Our 8 month old Bearded Dragon, Stanley, has lost his appetite. Up until 2 weeks ago he was eating around twenty large crickets, and 5-6 super-worms a day. We always had fresh greens (romaine lettuce, peas and carrots) in his 40gal. tank as well. There is a UVA/B light at one end, lit for 12 hours, giving him a basking temp. of 95 degrees to 100 degrees depending on how high he goes on his stick. At the other end we have a 60 watt daylight blue light, and that one is lit for about 15 hours a day. There are shady areas in the tank, and a substrate heater on the side with the UVA/B light. By the way, these two lights are on adjustable stands. During the night we keep a 50 watt infrared lit. This light sits on top of the tank. Stanley is only eating about 5 crickets a day, and won't touch the worms. However, he has become obsessed with his reflection in the tank's glass. He stalks it, and pokes his nose against the glass. At times his beard is dark, but not flared. Does anyone have an explanation for the change in his behavior? Are we doing anything wrong? Thanks. Monique
You answered your own question withe the last paragraph. He's a sub-adult now and he sees "another" male dragon that he is trying to get at. Try removing him from the cage and feeding him in a place where he can't see his reflection. If this keeps up you might have to do something to reduce the reflection he's seeing, add a back ground, adjust the positions of the lights, etc. to reduce the stress level.
