Two (separate) beardies hate their new/ better home?

[ZambieMaster]

Hey y'all. Last time I posted on the forums I was aware my enclosure was small, so just recently we spent about $300+ to upgrade them both to a better enclosure!

Athena (female) on the bottom and Kratos (male) on the top. Ever since we moved them both, they have been evil little monsters and I don't know why. They'll both still eat fine, but then they fling their foods everywhere around the tank to -not- eat, the last time they saw each other they didn't try to mate (which they had done before) but instead tried to fight one another before we got them separated and they both have been trying to do everything to escape and destroy the home. I don't know what I did wrong but they both act means towards me now as well and I've never done anything bad towards them to cause this behavior, I used to hold them a lot, let them play with safe toys and they'd be fine and calm, but now they just... hate me? I could use any kind of help because I did everything but it feels like with the way they're acting now like I AM abusing them with how much they hate everything. -EDIT- Forgot to include, we tried to calm them down by adding two hides to their tanks in the far left, Athena smashes herself between it and the glass and uses her face to try and smack the glass, and Kratos has a basket with leaves wrapped around it that he kind of uses/kind of doesn't.

 

[HoomanSlave]

That's strange. When beardies go through puberty it can cause sudden aggression-if they're somewhere between baby and adult, they might be going through it. It's more noticeable in males.

Sudden aggression can also be caused by an abrupt change in tank decor, moving the enclosure to a new spot, or rearranging the tank too often. If it's this or the above reason for the aggression, it should go away soon.

I don't think that an improper setup would be making them that aggressive, but remove any colored/compact/coil lights and keep an eye on the enclosure temps.

 

[ZambieMaster]

That's strange. When beardies go through puberty it can cause sudden aggression-if they're somewhere between baby and adult, they might be going through it. It's more noticeable in males.

Sudden aggression can also be caused by an abrupt change in tank decor, moving the enclosure to a new spot, or rearranging the tank too often. If it's this or the above reason for the aggression, it should go away soon.

I don't think that an improper setup would be making them that aggressive, but remove any colored/compact/coil lights and keep an eye on the enclosure temps.

Yeah we're not exactly sure on age for them both, we were thinking they're maybe about 5ish give or take, and they don't have colored lights in the tank at all. They both started acting like this one day before we actually moved them over to the new setup and it was really sudden for both of them. Kratos has been black bearding daily, glass surfing/slamming really, and his stomach shows the stress marks all over and Athena has the same marks, just no bearding up, but opening her mouth defensively, flattening herself out and glass surfing as well. They've been in our care for almost two years and they'd never acted this way before.

 

[Sadie]

Yeah we're not exactly sure on age for them both, we were thinking they're maybe about 5ish give or take, and they don't have colored lights in the tank at all. They both started acting like this one day before we actually moved them over to the new setup and it was really sudden for both of them. Kratos has been black bearding daily, glass surfing/slamming really, and his stomach shows the stress marks all over and Athena has the same marks, just no bearding up, but opening her mouth defensively, flattening herself out and glass surfing as well. They've been in our care for almost two years and they'd never acted this way before.

Its the coil UVB you have in the tanks --- UVB controls the behavior along w/ basking temps -- I would get rid of the coil UVB and get two of these -- https://www.pangeareptile.com/store/zoo-med-reptisun-t5-ho-terrarium-hood.html 24" fixtures for a 40+ gallon tank this is my go to place its out of stock -you will need this bulb a 22" and these are in stock

Zoo Med ReptiSun 10.0 UVB T5 HO

Zoo Med ReptiSun 10.0 UVB T5 HO - Hight Output Linear Lamp for desert reptile terrariums. Shop all lighting supplies at Pangea Reptile

www.pangeareptile.com

I would get them replaced ASAP --- these are the best on the market --
Also the basking light I would put directly above them - the light shining in the eyes is not a good thing --
How tall is the tanks?

 

[ZambieMaster]

Its the coil UVB you have in the tanks --- UVB controls the behavior along w/ basking temps -- I would get rid of the coil UVB and get two of these -- https://www.pangeareptile.com/store/zoo-med-reptisun-t5-ho-terrarium-hood.html 24" fixtures for a 40+ gallon tank this is my go to place its out of stock -you will need this bulb a 22" and these are in stock

Zoo Med ReptiSun 10.0 UVB T5 HO

Zoo Med ReptiSun 10.0 UVB T5 HO - Hight Output Linear Lamp for desert reptile terrariums. Shop all lighting supplies at Pangea Reptile

www.pangeareptile.com

I would get them replaced ASAP --- these are the best on the market --
Also the basking light I would put directly above them - the light shining in the eyes is not a good thing --
How tall is the tanks?

I don't know how tall the tank is and sadly because we're in debt we have to work with those UVB's only, we can't replace/change them for probably a long time and we made the enclosure out of a wardrobe so we can't directly mount things into it above them, we tried but right now everything's being held up with zip ties. Parents want me to get rid of them because we keep doing things wrong and honestly I don't know what to do even if we change out everything.

 

[Sadie]

I don't know how tall the tank is and sadly because we're in debt we have to work with those UVB's only, we can't replace/change them for probably a long time and we made the enclosure out of a wardrobe so we can't directly mount things into it above them, we tried but right now everything's being held up with zip ties. Parents want me to get rid of them because we keep doing things wrong and honestly I don't know what to do even if we change out everything.

