Stupid Bearded dragon.

Well...okay, maybe he's not stupid, but he's not that smart...but I have to wonder why he acts the way he does.

He cant have any substrate...because he eats it, paper towels, reptile carpet, etc....He can't have fake plants...because he tries to eat them...he can't have boulders or big rocks in his house...because he likes to try and eat them...

He eats dubia roaches and lots of salad...so he's not deprived of food or nutrients...

I really want to know though, why he freaks out sometimes. He's in a 40 gallon breeder. Randomly, he will start jumping around, smacking into the glass, rubbing his face on it, and doing everything possible to try and get out. He has a uvb set up, and a basking spot lamp on one side that is over a cinder block, so it stays nice and toasty. But he has a cold side too, so he can't be too hot along with climbing branches, a big hide ,and some plants he can't get the leaves off to eat, although there are teeth marks from him trying!...He's a little over a year old, about 20 inches long...He's freaking out behind me right now...he just runs from one end to the other smacking into the glass...

Anyone got any ideas as to why he freaks out?

Are you sure he's "freaking out".....my Jerry rubs and claws at the glass to tell me "get me out mom!!!" :rolleye2: He loves attention & will show out till he gets it. He also refuses to potty in his habitat, he waits till I get him out in the mornings and he uses a specific spot in my kitchen floor (gross, I know!!)

I take him out and he calms down and relaxes on me. If I put him back in 20+ minutes later, he just still wigs out for a long time.

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Originally Posted by AkHerps

I take him out and he calms down and relaxes on me. If I put him back in 20+ minutes later, he just still wigs out for a long time.

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Sounds like he's just an attention hog.....take him out and let him chill with you as long as time permits.....mine goes everywhere with me :D

Yes sounds like you have one with a "want what he wants when he wants it attitude"....;) He wants to come out and be with you all!! Trust me they have quite the personalities when they want to. My friend woke mine up the other and did not sweet talk him and give him love and kisses in the morning...he threw a tee tee the rest of the day. :rolleyes:

As far as the substrate...try a shelf liner with the rubber on the bottom and a little bit of a rough surface. They have it at walmart and it looks like bamboo kind of. It works great...maybe he won't be interested in that.

Oh yeah, he tries to eat anything new that comes into his house, but a shelf liner would lay flat wouldnt it? So he wouldnt be able to eat it! An attention hog bearded dragon...that's just...sad...but cool.

let us know if it works for you!!;)

It's really starting to get annoying now. All day he just freaks out and smacks into things, and is constantly trying to climb the glass, scratching and clawing at it. And he's really big so he makes a ton of noise. The only time he isn't doing this is when I turn off all the lights at night time. It doesn't matter how much I hold him, he still acts the same.

Is he near any other reptiles? Due to space constraints in our new apartment we have to keep our beardie next to our snake tanks, so for a while if he wasn't asleep by the time the snakes came out to explore their new surroundings after the move, Isis would freak out and try to run up the tank and get out. We had a large piece of black suede from my bf's furniture design studio last semester so we started covering all sides of his tank that faced the snake tanks and that worked perfectly. Now she's a lot better and rarely tries to run up the glass.

Another thought I had, how old is your beardie? I don't know about bearded dragons but I know when my bf's mom's dog started to go blind she would freak out and had to be around my bf's mom constantly. If she couldn't smell, hear or "see" [she can still see shadows] my bf's mom she would flip and cry so they started having to keep a hoodie or something that she'd worn recently around so she wouldn't get stressed or depressed. Maybe your beardie is having eye problems and just feels safe when your holding him. It would explain the bumping into things.

wow Mav...good point. Also make sure if you are using a Power Sun or that type of bulb they are 12-18 inches away from it. That will cause they eye problems as well. A sign of that is if they are basking with their eyes closed...and keeping their eyes closed.


You also might try putting him in a window ledge for a couple of hours when the sun is out. I know mine loves that. Another issue....(and I am taking a wild guess)....if he is not quite a year old he could be going through the "terrible teens" puberty. Wanting a girl??? Some of the ppl on here that do beardie breeding could probably tell you more. Mine has never done that. He has perfected the stink eye though when he wants to come out....lol. However I was babysitting one that would do this EXACT thing

No, he's not near any other reptiles. He's only about a year and a half years old. Still pretty young...He's in a glass tank, so he just randomly runs around and tries to get out of it...xC

Mine would scratch at the class too. I ended up putting shelf liner around the outside of the cage.

