Help with my beardie!

[Gecko29]

Hi,

I've had my bearded dragon for about 3months now (that's approximately his age too i think). He will not stop scratching at the glass, for hours and hours this goes on. I don't know whether he just want's to get out (can see me sitting at the table) or there is something wrong with his enclosure? In a pretty small enclosure at the moment which i thought might be the problem, but i'm working on a 4ft one for him atm and put him in occasionally to get used to it and he does the same thing with the glass. Help?

Cheers

 

[Morgan_dragon]

Some beardies are like that.....they can be social creatures that just like to say hello to the world.

However check your heat settings in the tank - if the hot part is to hot you may well fine it is trying to get out of the enclosure although can't say I've experienced this.

 

[Ambush]

They do that. I have one I got that is 6 years old. He was from the Zoo. He does it a bit. Take him out and he just sits there.

 

[Gecko29]

Yeah i thought that he might just be doing it because he can see me sitting close by. He's not really tame yet though so i can't get him out and sit him next to me because eventually he makes a run for it! haha, But that's good this is normal, was worried that he might be stressed or something

Thankyou!

 

[carbs]

They do that. I have one I got that is 6 years old. He was from the Zoo. He does it a bit. Take him out and he just sits there.

other than being from the zoo my 2 year old beardie was exactly the same and all his heat settings were fine . I have no idea how you could stop it though ? maybe a friend?

 

[Gecko29]

Yeah it's sort of getting beyond cute hey, a bit annoying. I opened the glass before and he just sat on the ledge for ages and i thought 'oh good, he's just going to chill there' turned around and he'd jumped out and was hanging by a foot haha. So that idea has passed. Might have to just bare it until he's tame enough or big enough to have out when i won't lose him!

 

[MathewB]

other than being from the zoo my 2 year old beardie was exactly the same and all his heat settings were fine . I have no idea how you could stop it though ? maybe a friend?

Probably wouldn't change anything, might start scratching more if the cage-mate is annoying haha

He probs just wants to come out for a bit

 

[Chris1]

does he have enough stuff to keep himself occupied?

try re-arranging his stuff (unless thats too hard before u upgrade him)

mine did it when they were bored, since i gave then a good digging section and tonnes of vines they stopped completely.

 

[Gecko29]

Hahaha i'm watching him now and he's stopped, i think he's worn himself out! - That really could be it actually, not enough to do? I'm not real sure what to put in there though, he has rocks and a stick/log thing (but he sleeps on that every night). Vines from outside? He has plenty of places to dig.. What else occupies them? Not to keen to get a cage mate till i know exactly what i'm doing first

 

[Wally]

They are solitary critters in the wild, and given the age of your beardy, it's not climbing the walls looking for a mate to breed with. All of my dragons are kept individually, all with similar setups. Out of my adults, a couple are generally restless, and always have been. And the rest are a little quieter.

Perhaps a bigger enclosure may calm it down some, but maybe not. It may be something you'll have to live with.

 

[mysnakesau]

My little ackie use to do the same. He'd go off and have a snooze, then race back to the glass and start again.

 

[Gecko29]

Hmmm, so sounds like a personality thing. Well he's in the 4ft tank now and seems pretty chill. I've rearranged his smaller enclosure so hopefully that keeps him occupied for a little while?

 

[snakeynewbie]

Can you try blocking off the front glass forma week sohe cant see out and see if that could break him of the habit

 

[Wally]

I've tried all of that, and it doesn't work.

 

[mad_at_arms]

Yeah it's sort of getting beyond cute hey, a bit annoying. I opened the glass before and he just sat on the ledge for ages and i thought 'oh good, he's just going to chill there' turned around and he'd jumped out and was hanging by a foot haha. So that idea has passed. Might have to just bare it until he's tame enough or big enough to have out when i won't lose him!

You could put up a visual barrier, maybe stick some sheets of paper on the glass so he cannot see beyond that. My beardy would do it from time to time and it seemed to stop him.

How big is the current enclosure?

 

[Em1986]

My beardies do it occationally too, they have plenty of things to climb and keep themselves amused with.
When i open the glass doors it's always the more active one that literally jumps out and wants to explore.
I have 3 females and a male, the male never does it, one of the females never does it, another female does it rarely and the more active/friendly/sociable female does it the most.

 

[Gecko29]

It's a small one, maybe 2ft? When i think about it, he must be pretty bored in there.. Hopefully he'll calm down when i've finished the bigger one and chuck him in there ?