Just the UVB's and basking light needs to be adjusted to overhead- please measure the height- and we can go from there-- if those tanks are 18" tall the T 5 will work - if the tank is 16" the T 8 would need to be used-- do you have the old tanks- they cannot be kept together but I am sure you know that

 

[ZambieMaster]

Just the UVB's and basking light needs to be adjusted to overhead- please measure the height- and we can go from there-- if those tanks are 18" tall the T 5 will work - if the tank is 16" the T 8 would need to be used-- do you have the old tanks- they cannot be kept together but I am sure you know that

We do have the old tanks, one was a zoo med (Athena is smaller but she lived in it and had a lot of issues turning around and moving around and would only stay in her rock hide 24/7 even if she was awake) and the other was just a giant plastic tub we make-shifted into a tank with a screen for a lid. Both were to my knowledge "not of adequate size."

 

[Sadie]

We do have the old tanks, one was a zoo med (Athena is smaller but she lived in it and had a lot of issues turning around and moving around and would only stay in her rock hide 24/7 even if she was awake) and the other was just a giant plastic tub we make-shifted into a tank with a screen for a lid. Both were to my knowledge "not of adequate size."

Sounds like it- well I have helped you all I can - the UVB's are inadequate and I just got thru posting to another poster about her uvb as she has a baby and is using a coil her parents won't change the UVB out they are listening to the pet store people and it's just a matter of time for the dragon to start developing health issues like mbd neurological issues- basking temps and correct UVB are the TWO MOST IMPORTANT things in the tank they control the over all.health and behavior-- those dragons are telling you now by their behavior something is off

 

[Silver dragons]

Hey y'all. Last time I posted on the forums I was aware my enclosure was small, so just recently we spent about $300+ to upgrade them both to a better enclosure! View attachment 25131

Athena (female) on the bottom and Kratos (male) on the top. Ever since we moved them both, they have been evil little monsters and I don't know why. They'll both still eat fine, but then they fling their foods everywhere around the tank to -not- eat, the last time they saw each other they didn't try to mate (which they had done before) but instead tried to fight one another before we got them separated and they both have been trying to do everything to escape and destroy the home. I don't know what I did wrong but they both act means towards me now as well and I've never done anything bad towards them to cause this behavior, I used to hold them a lot, let them play with safe toys and they'd be fine and calm, but now they just... hate me? I could use any kind of help because I did everything but it feels like with the way they're acting now like I AM abusing them with how much they hate everything. -EDIT- Forgot to include, we tried to calm them down by adding two hides to their tanks in the far left, Athena smashes herself between it and the glass and uses her face to try and smack the glass, and Kratos has a basket with leaves wrapped around it that he kind of uses/kind of doesn't.

Hello, I agree with everything that's already been said but I would like to add that letting your bearded dragons see each other can be very bad for their health aspecially if your female tries to lay eggs. You should not to let them breed unless you are a qualified breeder that has done lots of research and has a set up ready. If not it can be extremely harmful for the female bearded dragon and if she does lay eggs, the eggs would be at risk too. The laying and breeding process puts a lot of stress on the male and female so I would not let them interact any more.

 

[ZambieMaster]

Sounds like it- well I have helped you all I can - the UVB's are inadequate and I just got thru posting to another poster about her uvb as she has a baby and is using a coil her parents won't change the UVB out they are listening to the pet store people and it's just a matter of time for the dragon to start developing health issues like mbd neurological issues- basking temps and correct UVB are the TWO MOST IMPORTANT things in the tank they control the over all.health and behavior-- those dragons are telling you now by their behavior something is off

Just measured and the tanks each are 15" so if we change the lights out it'd be to the T8 correct? Also we're momentarily using bricks to prop up the basking light in the top tank so do we need to change that type out as well to something else or just the position?

 

[Sadie]

Just measured and the tanks each are 15" so if we change the lights out it'd be to the T8 correct? Also we're momentarily using bricks to prop up the basking light in the top tank so do we need to change that type out as well to something else or just the position?

As long as the bulb is a bright white basking bulb no off colored yellowish bulbs and keep temps 95-110 taken w/ a digital probe thermometer your good! And it needs to be directly above basking decor---The UVB can be a T 5 but you would need to have the distance 12-15 inches directly above the basking decor

 

[Sadie]

With these changes I have recommended you will see a difference in their behavior

 

[ZambieMaster]

With these changes I have recommended you will see a difference in their behavior

Okay, so I've wrote the information given down, we're gonna try to get the exact lights you had linked when we get the money to do so, but i'm having one problem. The UVB's and such we can easily mount up at the top like suggested, it's the basking light's we're not sure about because we have the dome lights and they're kinda chunky and awkward even getting them into the corner the way we did.. If they were thin/long like the UVB then it'd be a lot easier to set overhead, but I'm not sure if they make long and thin basking lights. If they do, what would you suggest I get, and if not then what should I change in the enclosures to make the basking lights overhead for one another?

 

[Sadie]

Okay, so I've wrote the information given down, we're gonna try to get the exact lights you had linked when we get the money to do so, but i'm having one problem. The UVB's and such we can easily mount up at the top like suggested, it's the basking light's we're not sure about because we have the dome lights and they're kinda chunky and awkward even getting them into the corner the way we did.. If they were thin/long like the UVB then it'd be a lot easier to set overhead, but I'm not sure if they make long and thin basking lights. If they do, what would you suggest I get, and if not then what should I change in the enclosures to make the basking lights overhead for one another?

Are those tanks stacked ? If so your gonna haft to unstack them --- cut a hole in the top of the tank -- so it fits on top --- you are going to want to watch the temp when placing it above them -- nothing over 110 taken w/ a digital probe thermometer -- I have never seen a long tube basking bulb --