And as far as the substrate goes, I use tile. Easy to clean up and I don't think he'll find a way to eat it ;)

Sounds to me like he's just hungry though, if he's trying to eat EVERYTHING. You say he's eating roaches and salad, but what kind of salad? How many roaches?

Is it possible he's seeing his reflection in the glass and trying to "fight" with it?

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Originally Posted by JLC

Is it possible he's seeing his reflection in the glass and trying to "fight" with it?

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I thought of that too at first, but the OP does not mention him going black beard or pancaking himself out too, so I ruled that out.

Maybe he just wants some attention, or sees a Tv? I had a beardie that would glass dance when he was hungry, what all is he eating right now?

Could be space issues too, some people say a 40 gallon is fine but I think other wise.

He fits pretty well in his 40 gallon breeder and has lots of room to run around, which he is taking advantage of...haha

He only gets puffy and black in the morning when I wake him up by turning on his lights, he is not a morning lizard xP

He just has one of the long flourescent tube kind, not a compact and not one of the MVB bulvs.

He eats maybe 10-15 adult dubia roaches a couple times a week, and gets a salad which includes lots of things like romane, collard greens, fruits, occasional shredded carrot, squash, etc..He'll get the occasional f/t fuzzy mouse if one of the snakes doesnt want to eat and we don't want to re-freeze it. Maybe I've given him blood lust!!!

I also add things to his house for variety and change things up every now and then thinking he's bored, but it doesn't seem to make a difference.

I have taken him outside on the hot alaska days, when it's in the 80's, he loves it, but thinks the big blue sky is out to get him and tries to attack it...it's pretty entertaining.

How often do you give him the salad. Dubia adults are kind of big arn't they? I still think he's hungry.

I have two, so it's hard to say exactly what they eat, but they eat everything I give them. Cup of salad every day with other veggies and sometimes fruit and about 60 medium mealworms. Then before I got to work I give them about 30 crickets. I get home and give them more crickets and then I had feed them mealies or supers about an hour before they go to bed.

Duba roaches adults are really big. Some of them are bigger than my thumb. He gets salad every day, way more than a cup, he's a piggy, but he's not fat at all.

I'll try upping the roaches and see how that goes. I feed him the roaches until he stops, which is after about 10-15.

u feed him enough? or he just wants to get out?

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Originally Posted by AkHerps

Duba roaches adults are really big. Some of them are bigger than my thumb. He gets salad every day, way more than a cup, he's a piggy, but he's not fat at all.

I'll try upping the roaches and see how that goes. I feed him the roaches until he stops, which is after about 10-15.

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Don't try and feed him more in one session, give him more sessions. :thumbsup:

Yeah I'll just feed him a couple times a day and keep a cup of roaches next to his tank with some fruit in it...We'll see!! He's so silly xP

He's had roaches twice today, and a big salad...still freaking out a little bit. But now he's been staring into the corner of his tank for 2 hours without moving....haha

I lied...he has no come over to the side of the tank I'm sittin by and is puffed up, black, and bobbing his head at me...if I was another male beardie..I think I'd be threatened...

Shelf liner is awesome! :gj::gj:

u sure hes not hungry

If he's still hungry, he is a bottomless pit.

But I've been putting salad in his tank in the morning every day, and he's been calming down, although I forgot this morning and he was freaking out so I just went and made him a big bowl of romaine, apple and cucumber, which he is now chowing down on.

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Originally Posted by AkHerps

If he's still hungry, he is a bottomless pit.

But I've been putting salad in his tank in the morning every day, and he's been calming down, although I forgot this morning and he was freaking out so I just went and made him a big bowl of romaine, apple and cucumber, which he is now chowing down on.

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Could be the Romain and cucumber, they both have little to no Nutritional value. Actually most of the things you are offering at mostly composed of water.

Instead I suggest squashes, Collard greens, and mustard greens for a better filling salad that he can get more out of.

I give those too, just not in this quick salad it was all I could find in the garden.

His salads usually always have some sort of collard greens or chard since we grow it a lot of the time.

:banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::banana:


:cool::cool::cool::cool:i think hes a bottom less pit