Bearded dragon freaking out and won't eat...

[Ian Porter]

Hello,
My bearded dragon keeps running around and clawing at the glass like he's trying to get out and he refuses to eat anything...he's been doing this for about a week now and he normally eats every day or two, so I'm getting worried. This just randomly started happening, I didn't change anything about his diet or habitat. He's about 9 or 10 months old. Does anyone know what the problem could be? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

-Ian

[reptileexperts]

Talk to us more about what's going on in the cage. Whats the basking side like, what kind of substrtate are you using, how many retreats / hides does he have, what kind of diet is he on (Crickets, mealworms, veggies), is his diet supplemented, and what are you using to heat the cage with.

Thanks

[TheWinWizard]

Pics of him in the enclosure would also help.

[The Serpent Merchant]

Talk to us more about what's going on in the cage. Whats the basking side like, what kind of substrtate are you using, how many retreats / hides does he have, what kind of diet is he on (Crickets, mealworms, veggies), is his diet supplemented, and what are you using to heat the cage with.

Thanks

This plus what is your UV source?

[camel]

Also, are you 100% sure he is a male? I had one which I was certain was a male, and he acted the exact same way.
I took him out in the garden to get some natural light and he kept looking at the pot plant and trying to get out my hands. So I put him in the pot plant to see what he wanted and "he" started to dig. I immediately suspected "he" may be a she, so I took the pot inside to his cage and left her with it. She dug some more and lay some eggs.
Turns out, like chameleons, they don't need a mate in order to produce eggs. Well she laid her sterile eggs and was fine again after a day or two's rest.

Just something to think about if you aren't 100% sure of his sex

[Jabberwocky Dragons]

The eggs is a good point but 9 or 10 months is way too young for a female to lay eggs, fertile or not.

It's been really hot across most of the country lately and if your A/C can't keep up, cool spots can no longer be cool. Your dragon may be overheating and desperately trying to get out. Using an infrared thermometer to check your temps is really important, especially in the summer. Pretty much all of last week, I've had to turn all the heat lamps off in the afternoon or risk turning the entire enclosures into a hot spot.

[camel]

The eggs is a good point but 9 or 10 months is way too young for a female to lay eggs, fertile or not.

Oops, I really need to read properly before I post sometimes. I agree, too young for eggs. Unless you got him from a dodgy place that told you it was younger than it was and it was underfed so it looked young.

[reptileexperts]

My original thoughts on this is lack of UV or too hot of temps. . . Make sure you have a cool spot for him. As for egg laying, I raised / bred dragons for 8 years and none of my females ever laid infertile eggs. Only after the introduction of a male to the girls did any of them lay. They can lay PMS eggs, but its not very common in my experience, then again I was breeding . . .

[Ian Porter]

Sorry about taking a while to reply, I have been at work until now.

His cage is a 50 gallon tank, and the basking side has a 150 watt basking bulb (UVA and UVB in one) and a smaller, regular heat bulb that's 50 watts. The "cold" side has just one of the 50 watt bulbs so that it didn't get too cold. We had calcium sand in it but I just recently (yesterday) tried switching him back to felt because I heard it could be bad for him, but he's still doing it. He has one big half log that's cut out that he likes to hide under. eats freeze dried (gut loaded) crickets, super worms, lettuce, and I put Repti-cal Adult Bearded Dragon Food in there for when my wife and I are both at work but he rarely eats it...

I didn't know that it could be too hot, and we don't have air conditioning, so maybe that's it...

Also, if you still need pics of him, I will post them in my next post.

[Jabberwocky Dragons]

It sounds like overheating to me. I would spot check the basking side to make sure that bulb wattage isn't too high and you can ditch the cold side 50 watt bulb unless if your house is freezing. The cool side should be at least 80 or below but preferably in the mid-low 70s. It can drop as low as 68 at night.

I would also highly recommend replacing the freeze dried crickets and superworms with live crickets or preferably dubias. Freeze dried crickets aren't nutritious and superworms are better as the occasional supplement. It sounds like you have a nice set up for him and just need a minor tweak or two to get it perfect.