# Lazy/Bored Bearded Dragon



## Dave F (Dec 9, 2009)

Hi, I have a male beardie, about 6 months old, he is in a 4ft viv with the temperatures OK in the right places and correct UV and is on slate. He eats fine and poo's fine and has been to the vets for a checkup and had faecal test done, all OK, although he did have traces of coccidia a few months back that are now clear after treatment. However he seems really bored, he gets up in the morning and warms up, then he eats a mixture of locusts and crickets and basks for a while but then he just lays on the floor behind his rock where you can't see him all day and night, even if I get him out he doesn't want to run around, he will often explore to find a dark corner and just go to sleep. When I put him back he just goes behind his rock again. He used to be really lively when he was younger but now he just looks depressed and grumpy and I feel helpless. Anyone got any advice, been in the same situation etc or is this just normal. Thanks in advance.

Dave


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## x-Al-x (May 24, 2010)

maybe he needs a female?
we have had a pair in a four foor foot viv and they love it.
upgrading to a 6 foot viv, becuase i want them to have more space, but two can live fine in a four foot.


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## rum&coke (Apr 19, 2009)

Have you tryed moving every thing around in the viv or maybe getting some new rocks and things and get a new UV bulb to see if that makes it more active?
Eating and basking is pretty much all they do really but if yours is really lazy it could be a sign of some thing else thats wrong.


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## ped86 (May 20, 2010)

my beardie is about a year old and is a bit like that, although he does wake up a bit when you take him out of tank, does your beardie sit with one eye shut a lot, as mine tends to do. 
my beardie had traces of the same parasites aswell but is now clear, he eats every day and poops every 3rd or 4th day.

maybe try bathing him more as he could be dehydrated.


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## Cockys Royals (Jun 28, 2008)

Where is he housed, bedroom living room, I have some of our lizards in the living room and now & then we catch them watching tv, quite funny really. They just look at the pictures & when a loud advert comes on you see them bouncing their head.


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## Dave F (Dec 9, 2009)

Sorry for the delayed response guys, I appreciate your help, my computer decided to give up so just got that sorted out. He's in the front room so he can see the tv, and out of the window. He does seem to get scared sometimes though when certain people or dogs walk past and he see's them, but even when I have the blinds shut he still hides. He eats well but won't chase his food and poo's bout every 4 days, but its HUGE :lol2:. The UV is coming up to needing a change but its only just 6 months old and he's been like this for a couple of months now. I'm tempted to try a new UV but also move it closer to him. Just want the little fella to be happy.


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## BigHeadBen (Dec 30, 2009)

oh my god. I thought i was the only one, I read your initial post and thought i had written it myself and forgotten...he just doesnt seem interested in anything anymore, he gets up basks for an hour and then goes back into his corner, he had coccidia and is all clear now, wont chase his food and turns his nose up at crickets and eats the odd locust, he will eat as many morio worms as i give him which i try to avoid but i feel like if i dont atleast give him those then he will just starve. Im at a loss, ive thought of everything! the only thing i could think of is that since i moved into my parents, his tank is now a foot away from my bed and perhaps i scare him as he doesnt like to leave his corner unless im out of bed. I didnt mean to hijack your thread, i just know how frustrating it is :banghead:


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## promarc73 (Jul 5, 2009)

hmmm mines the same last couple of days he sit's at the basking spot with his eye's closed. mines 7 weeks old and im at a loss he his settling in still so im not touching him etc. but im worried as it's my daughters birthday pressie.


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## beardie1988 (May 26, 2010)

sounds like there needing some company.....


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## jarvis and charlie (Mar 27, 2009)

what uv is he on ? i changed my guy from a repti to a arcadia like the rest are on hes a lot more active , still a horn monster lol if the uv is a few monthsold change it and try and get him out more to run around seems to work


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## promarc73 (Jul 5, 2009)

jarvis and charlie said:


> what uv is he on ? i changed my guy from a repti to a arcadia like the rest are on hes a lot more active , still a horn monster lol if the uv is a few monthsold change it and try and get him out more to run around seems to work


mine is a arcadia 12% D3 + and is 1 week old


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## Dave F (Dec 9, 2009)

BigHeadBen said:


> oh my god. I thought i was the only one, I read your initial post and thought i had written it myself and forgotten...he just doesnt seem interested in anything anymore, he gets up basks for an hour and then goes back into his corner, he had coccidia and is all clear now, wont chase his food and turns his nose up at crickets and eats the odd locust, he will eat as many morio worms as i give him which i try to avoid but i feel like if i dont atleast give him those then he will just starve. Im at a loss, ive thought of everything! the only thing i could think of is that since i moved into my parents, his tank is now a foot away from my bed and perhaps i scare him as he doesnt like to leave his corner unless im out of bed. I didnt mean to hijack your thread, i just know how frustrating it is :banghead:


Yeah it really is frustrating, funnily enough mine had coccidia aswell but samples now show that he's clear of it. I get him out every night and at weekends and he has free roam of the flat, he gets loads of attention but just seems miserably. This weekend I moved his rock so it's hard for him to hide behind and he does seem better, although he managed to scare himself at one point by jumping up at the window to see what was outside just as a dog was walking past lol, (he's really scared of them) and force himself between his rock and the back of the viv. I've also took his hut out that he slept in as he was starting to spend alot of time in there during the day. I'll order a new UV soon and maybe look at getting a few things for his viv, could do with some decent branches for him to climb really.


