# Why does my bearded dragon keep scratching at the glass?



## kitney

Ive bought a 3 year old beaded dragon from a friend, Hes been in his viv at my place for around 2 hours now. However, He's constantly scrambling at the glass at me when im in the room. Is he trying to get out? He's had his daily feed of locusts and seems to be doing it ever since he eat. Im a little concerned, The viv is set to around 88f, He has water and the uv is obviously on..
I have let him out for 5 miniutes for a roam, However i put him back in as im still a little weary of him.

Should i be concerned or is he just curious to his new surroundings?


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## vgorst

Hi,

How much did you feed him? i.e. did he eat his fill or given a set amount? Also putting various veg in the tank everyday is a good idea for adults (as adults they are meant to eat more vegetation than live food).

Is 88f his basking temperature (directly under the bulb) or ambient temperatures? The basking spot needs to be around 105-115f, this should be achieved using a thermostat and measured using a digital thermometer.

Why are you weary of him? Is he aggressive or skittish? Or are you just getting used to him?

Some beardies scratch at the glass for many reasons including boredom, wanting to explore, incorrect temperatures or perhaps still being hungry. Reptiles can take a while to settle, so in 2 hours he's going to be unsettled. Give him some time and he may calm down


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## pk93

Its completely normal mine does the exact same thing, if hes a male its because he can see himself in the refection and male beardies are extreamly territorial to say the least.

If he keeps doing it just put a blanket over the front of the viv till he calms down.

Cheers

PK


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## kitney

vgorst said:


> Hi,
> 
> How much did you feed him? i.e. did he eat his fill or given a set amount? Also putting various veg in the tank everyday is a good idea for adults (as adults they are meant to eat more vegetation than live food).
> 
> Is 88f his basking temperature (directly under the bulb) or ambient temperatures? The basking spot needs to be around 105-115f, this should be achieved using a thermostat and measured using a digital thermometer.
> 
> Why are you weary of him? Is he aggressive or skittish? Or are you just getting used to him?
> 
> Some beardies scratch at the glass for many reasons including boredom, wanting to explore, incorrect temperatures or perhaps still being hungry. Reptiles can take a while to settle, so in 2 hours he's going to be unsettled. Give him some time and he may calm down


I fed him a tub of locusts (5 or 6), This is what his previous owner told me to feed him. Locusts one day and veg the other.

88f is the ambient according to the stat at the the centre of the viv. He has a raised platform under the lamp of which i dont know the temp as the previous owner forgot to bring me the thermometer, Ill get one 1st thing tomorrow.

Im only weary of him as im not used to him, When i handle him he wriggles and seems unhappy. when i put him on my floor he kept running at me, He's also done a bit of head bobbing towards me from his tank..

Excuse my lack of knowledge it's just my friend put him for sale at lunch time for £70 for the whole setup so i had to jump at it before anyone else, Hence me not doing my homework prior.

Ill get a pic up..


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## kitney

Also, what type of dragon is he?


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## vgorst

He's a normal bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps)

Try keeping some fresh veg in there everyday and feeding the live food every other day> Untitled Document < this website shows which veg is best 

When you get a thermometer get a digital one (much more accurate than the analogues). The basking spot should be 105-115F so adjust the thermostat accordingly (if you need to)

Handling wise he probably just needs to get used to you. Head bobbing can be a dominance thing or him being horny


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## Koala Jim

All normal behaviour. Mine does it for attention when scratching the glass.
Also mine constantly runs at me, climbs up my leg to my shoulder! Quite astonishing tbh, they're very social creatures and love attention and learn very quickly! Don't be scared of him, he will be fine.
Also temps should be around 90F so yours are about right but if you can then up it slightly.


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## petitsfilous

I'm a newbie to bearded dragon keeping and learnt that my little guy scratches at the glass when he wants to come out to play. He's incredibly social and loves to be handled. Don't be scared to handle your beardie, they are such soft creatures


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## Arcadiajohn

Reptiles can see UV being tertachromats, this means that they will move themselves to the position that they need to be in to get the benefit from the lamp that they need at that time, much of the climbing and glass dancing is the animal simply trying to get closer to the lamp.

As you know Uv decreases in power massively the further light is from the animal. So we must adjust our bugs to take into account the limitations of the lamps.

In your case taking for granted that the lamp is of adequate power and isn't out of date use stable rocks to life the beardy higher under the basking point and 100% get and use the correct reflector. Light is emitted all the way around a flouro lamp, much of it from the top and sides of the lamp, by harnessing all of the light and energy from these points and focussing it down onto the animal you get the best out of your system and more of the power where it is needed most. This could reduce the amount of glass dancing as the dragon will have more power to use.

Good luck

John,


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## solid tegs

kitney said:


> I fed him a tub of locusts (5 or 6), This is what his previous owner told me to feed him. Locusts one day and veg the other.
> 
> 88f is the ambient according to the stat at the the centre of the viv. He has a raised platform under the lamp of which i dont know the temp as the previous owner forgot to bring me the thermometer, Ill get one 1st thing tomorrow.
> 
> Im only weary of him as im not used to him, When i handle him he wriggles and seems unhappy. when i put him on my floor he kept running at me, He's also done a bit of head bobbing towards me from his tank..
> 
> Excuse my lack of knowledge it's just my friend put him for sale at lunch time for £70 for the whole setup so i had to jump at it before anyone else, Hence me not doing my homework prior.
> 
> Ill get a pic up..


From what I have learnt mine are fairly happy but come to the front of the viv for food and only really scratch at the glass when they want to come out which for my trhee is quite often lol If he is wrigling when you handle him is he whipping his tail with that too as they could just mean he doesnt feel safe are you supporting all of his legs tail is not too much of a problem but make sure you are supporting thier body ie all legs head bobbing is all normal too in makes


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## Ronster

Hope he chills out & settles down for you. Nice set up and a cracking' bargain indeed!


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## kitney

He's a lot better, he's settled down a lot. I bought him a new log which he spends most of his time chilling out on, He seems much happier.


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## sduncan

Looks like a happy dragon, mines comes up to the glass when wanting out but usually when I open the viv she'll jump out explore for bout 30 seconds then try jump back in, drives me insane lol


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## silvermaneuk

Trinity does that, he kinda sits at the door and say's 'oi come and get me' lol He seems to like his cuddles lol..I cant let him explore I think my terriers might eat him, although one of my dogs thinks he's a new kitten, and wants to lick him lol

he seemed very pleased with himself when he moved everything around in his viv, sat on his rock with a very satisfied look on his face lol. Their such characters.


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