I have a bearded dragon that I agreed to take from a lady my wife works with. She is getting a divorce and can't have it in the place she is living. Anyway, the dragon is about a year old and is a good size and weight. I set him up in a 40 breeder with a uv light and a basking platform on one side and a regular light with a dimmer on the other. He has been eating fresh collard greens, bok choy, cucumber, squash, crickets and mealworms.

He takes a crap everyday and smears it all over the cage and actually covers himself in it. I have to clean it every single day and give him a bath. Is this normal behavior? If it is, then he is gonna go live somewhere else. Anybody want him free with cage?

I have a bearded dragon that I agreed to take from a lady my wife works with. She is getting a divorce and can't have it in the place she is living. Anyway, the dragon is about a year old and is a good size and weight. I set him up in a 40 breeder with a uv light and a basking platform on one side and a regular light with a dimmer on the other. He has been eating fresh collard greens, bok choy, cucumber, squash, crickets and mealworms.

He takes a crap everyday and smears it all over the cage and actually covers himself in it. I have to clean it every single day and give him a bath. Is this normal behavior? If it is, then he is gonna go live somewhere else. Anybody want him free with cage?

wow chimp, you really know how to "sell" an animal...LOL !
from the way you described it i'm sure it's already been scooped up !
who wouldn't want to add that cute little thing to their collection !
i'll tell 'ya why she can't have it where she's livin'...same reason you can't have it where you're livin" ! LOL ! (jeeze, your killin' me !)
if it was me , i'd advertise it as the latest beardie morph, the "chocolate dipped", then you could probably sell it for a G !
good luck bro, hope you can work it out, it's probably just a temp thing(beardies need it really hot, hot dries the poop quicker, less time to "fresco" the tank !), maybe change it's location, or give it more hiding spaces (so you can spend the rest of your day cleaning cage furniture !)
seriously though, best of luck with your new acquisition,
ck

sounds like to much work for me

Not any normal behavior I have seen or even heard of for that matter.

I would change up everything and see if that helps, a little rearranging can't hurt.

Nay, not normal. Dont have many Picasso la Poo in the beardie set.

I think its a combination of a couple things.

First, hes in a new place. So he's gonna spend some time cruising the cage, nosing around, testing the limits of his new home so to speak. Now thats normal.

The poop thing. I dont think hes intentionally smearing poop just to be difficult. I think as hes scuttling about the cage he's just dragging the poop around with him. Now why is his poop so runny? I think its a combo of possibly stress from his move and his diet. You may want to watch his veggie intake for a little while until he settles in. Just stick with the greens like collards. swiss, bok choy thats fine. Id definitely lay off the cucumbers as they can lead to runny stools. As can any other watery vegetable or fruit. Squash usually isnt a problem but Id keep his diet pretty strict until you get the poop fiasco under control.

May want to go a little lighter on the veggies and heavier on the crickets if he is agreeable. That should help solidify his stool to some degree. Normal stools shouldnt be so easy to smear all over himself and the cage.

Also check his temps. If hes not at the right temp his whole system can get screwed up. I might also put his UV light and heat light on the same side. I love your idea of a platform I would just get the lights on the same side. And make sure he has some hide spots which may cut down on his wanderlust.

It could also mean he is ill. Loose, runny stools and erratic behavior can be signs of such ailments as internal parasites, gastroenteric infections and Pseudomonas. But these are usually accompanied by loss of appetite and listless behavior. Not running around the cage smearing poo. Just though Id throw that out there as well.

Hopefully he will settle in. If not, I dunno. I never had such a dirty lizard. Sometimes they crawl through it but smear it all over? Thats a dirty boy.

Thanks for the input but he has a new home now. His poop wasn't really runny. He would just smash and grab his own poop. Sometimes he would crap and turn around and flop his belly right down on the crap. I really tried to set him up properly. I gave him a new UV bulb with a hot spot of 105 and an ambient temp of about 80 or so and was giving him fresh cut greens and veggies every morning, calcium with D3 daily, gutloaded crickets and mealies & fresh water.

I guess he was just a weirdo. Anyway, I agreed to give up the tank and all accessories if a good home would take him. They are coming to get him later this week.

wow chimp, you really know how to "sell" an animal...LOL !
from the way you described it i'm sure it's already been scooped up !
who wouldn't want to add that cute little thing to their collection !
i'll tell 'ya why she can't have it where she's livin'...same reason you can't have it where you're livin" ! LOL ! (jeeze, your killin' me !)
if it was me , i'd advertise it as the latest beardie morph, the "chocolate dipped", then you could probably sell it for a G !
good luck bro, hope you can work it out, it's probably just a temp thing(beardies need it really hot, hot dries the poop quicker, less time to "fresco" the tank !), maybe change it's location, or give it more hiding spaces (so you can spend the rest of your day cleaning cage furniture !)
seriously though, best of luck with your new acquisition,
ck

you are so funny :lol:
may be he just didnt like the sent he was smelling
or he didnt like you :lol:
i would have found him a new home like you did

Nay, not normal. Dont have many Picasso la Poo in the beardie set.

I think its a combination of a couple things.

First, hes in a new place. So he's gonna spend some time cruising the cage, nosing around, testing the limits of his new home so to speak. Now thats normal.

The poop thing. I dont think hes intentionally smearing poop just to be difficult. I think as hes scuttling about the cage he's just dragging the poop around with him. Now why is his poop so runny? I think its a combo of possibly stress from his move and his diet. You may want to watch his veggie intake for a little while until he settles in. Just stick with the greens like collards. swiss, bok choy thats fine. Id definitely lay off the cucumbers as they can lead to runny stools. As can any other watery vegetable or fruit. Squash usually isnt a problem but Id keep his diet pretty strict until you get the poop fiasco under control.

May want to go a little lighter on the veggies and heavier on the crickets if he is agreeable. That should help solidify his stool to some degree. Normal stools shouldnt be so easy to smear all over himself and the cage.

Also check his temps. If hes not at the right temp his whole system can get screwed up. I might also put his UV light and heat light on the same side. I love your idea of a platform I would just get the lights on the same side. And make sure he has some hide spots which may cut down on his wanderlust.

It could also mean he is ill. Loose, runny stools and erratic behavior can be signs of such ailments as internal parasites, gastroenteric infections and Pseudomonas. But these are usually accompanied by loss of appetite and listless behavior. Not running around the cage smearing poo. Just though Id throw that out there as well.

Hopefully he will settle in. If not, I dunno. I never had such a dirty lizard. Sometimes they crawl through it but smear it all over? Thats a dirty boy.

nuff said..

:yessir:

nuff said..

:yessir:


is varanus awesome or what.
man really knows his bleep !
ck