Help needed...

[LukeJlord]

Hello!

Im new to bearded dragons but have kept other reptiles in the past and have just re-homed a beardie from some friends who could no longer give her enough attention but are having lots of difficulty with her so far.

A bit of background on her... her first owners starved her and trapped her tail in the glass meaning she has a much shorter tail which can be seen in the photos. She has always been kept on calc sand and for quite a while was without UVB light too.

When we adopted her our local pet shop who we get our food from had just had her board with them for a few weeks and had put her on birch chipping and told us to do the same now we had her as the sand wasnt doing her any good. She has been on birch chippings for about 3 weeks now and for the past few months has had a bright red basking bulb which has also been way too strong and caused her tank to get too hot as we didnt have a temperature controlled thermostat. Her basking bulb has also been left on 24/7 and her uvb bulb was on for around 14 hours a day.

After doing lots of research im finding out that red bulbs are really bad along with the substrate being bad for her too.

She spends most of her day trying to climb up the sides of the walls or clawing at the glass, what does this mean please and is this a bad sign?

Her last owner were feeding her 10 locust every other day too, shes is around 3 years old and weights 235g if i remember right

I have now ordered some reptile carpet, a new bulb, a habistat thermostat and a timer. She goes for a poo probably every other day but is quite often very lethargic and slow. We get her out for a run around most day too but just want to make sure we are doing right by her.

 

[PatsyB]

Take a look at the links under my comment, there's some great general information. Glad that you realized the red light and substrate was bad. At her age she doesn't need to eat bugs every day, since she wasn't cared for though, I would give her bugs every other day, as many as she wants just to get her to a good weight. After a few months, I would cut back on her bugs to maybe every 3 days.

She might see her reflection in the glass and that could be making her climb the walls. You could cover the glass to block her reflection and see if that helps. She might also just want to be let out to run around and blow off some steam.

 

[Kyle F]

Honey, when she "glass dances" it is usually a sign that there is a few buns in the oven. Yes, you read that right. Your beardie is most likely pregnant and the glass dancing (usually standing up, scratching the glass repeatedly) is a way for her to relieve stress,

However, if her glass dancing is more of a "sees herself in the glass, and starts doing a couple side moves of her head as she basically attacks the glass with her face, and then claws.....well...that is just typical beardie doofusness. Like Patsy said, above. you could cover the glass OR change the way the light shines by moving it / angling it elsewhere. I actually put a piece of cardboard by the side she was always scratching to stop her from doing it and it worked great.

It may also be a "stir crazy" thing. She may just be stressed and want out,

But, I am pretty sure she's just pregnant. So, what you could do is watch for more signs of it. Soon, she should have her eggs. You will know because the glass scratching will have completely stopped and your beardie should look exhausted because she just output a lot of calcium in those eggs (NOW is a great time to make sure you are giving her, her calcium supplement! Also, she will bury the eggs, if you see her digging or piling sand in a big pile, then those are her eggs. You have 2 options. let them stay there (maybe she will eat them and gain calcium back that way) or you could dispose of them before they rot. Be advised, there are A LOT of eggs (like maybe 10-12 ! Make sure you get them all and please don't do it in front of your lizard. She will sense her babies are being attacked/killed and be sad.

I know it's annoying, my girl was pregnant for what seemed like a good couple weeks and EVERY day she would be banging on that damn glass. I'm surprised my neighbors didn't call the landlord or something, that's how loud it was. I actually tried to muffle it by wrapping a blanket around the back of the tank to kinda absorb some of the noise ( Yeah, that didn't work..lol )

Oh, and don't be alarmed if she has eggs because they need to be fertilzed by a guy, obviously. So (fortunately or unfortunately) there will be no baby beards.

Hope this helps you! Take care!


-Kyle and Momo

 

[Adrian Davis]

Hello!

Im new to bearded dragons but have kept other reptiles in the past and have just re-homed a beardie from some friends who could no longer give her enough attention but are having lots of difficulty with her so far.

A bit of background on her... her first owners starved her and trapped her tail in the glass meaning she has a much shorter tail which can be seen in the photos. She has always been kept on calc sand and for quite a while was without UVB light too.

When we adopted her our local pet shop who we get our food from had just had her board with them for a few weeks and had put her on birch chipping and told us to do the same now we had her as the sand wasnt doing her any good. She has been on birch chippings for about 3 weeks now and for the past few months has had a bright red basking bulb which has also been way too strong and caused her tank to get too hot as we didnt have a temperature controlled thermostat. Her basking bulb has also been left on 24/7 and her uvb bulb was on for around 14 hours a day.

After doing lots of research im finding out that red bulbs are really bad along with the substrate being bad for her too.

She spends most of her day trying to climb up the sides of the walls or clawing at the glass, what does this mean please and is this a bad sign?

Her last owner were feeding her 10 locust every other day too, shes is around 3 years old and weights 235g if i remember right

I have now ordered some reptile carpet, a new bulb, a habistat thermostat and a timer. She goes for a poo probably every other day but is quite often very lethargic and slow. We get her out for a run around most day too but just want to make sure we are doing right by her.

Try giving her some Reptaid along with insects (mealworms, superworms, crickets or dubias). Give her what she can tolerate based on her size.
Also clear bulbs work great with basking lights or without depending on the size of the tank and the wattage of the bulb. 100 watts for a 40 gallon or higher. 60-75 for smaller gallons. Adjust basking spot accordingly to get the right temperature. She also needs a Reptisun bulb for UVB, and some calcium. I have tried different types of calcium. Right now, I am using Repashy Calcium Plus and used Reptivite for a dragon that had metabolic bone disease and she grew out of it.

I also highly suggest that you learn how to hand feed your dragons. Some people may be against it, but some may need it if they stop eating or don't eat the right amount of types of vegetables.

Mine stopped eating for months so I had to feed him insects and vegetables. He is now (praise God) able to eat on his own. Sometimes he will s only go after the stuff he likes, so I help him get some vegetables in.

Finally warm baths work wonders with or without the juice from an aloe plant if your beardie gets constipated.

I have also fed mine a small piece of the flesh from an aloe plant to help if they get constipated.

Good Luck with everything.