Signs of getting overheated outside?

[donprec]

Yesterday I had Precious outside for about an hour. It was 80 degrees and very sunny. After a few minutes of being a little cautious, she started getting into basking position. After about 15 mins, she started gaping on and off. Eventually toward the end of that hour, she started to get a bit active. I put on her harness and let her walk around. She wasn't trying to hide or shade herself, just seemed curious about the surroundings. Finally I brought her inside, put her in the cage. She wanted out again right away so I took her out and she went straight to the window and started basking again.
When I brought her in, I was assuming she might be getting too heated up but for her to go right back to the window where the sun was makes me think she was ok. How do you know when the heat is too much? Are there any obvious signs?
I ask because with the weather being nicer and it's obvious to me that she really likes being outside, I plan to take her out with me often and just want to be more aware of when she's had enough heat. The other day we took the dog for a walk in the park and I had her on my chest the whole time...she doesn't like perching herself on my shoulder (which would be a little easier!) but instead uses my chest as a basking shelf, lol. She really seemed to like that walk, she didn't gape then but we weren't in direct sunlight, walking under trees, etc.

 

[Fiona]

how cute!!!! where did you get her harness.....I have taken mine out here and there...she sometimes just sits in the grass and sometimes walks/runs around and tastes everything.....I have never noticed her mouth open..i am in south texas so I am the one who gets over heated she don't get a chance to.

 

[donprec]

I actually got that harness discounted at Petco for $3! She doesn't like it but I won't let her walk on the ground without it.
She opens her mouth every once in a while in the cage. If I see her doing it, I'll give her a quick spritz of water. She seems to do it when she's at that peak point of warmth, never seemed stressed or move to the cooler side after she does it. After her mouth was open in the first pic, she eventually started jumping down the porch steps, that's when I put the harness on. I thought she was going to try to head under the bush but she still stayed out in the sun, wasn't trying to hide.
Had her outside again for another hour. A couple of neighborhood kids came over and sat down with her. She climbed up onto one of the kid's lap and just started basking, she was perfectly happy. He was in love...and I was afraid he wasn't going to give her back to me!
She really responds to being outside. Does that mean there's something wrong with her UVB? Or is it simply that the real sun feels so much better? My skink is the opposite...she wants absolutely nothing to do with being outside!

 

[PatsyB]

I think if she's constantly gaping the whole time she is out there then she needs to go back inside. What type of UVB do you use? Does it go through a mesh screen? When was the last time it was changed? She could just like being outside. Dexter likes to just sit with me outside. Luci doesn't like it at all but he loves to look out the window.

I can't wait to take Dexter outside. I was hoping to do that today but it's supposed to rain so we will see.

 

[Fiona]

I am such a newbie so if they gape is it a bad thing....Fiona has only done it a few times and i thought maybe she ate to many crickets to fast. and another time when I set the cricket keeper where she could see it. she looked a
like my husband when dinner is about to be served...all smiles.

 

[MisterD83]

Gaping isn't necessarily a bad thing. Bearded dragons will gape when their temperatures are just a tad bit high in an effort to thermo-regulate. If their basking spot is really too hot they usually just move to a spot that is not so hot.

Gaping is part of their defensive posturing, but I believe its at the end of a long list of things beardies will do defensively. Then my baby girl will gape as soon as she sees me dusting crickets for her.

 

[Elemental Dragon Lord]

You know when your dragon is overheating when it tries to find a cool place to rest. Most of the country needs to worry about humidity, not heat.

 

[donprec]

I put in a ZooMed ReptiSun 10.0 on 3/28. I'm thinking she just seems to really like it outside, she tends to pick the sunnier parts rather than shade.

 

[drzebra]

The uvb tubes don't produce any meaningful heat, so no worries there. Just couple it with a cheapo flood light and a dimmer so that you can easily dial in that temperature and you're set.

 

[jarich]

Close about the gaping. Gaping is used by them to fine tune their thermoregulation throughout the body. Their heads, like ours, are the most sensitive to heat, but they are also much smaller compared to the rest of the body. So their head heats up first, while the rest of the body is still warming up. Since they run into problems if their brain overheats, they gape. This gaping makes the moisture in their mouth evaporate and so keeps the head from overheating while their body continues to warm up.

As for the original question, your dragon knows better than you what heat they need. If it gets too hot, they will find shade.

 

[MisterD83]

Close about the gaping. Gaping is used by them to fine tune their thermoregulation throughout the body. Their heads, like ours, are the most sensitive to heat, but they are also much smaller compared to the rest of the body. So their head heats up first, while the rest of the body is still warming up. Since they run into problems if their brain overheats, they gape. This gaping makes the moisture in their mouth evaporate and so keeps the head from overheating while their body continues to warm up.

As for the original question, your dragon knows better than you what heat they need. If it gets too hot, they will find shade.

Thanks for the science behind the thermoregulation.

 

[donprec]

Thanks for the science behind the thermoregulation.

Yes, thank you. That was very interesting!

 

[jarich]

My pleasure, always love to pass on the information!