When your bearded dragon is panting or sits with its mouth open in a basking spot, it releases excess heat. So if you notice severe panting and hiding signs, and believe that it could be too hot in the tank, please review the heat and light setup. The hot side of the tank should reach degrees Fahrenheit Celsius , and not higher than that.
Temperatures above F A cool spot should range between F Temperature at night should reach around F Please note that it can be hard and even impossible to create a temperature gradient in small tanks. An adult bearded dragon needs a bare minimum of 40 gallons to itself. Stick-on thermometers tend to be very inaccurate, and can be off by 10 degrees or so.
Please choose digital stick-on thermometers over analog ones, and ones that have probes, like this. Place one in a hot spot, and one in a cooler spot. Also, invest in an infrared handheld thermometer like this that will allow to measure temperatures in any spot of the tank. Positioning the lights correctly and distance from light to your bearded dragon is also crucial to reach optimal temperatures.
And to avoid eye injuries or burns. If your bearded dragon is stressed, it will be hiding and trying to escape. There are many reasons for stress, for example bright lights, cage mates, loud noises and many more. Please never house bearded dragons together because they are solitary and competitive creatures.
But commonly, when a bearded dragon tries to dig, it means that it is trying to make a more comfortable basking area. For old bearded dragons, digging means that they look for a perfect place for brumation.
Digging is pretty normal for bearded dragons. However, the same behavior may also indicate health issues especially stress. In normal situations, it is important that you provide your bearded dragon the right substrate.
When a bearded dragon tries to dig on the wrong surface, it may cause harm. A good and right kind of substrate can save your pet from harming itself.
Although digging is normal behavior for bearded dragons, there are reasons why they do it. In this post, I will share with you some of the reasons behind digging behavior.
Although I mentioned a couple of reasons earlier in this post, there are actually more reasons why bearded dragons dig. Below is the shortlist of those reasons.
Obviously, this is only applicable to female bearded dragons. When female bearded dragons are about to lay their eggs, they tend to dig. This commonly happens when they reach eight months to one-year-old. The breeding season usually starts at the end of the winter. Bearded dragons are more active after brumation.
It is also important to remember that they can lay eggs without mating. But those eggs are infertile. The challenge is to correctly determine the sex or gender of the bearded dragon. In fact, many bearded dragons were wrongly sexed resulting in inappropriate care. If your bearded dragon is female, it is very important to provide what she needs especially for laying eggs.
A lay box is necessary for her. The Lay box is crucial. When a female bearded dragon does not have a place to lay her eggs, she may not lay those eggs. This is commonly known as egg-bound. When this happens, surgery may be needed to remove the stuck eggs inside. However, an operation like this will put your bearded dragon in harm. Other owners dim the lights in their enclosure and lower the heat a bit. Bearded dragons that undergo brumation will not be in a deep sleep for the entire duration.
Sometimes, your dragon may just become lethargic at this time. If your bearded dragon comes out of its hiding place to eat, make sure you turn on its basking lights to help it with digestion. Beardies have been observed to dig small burrows they can hide in to protect themselves. They have adopted hiding as their primary means of defense from predators in the wild and will usually hiss or puff up their beards only as a last resort. In captivity, without any predators, digging to hide can signify that your bearded dragon is feeling uncomfortable or stressed.
Hiding could be due to different stressors. Excessive handling may be stressing your beardie out, so try to lessen interaction with them for a while. A tank that is too hot can also prompt your beardie to dig and hide, so adjust the temperature accordingly. It may also signal the start of brumation for your bearded dragon. You should also check for any signs of illness. Other stressors could cause your bearded dragon to dig.
It could be feeling a bit cramped inside its enclosure so make sure it has enough space and that its tank is big enough. It could also be hearing loud noises outside its enclosure that it feels is threatening, causing it to dig and hide. Sometimes, your bearded dragon can mistake its own reflection on the walls of its glass tank for another dragon and start waving frantically at it to exert dominance.
To avoid stressors to your bearded dragon, make sure that all its enclosure requirements in terms of size, temperature, humidity, lighting, and cleanliness are met. Also, ensure that your dragon is getting a good diet with proper nutrition. Almost all of the health problems that captive beardies develop are due to a lapse in their care. A good understanding of their specific needs temperature, humidity, diet, UVB light, etc. There are other substrates that can work but i would think long and hard about using things like a newspaper when your Bearded Dragon wants to dig as this will only lead to frustration.
I hope you now know exactly why Bearded Dragons dig. I have tried to cover all the situations you need to be aware of and how to deal with them. Remember that this is a natural behaviour for your Bearded Dragon so they will more than likely dig at some point. Just make sure you are monitoring the reasons why they are digging and taking the appropriate action if you need to as well as providing them with a suitable high-quality substrate.
The most common food for bearded dragons are crickets and this often leads to owners having many questions regarding the crickets they are feeding their beardie.
If you know what to look for, you can tell a lot by the color of your bearded dragon. As diet and hydration is so important to bearded dragons, so many owners understandably have lots of questions regarding drinking and water.
For this reason, we have As a bearded dragon owner, understanding your pet's poop is essential to monitor their overall health and wellbeing. Bearded Dragons leave us some key messages in the We get many questions surrounding UVB and bearded dragons.
For this reason, we have taken the 18 most commonly asked UVB questions that we get and answered them in one We regularly see a large number of bearded dragon basking questions being asked. For this reason, we have decided to take the 24 most popular basking questions and Total Bearded Dragon is a website that is dedicated to helping Bearded Dragon owners to care for and understand their Dragons with detailed, straight forward and actionable advice.
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Why Do Bearded Dragons Dig? Everything You Must Know. What Is Bearded Dragon Digging? Is The temperature Too Hot? The Right Temperatures. Below is a guide to the right temperatures you should have in your tank: You should also turn off the basking bulb at night to keep the temperature stable across the whole tank and also allow your Bearded Dragon the time the rest and sleep.
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