose. He was puffing his beard a lot, glass surfing, and his beard would turn jet black & puff out his beard and open his mouth when I would try to handle him. I don’t know if that’s because of him hitting maturity: puberty, spring? I felt so stupid that I took him out of his tank when he was clearly in an agitated mood. He always liked to sit with me on the porch and bask in the sun on the warm bricks and he had been going over to the window the past two days and staring out so I thought maybe he was just telling me he wanted to go bask in the sun outside. I thought maybe doing that would calm him. Instead when my boyfriend went to open the door he leaped out of my sons hands and took off into the woods. I’m so thankful that we found him. Even if he doesn’t make it through this I’m glad he’s not out in the woods freezing to death. I just wish I understood what made him become more agitated and aggressive the last few days. We just found out that he’s a boy about a wk ago when I noticed his behavior changing so I decided to peak under his tail again. I hadn’t checked since he was like 5-6 months old and at that time he didn’t have pronounced bumps and I thought he was female.

 

[Sadie]

He started acting off a few days before he got loose. He was puffing his beard a lot, glass surfing, and his beard would turn jet black & puff out his beard and open his mouth when I would try to handle him. I don’t know if that’s because of him hitting maturity: puberty, spring? I felt so stupid that I took him out of his tank when he was clearly in an agitated mood. He always liked to sit with me on the porch and bask in the sun on the warm bricks and he had been going over to the window the past two days and staring out so I thought maybe he was just telling me he wanted to go bask in the sun outside. I thought maybe doing that would calm him. Instead when my boyfriend went to open the door he leaped out of my sons hands and took off into the woods. I’m so thankful that we found him. Even if he doesn’t make it through this I’m glad he’s not out in the woods freezing to death. I just wish I understood what made him become more agitated and aggressive the last few days. We just found out that he’s a boy about a wk ago when I noticed his behavior changing so I decided to peak under his tail again. I hadn’t checked since he was like 5-6 months old and at that time he didn’t have pronounced bumps and I thought he was female.

Ok it could be spring fever it is mating season -- what are you using for your UVB? It is always good to go over peoples lighting and temps because it does have an effect on their behavior-- please no coils-- temps need to be surface basking temps taken w/ a digital probe thermometer -- temps should be 95-100 for a juvie / adult dragon - something obviously changed and like over night -- how old is the UVB?

 

[Sunny lil dragon mom]

Ok it could be spring fever it is mating season -- what are you using for your UVB? It is always good to go over peoples lighting and temps because it does have an effect on their behavior-- please no coils-- temps need to be surface basking temps taken w/ a digital probe thermometer -- temps should be 95-100 for a juvie / adult dragon - something obviously changed and like over night -- how old is the UVB?

I’m using the T10 HO 24 inch UVB, installed in Nov 2021, so only 5 months old. Basking temps hover between 94-102 depending on ambient room temp. I’m thinking spring fever/mating season since nothing has been changed in his habitat or with his diet. He was eating/pooping normally and nothing seemed out of ordinary, he just started showing some aggression and restlessness the past few days and he was trying to climb out of his enclosure more. When I would open the doors he’d jump out of his cage and crawl over to the window that looked out on the backyard/woods.
This evening he moved from his basking spot into his cave and has been curled up inside his cave for a few hours now. Poor guy probably didn’t sleep at all the whole time he was outside. I put some fresh salad and a few Dubai’s in his enclosure but he wasn’t interested. His color is mostly back to his normal yellow, orange, & brown, his beard is still a little grey and he’s got dark stress lines on his stomach. When I first found him he was very dull grey and brown with black beard and dark black stress lines on his stomach.

 

[Sadie]

I’m using the T10 HO 24 inch UVB, installed in Nov 2021, so only 5 months old. Basking temps hover between 94-102 depending on ambient room temp. I’m thinking spring fever/mating season since nothing has been changed in his habitat or with his diet. He was eating/pooping normally and nothing seemed out of ordinary, he just started showing some aggression and restlessness the past few days and he was trying to climb out of his enclosure more. When I would open the doors he’d jump out of his cage and crawl over to the window that looked out on the backyard/woods.
This evening he moved from his basking spot into his cave and has been curled up inside his cave for a few hours now. Poor guy probably didn’t sleep at all the whole time he was outside. I put some fresh salad and a few Dubai’s in his enclosure but he wasn’t interested. His color is mostly back to his normal yellow, orange, & brown, his beard is still a little grey and he’s got dark stress lines on his stomach. When I first found him he was very dull grey and brown with black beard and dark black stress lines on his stomach.

Stressed him out being outside- falling out of the tree the cold weather would of put him in a state of brumation- you got there just in time- the stress lines will go away eventually - please make sure your uvb is correctly distanced and placed- fine screen mesh like a screen door needs to be inside the tank- 12-15 inches- directly above the basking decor- wide holed type 8-10 inches directly above the basking decor- screens block 30% of the uvb rays

 

[Sunny lil dragon mom]

Yup, we have the wide hole type screen with the light fixture sitting on top placed 8-10 inches from the basking decor. Lighting covers 3/4th the length of the cage.
We were building a larger custom enclosure for him that is almost finished. Just been letting it air out from where I made custom decor and put in slate tile. Was planning on moving him into it this weekend but now I think I’ll wait a week to first give him time to recover from this trauma.

 

[Sadie]

Yup, we have the wide hole type screen with the light fixture sitting on top placed 8-10 inches from the basking decor. Lighting covers 3/4th the length of the cage.
We were building a larger custom enclosure for him that is almost finished. Just been letting it air out from where I made custom decor and put in slate tile. Was planning on moving him into it this weekend but now I think I’ll wait a week to first give him time to recover from this trauma.

Good idea- he needs time to readjust and he's going to go thru relocation stress when you move him -