Open mouth?

[stinax182]

I know bearded dragons will open their mouths if they are too hot. My dragon does it quite often. His basking is 107°f and the cool side is 80°f. Is that normal or are the temps too high? He's always on the hot side when he does it.... Wouldn't he move if he's too hot?

 

[Monkeys563]

Yes if it was too hot he would most likely move. Maybe he just likes to bask

 

[jarich]

Your temperatures are fine, no need to change anything. They gape like that to be able to thermoregulate more exactly without having to move. Basically what they are doing is cooling the brain while the rest of the body continues to get up to proper temperature. As you can see, when they sit under the basking light, the closest thing to the light is their head, so that heats up faster, and yet is the thing most problematic if overheated. So they gape, and allow for cooling via evaporation in the mouth, to keep the brain at optimal temperatures while the body continues to warm up under the light.

 

[stinax182]

Thank you jarich! That makes a lot of sense.