Overly aggressive beardie

[Raevyn]

Question:

My older bearded dragon, Gilbert has gone nuts. He is being super aggressive towards everything. He has always been a bit cranky, but it is getting out of hand. I was thinking that being in my daughter's room was not enough stimulation for him and he was bored, but now that I have moved his cage into the living room he is worse. He is going after the cats through the glass, hissing and displaying at me and banging his nose against the glass and making himself bleed. He is even ignoring his crickets/roaches in favor of trying to get things in the room. If you try to touch him , he bites!

I guess the main question is, What can I do to calm him down? Is this an age thing? (He is about 18 months old.) Are there activities that stimulate their little minds to make them less crazy? Is there something I am doing wrong that I can change to make his life better??

I am really careful to make sure my beardies have good diets, proper lighting, and plenty out outside sun time. Korky is great and super social, the exact opposite of Gilbert. The only thing that is different is that Korky lives on the main level of the house and Gilbert was living with my 16 year old daughter in her room where he was more isolated.
He has been to our local vet, and after some antibiotics for a sore on his nose, I was told he is in good health.

Thoughts??
Thank you!

 

[Canicke]

do you have a couple of places for him to hide in his cage? are the sides and back open? can you cover them? - he may be feeling insecure, like he has to defend himself. paper bags would work. it could be hormonal. it could be his personality - they are all different. he may also be in pain - makes me cranky! try the paper on the sides and back of the viv

 

[Raevyn]

He has hides, but never uses them. He prefers to be on his platform by his basking light. I will try the paper and see if it helps calm him down, especially now that he is in the living room.

 

[Raevyn]

Paper bags are up on three sides of his cage. He seemed to be a little calmer tonight, but then he was outside for a couple hours in the nice sunshine. We will see how he does tomorrow.

 

[PatsyB]

I agree with Canicke, he may be feeling a little exposed in his new area. Covering the tank is a good idea until he settles in.

I have a boy that runs his tank on a daily basis but he doesn't show any anger towards anyone or anything, he just wants out! He doesn't like hides in his tank either and yet after running around the house he always ends up hiding behind something and going to sleep. It's just his personality.