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## HanRed (May 28, 2010)

awwwww, poor bruiser (was just about to ask his name,lol) maybe he's really scared of your dog, i know skittles doesn't like amber at all.
skittles has a habit of hiding behind his basking rock when he's scared...it's kinda cute in weird way...he tries to looks scary but kinda fails.
he might just be going through a moody "teenage" phase,lol. he's not ill...so won't be something to do with that. keep up what your doing i'm sure he'll snap out of it.
when i got skittles he didn't eat properly for a couple of weeks and that was frustrating, but he's starting to eat properly now.
good luck


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## James Prala (Apr 4, 2009)

it doesn't need company is for sure. keeping pairs is risky to the animals' safety.


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## Dave F (Dec 9, 2009)

HanRed said:


> awwwww, poor bruiser (was just about to ask his name,lol) maybe he's really scared of your dog, i know skittles doesn't like amber at all.
> skittles has a habit of hiding behind his basking rock when he's scared...it's kinda cute in weird way...he tries to looks scary but kinda fails.
> he might just be going through a moody "teenage" phase,lol. he's not ill...so won't be something to do with that. keep up what your doing i'm sure he'll snap out of it.
> when i got skittles he didn't eat properly for a couple of weeks and that was frustrating, but he's starting to eat properly now.
> good luck


The dogs only at my parents when I visit, I have to take Bruiser as I go for the weekend every now and then, at my house there's just me and him. He's got a new uv now, he eats fine and seems healthy but just miserable. When I come in from work he's just lying on the floor looking bored, he doesn't run around or even chase his food he just lets it come to him. The only time he ever even scratches at the glass is when he's really hungry, say if i'm trying to get him to eat salad so cutting back in the live food. Every other dragon I've seen is really active, wants to know whats going on and never just lays there... Thanks for the input.


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## Jessdragon (May 1, 2010)

I have a dragon just like this!!!! At the moment, Toothless wakes up in the morning, basks for a while and then finds some dark corner to hide under and she'll stay there for most of the day. She has lost all interest in her food at the moment though she will sit and eat her salad. This morning a locust was actually sat on her back and she just ignored it. She poo's everyday as she always has done and she will go mental for a few waxworms. When I get her out of the viv, she runs around for about 5 minutes and either finds a dark place to put her head or tries to climb back in her viv. I thought it was because of the hot weather, but they are a desert species. I've tried changing her salad, her live foods but she just isn't interested at the moment. Sorry for hijacking the thread but I'm slightly relieved other people are familiar with this.


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## jillygirl (Feb 1, 2010)

Jessdragon said:


> I have a dragon just like this!!!! At the moment, Toothless wakes up in the morning, basks for a while and then finds some dark corner to hide under and she'll stay there for most of the day. She has lost all interest in her food at the moment though she will sit and eat her salad. This morning a locust was actually sat on her back and she just ignored it. She poo's everyday as she always has done and she will go mental for a few waxworms. When I get her out of the viv, she runs around for about 5 minutes and either finds a dark place to put her head or tries to climb back in her viv. I thought it was because of the hot weather, but they are a desert species. I've tried changing her salad, her live foods but she just isn't interested at the moment. Sorry for hijacking the thread but I'm slightly relieved other people are familiar with this.


lol...i think you will find a few folk have this with their beardie..mine is 8 months and he was doing the exact same thing a few days back.. refusing his beloved locust.. and just generally in a sulk.. yet if i waved as morio at him he would snatch it up.. he was still eating his salad so i knew he was eating something.. he was like it for bout a week.. it was when the hot/muggy weather was here.. which i thought was strange as they like hot weather !!! but sure enough when it cooled down he became lively and eating as normal..:whistling2: who knows!! they are lil buggers at times:bash:


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## Jessdragon (May 1, 2010)

I think that you are right about the hot weather which is really strange. It has been raining here today so it is much cooler. When I got home I let Toothless sit on the window ledge and she amused herself by watching the traffic outside. She does seem more active which is a relief. Perhaps she was just being tempermental. :lol2:


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## Big_d2008 (Mar 28, 2009)

I find this with my male him and my female always been together but he is a reall really lazy sh*t lol I have to feed him on his own as he to lazy to race around for his locusts and female will gobble the lot if i let her. He is happy though if i take the female away and eave him in the tank he get adgitated because she aint there so he must just be a lazy bum typical man lol


