Terrible scratching non stop

[Robzey1882]

I'm looking for advice i rescued a beardy 6 months ago, She was about 12-18 months when i got her (First time owner) she was not looked after very well. i learned a lot online, We have come on leaps and bounds since then. She now drinks water from the shower, She has a shower every 3 days, eats well. i let her run about for a few hours every day. Then the scratching starts at night its non stop and goes on for 2 hours or more, My neighbour's have started complaining and at night i have to take things out her tank out to reduce the noise, Now its really starting to affect my sleep. its not to hot as she does it with the light off. I'm at my wits end to be honest. Any advice will do. Thank you

 

[Dexter_Dragon]

Hi, sorry to hear you're having troubles. What do you mean by scratching? Is she glass surfing or digging in her substrate?

Glass surging usually indicates stress. Something in or around the tank is bothering her. Where you got her 6 months ago, I wouldn't think it would be relocation stress. Her stress could be temperatures, lighting, or any number of things. Peeps here are very knowledgeable and will chime in to make sure you've got hubandry correct. If this is the issue and is fixed she should settle down.

If she's digging in her substrate that could mean other things. If she's a girl it might be she's gravid and looking for a place to lay eggs, maybe. You'll need some type of lay box for her. Peeps here can help you with that too. Sorry I'm a first time mum myself and I have a guy so I'll let more experienced peeps get you set up properly for either scenrio. They were tons of help to me getting my guy established.

 

[Robzey1882]

Hi, sorry to hear you're having troubles. What do you mean by scratching? Is she glass surfing or digging in her substrate?

Glass surging usually indicates stress. Something in or around the tank is bothering her. Where you got her 6 months ago, I wouldn't think it would be relocation stress. Her stress could be temperatures, lighting, or any number of things. Peeps here are very knowledgeable and will chime in to make sure you've got hubandry correct. If this is the issue and is fixed she should settle down.

If she's digging in her substrate that could mean other things. If she's a girl it might be she's gravid and looking for a place to lay eggs, maybe. You'll need some type of lay box for her. Peeps here can help you with that too. Sorry I'm a first time mum myself and I have a guy so I'll let more experienced peeps get you set up properly for either scenrio. They were tons of help to me getting my guy established.

 

[Robzey1882]

She has been glass surfing, Scratching in the sand, Scratching in the corners, jumping up at the 2 lights, Yesterday she was out for 5 hours and within 10 mins of going back in she went in to overdrive. Down stairs must have thought i was getting burgled. Her tank is spotless she has a nice flat rock under her light that heats up wood for her to sit on a big water rock/bowl. Perches for her to climb up. Just now i found 3 Mario worms hiding behind her water bowl /rock could this have been driving her crazy ? She been having phantom eggs, 2 weeks ago i found these chalky balls. 5 weeks ago she stopped eating crickets and has hardly touched her veggies or treats ?. She still likes the locust and Mario worms. I make sure its never too hot in her tank and its on the floor so she can come and go as she pleases when I'm at home. I never seen her touch water for the first 4 or 5 months, i used to wet her veggies then i seen online try her in the shower and she loves it, She would sit under it all day if i let her, She drinks like a fish now. I'm still learning on the job.

 

[Sadie]

The mario worms would not cause the glass surfing and the behavior- it could be she is gravid w/ eggs - but we need to go over the lighting in the tank and basking temps- if you would please post a pic of the tank and her-- tell me what your using for a UVB NO coils please and basking temps and how your taking them? NO stick ons they are inaccurate- temps for her should be 95-110 more on the 97-100 range for her age - older dragons usually dont like it that hot -- NO colored bulbs NO heat rocks or heat mats -- if your using a long tube fixture for a UVB does it have a reflector on it and where in the tank is it ? Top of screen or inside the tank ? I would lay off the baths --- 3 times per week is too much I am wondering if shes drinking all that water because the tank is too hot -- that would cause her to glass surf as well --

 

[Skybug]

I think what Sadie and Barb said is accurate in my experience she shouldn’t be scratching at all at night you should maybe hear like one or two scratches in the beginning of her going to sleep but after that it should be silent the whole entire night to me it sounds like she is gravid and if that is the case you can touch her stomach and see if there’s anything in there you may mistake it for poop so really feel around but be very gentle please if you do feel some thing the next thing you want to do is get a Tupperware with some play sand ,play sand specifically ! Get it a little little bit damp not wet not moist just damp and you want that inside her tank on the cool side, the Tupperware bowl cut a hole in the side of it just big enough to her to go in there I would put a towel over her tank at night and basically just keep everything quiet and if she is gravid you should see eggs in the next couple days, if this behavior still doesn’t stop after you go over your lights and etc. then id advise you to seek a vets advice (she could possibly be egg bound and we’d need a vets help from then on) don’t worry unnecessarily though, ive seen beardies with very poorly conditions still pop out eggs (theres a utuber called animal1guy he specializes in sick/neglected lizards)(he has a female beardie right now that was neglected for a year , in the snow, no lights, for almost a year, and she was gravid and just layed eggs) id check him out its a lil sad but u can tell he cares and the female beardie is doing alot better..

 

[Frank the baby beardry]

She has been glass surfing, Scratching in the sand, Scratching in the corners, jumping up at the 2 lights, Yesterday she was out for 5 hours and within 10 mins of going back in she went in to overdrive. Down stairs must have thought i was getting burgled. Her tank is spotless she has a nice flat rock under her light that heats up wood for her to sit on a big water rock/bowl. Perches for her to climb up. Just now i found 3 Mario worms hiding behind her water bowl /rock could this have been driving her crazy ? She been having phantom eggs, 2 weeks ago i found these chalky balls. 5 weeks ago she stopped eating crickets and has hardly touched her veggies or treats ?. She still likes the locust and Mario worms. I make sure its never too hot in her tank and its on the floor so she can come and go as she pleases when I'm at home. I never seen her touch water for the first 4 or 5 months, i used to wet her veggies then i seen online try her in the shower and she loves it, She would sit under it all day if i let her, She drinks like a fish now. I'm still learning on the job.

nooo sand take it out. You can in,y use sand if it’s the right kind and you know what your doing with the sand

 

[Skybug]

nooo sand take it out. You can in,y use sand if it’s the right kind and you know what your doing with the sand

If shes an adult its not as much as a risk, the main thing is that she’s getting proper nutrition, if shes not then she’ll eat her sand then u gotta problem, the difference between good sand and bad sand is the word aggregated , basicly some sand is man made (the bad kind)(it has sharp edges and sand pieces can interlock and clump) play sand(the good kind) is smooth usually round or oval and cant clump , good rule for testing is , grab a fistful of sand if it stays in a clenched fist thats the bad kind, if sand easily falls through your fist then its safer

 

[Emilia Thuet]

That's strange considering she should be sleeping at night, do you have any coloured bulbs for her or are their lights on in the room she is in? Coloured bulbs are bad for them and can cause eye issues as well as keep her up at night when she should be sleeping. Beardies need complete darkness when they sleep or they will stay up. If she does need extra heat at night I suggest getting a low wattage Ceramic Heat Emitter (CHE) to keep her warm at night. You are doing such a good job with her and thank you so much for rescuing her and giving her a better life, she's so lucky to have found you

 

[Sadie]

Please feel her abdomen for eggs--