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## Dave F (Dec 9, 2009)

Jessdragon said:


> I have a dragon just like this!!!! At the moment, Toothless wakes up in the morning, basks for a while and then finds some dark corner to hide under and she'll stay there for most of the day. She has lost all interest in her food at the moment though she will sit and eat her salad. This morning a locust was actually sat on her back and she just ignored it. She poo's everyday as she always has done and she will go mental for a few waxworms. When I get her out of the viv, she runs around for about 5 minutes and either finds a dark place to put her head or tries to climb back in her viv. I thought it was because of the hot weather, but they are a desert species. I've tried changing her salad, her live foods but she just isn't interested at the moment. Sorry for hijacking the thread but I'm slightly relieved other people are familiar with this.


Yes Bruiser does exactly this, I get him out n he'll play for abit but then just find somewhere dark and hides there and goes to sleep. He sleeps in a hide in his viv but I have to take it out during the day or he just stays in there all day long. He will sit right next to a locust and not bother with it, he probly has about 4 a day and won't touch any form of salad at all.



Jessdragon said:


> I think that you are right about the hot weather which is really strange. It has been raining here today so it is much cooler. When I got home I let Toothless sit on the window ledge and she amused herself by watching the traffic outside. She does seem more active which is a relief. Perhaps she was just being tempermental. :lol2:


 
I live by the side of the Thames and so when I get in I put him on a cushion at the window n he sits there for ages just watching the boats go by, it's the only thing he seems to show an interrest in :lol2:. It's just horrible coming in from work to see him laying there looking so bored all the time. Thanks for he help, we must of got beardies from the same dodgey batch ha ha.


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## dickvansheepcake (Jul 8, 2009)

x-Al-x said:


> maybe he needs a female?
> we have had a pair in a four foor foot viv and they love it.
> upgrading to a 6 foot viv, becuase i want them to have more space, but two can live fine in a four foot.





beardie1988 said:


> sounds like there needing some company.....


He absolutely DOES NOT need company. Please ignore anyone that tells you he is 'lonely' because it is the biggest load of bull ever! Keeping beardies in pairs or groups is extremely risky and also unfair on the them as they are naturally solitary and do not want or enjoy company. Also males and females should not be housed together permanently anyway as this will cause stress to the female which will have a detrimental affect on her health.


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## Big_d2008 (Mar 28, 2009)

Well my pair seem to be absolutely fine if anything the female is better health than a good few i have seen. Many others have and do keep pairs very happily.


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## Jessdragon (May 1, 2010)

I like the idea of keeping a pair. It just doesn't seem right to leave Toothless on her own, bored all day long. 

Besides, then I get to have another beardie... :flrt:


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## dickvansheepcake (Jul 8, 2009)

And many females die from the stress of constant mating. Fair enough if people keep a pair together and it's working out (they will not be happy, but will tollerate each other) just bare in mind that one day you may come home to find one or both dead because they have decided they don't want to share their home with someone else. Nobody should ever advise someone to add another beardie because their beardie looks lonely or might want company because it's the biggest load of rubbish I've ever heard.
I love my lizards so I do not see the point in risking their lives and welfare by keeping them together. 
Anyone who keeps their beardies together, good luck to you, but just remember if any harm comes to them or they die as a result of them cohabiting that is entirely your fault and would also have been preventable.


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## dickvansheepcake (Jul 8, 2009)

Jessdragon said:


> I like the idea of keeping a pair. It just doesn't seem right to leave Toothless on her own, bored all day long.
> 
> Besides, then I get to have another beardie... :flrt:


If you want another beardie, get another tank and put it in there. They are naturally solitary........what is it about that that people don't seem to get????


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## Jessdragon (May 1, 2010)

dickvansheepcake said:


> And many females die from the stress of constant mating. Fair enough if people keep a pair together and it's working out (they will not be happy, but will tollerate each other) just bare in mind that one day you may come home to find one or both dead because they have decided they don't want to share their home with someone else. Nobody should ever advise someone to add another beardie because their beardie looks lonely or might want company because it's the biggest load of rubbish I've ever heard.
> I love my lizards so I do not see the point in risking their lives and welfare by keeping them together.
> Anyone who keeps their beardies together, good luck to you, but just remember if any harm comes to them or they die as a result of them cohabiting that is entirely your fault and would also have been preventable.


Have you had personal experience with this? Have you kept more than one in a viv together and had them die from this? How come other people who keep more than one beardie together aren't screaming at others not to do it. Have you asked the beardie if they prefer being alone? 

I am not attacking your opinion but you are coming across rather harsh and strongly. It is not fair to blame people for accidents or their beardies death. 

I am getting another viv and will keep the beardie in that. Only if they get along will I consider it.


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## Jessdragon (May 1, 2010)

Of course I am referring to keeping female pairs, not with a male. I would just like to state that. 

My partner wont let me get a male... :lol2:


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