If your bearded dragon has started digging a lot, there can be few reasons for that. In this post, we will discuss why bearded dragons dig and reasons for digging in a corner of the tank or even digging at night.
Why do bearded dragons dig?
- Preparing to lay eggs
- High temperatures in the tank
- Stress
- Looking for food
- Not enough space
- Preparing for brumation
- No hides
- Natural digging behavior from time to time
Reason #1: Your bearded dragon is a female getting ready to lay eggs
If your bearded dragon is a female and she is over 8-12 months old, she could be preparing to lay eggs. Gravid bearded dragons tend to dig frantically.
Bearded dragons can lay infertile eggs without mating with a male. The breeding season often starts with the end of winter, in March to April and ends around end October-November. Bearded dragons become especially active and ready to breed after if they have brumated.
If you are not 100% sure if your bearded dragon is a male, examine again to make sure. Many bearded dragons get sexed incorrectly, with owners later realizing their pet is of different gender.
You can find an interactive guide with pictures to tell your bearded dragon’s gender here.
If you find out your bearded dragon is a female, make sure to prepare a lay box for her to lay eggs. Place it in the middle of the tank so that substrate inside doesn’t dry out too quickly.
If you don’t make a laying box, she might not lay the eggs and become egg-bound. This will require a surgery to remove stuck eggs and can even kill your dragon. You can find instructions on making a nesting site in this post.
Reason #2: Temperatures in the tank are too high
If the temperatures in the tank are too high, your bearded dragon will try to escape or hide under the substrate or a log/rock. Few other big signs showing that your dragon is too hot are severe panting and avoiding the basking spot.
Please note that panting in general is normal. 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 92-110 degrees Fahrenheit (33-43 Celsius), and not higher than that. Temperatures above 115 F (46.6 C) will slowly kill your dragon by causing overheating, dehydration and even a stroke.
You must create a temperature gradient, so that your bearded dragon can move to a cool spot when it’s hot. A cool spot should range between 75-85 F (23.8-29). Temperature at night should reach around 65-77 F (18.3-25 Celsius). Don’t heat the tank at night if temperatures are optimal.
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. 55-70 gallons is more optimal.
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. You can read all about heating and lighting setup in a bearded dragon’s tank in this post.
Reason #3: Stress
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. Housing two or more bearded dragons together will cause fights, injuries and stress.
Reason #4: Looking for food
Believe it or not, bearded dragons might be digging to look for food. In any case when you might underfeed your bearded dragon, it might look for food itself by digging and going around.
You should only start worrying about obesity in your dragon after it becomes a sub-adult of around 10 months old. Before that, please feed as many live bugs your dragon can eat in 15-20 minutes. Especially babies.
It can also rarely happen when your dragon tried other bugs that it likes more, but you cut back on them to improve its diet (such as fatty worms). Fattier worms are addicting to bearded dragons and they can reject other feeder bugs if they get addicted.
If you start fixing the diet, your dragon might reject other bugs and not eat at all. In this case, waiting is recommended, because dragons can go off food for around 1-2 months without losing weight. This is only fine for adult bearded dragons over 18 months old, because babies will not survive that long without food.
Reason #5: No enough space
If there’s no enough space for your dragon to roam around and do activities, it can get bored and start digging. An adult bearded dragon needs a minimum 40 gallon breeder tank to itself. But even more optimal would be a 55-70 gallons or even larger tank, to have more space to roam and to accommodate accessories.
A minimum 40 gallon tank, that is at least 36 inches long and 18 inches high is a must for your dragon. But even 40 gallons is considered quite small for one adult bearded dragon. If the tank is smaller than that, you also won’t be able to create a temperature gradient or use a tube UVB light.
Reason #6: Preparing for brumation
Bearded dragons over 12-18 months old can start brumating through the colder months of the year. A bearded dragon can brumate for up to 3-4 months from November to end February in Northern Hemisphere (USA, Canada, most of Europe). In Southern Hemisphere, it can last through late spring-summer.
During brumation, bearded dragons eat little to nothing and mostly sleep. So if your bearded dragon is over 12 months old, and starts digging during the colder months of the year, it could be preparing for brumation.
Your bearded dragons could be digging to prepare its hide spot for brumation. This is common when a bearded dragon is digging in a corner, too.
You can read all about bearded dragon brumation in this post.
Reason #7: No hides in the tank
If there are no hides in the tank at all, your bearded dragon might start digging instinctively to create a hiding spot for itself. This is especially true combined with stress, brumation or high temperatures.
Please make sure that there is at least 1 hide in the tank and other covered spots. You can also use branches and other accessories to create small hiding spots.
If your dragon spends too much time in a hide, you can get one with an open top or hole, such as this hide and platform with holes. This is so that your bearded dragon can still absorb UVB when hiding. But if your dragon doesn’t tend to spend much time in a hide during the day, you can introduce a normal log or rock hide.
Bearded dragons sometimes even dig if there IS a hide. This is natural behavior, and your dragon might dig at night before laying in its sleeping spot. Don’t use colored bulbs at night either (red, blue), as it will disturb your dragon’s sleep and will make it hide.
You can even introduce a small blanket or soft fabric for your dragon to lay in at night, covered on top with another fabric or cloth on top to provide a feeling of security.
Important tip on bearded dragon digging and substrate!
Please do not use any loose substrate in your bearded dragon’s tank. Loose substrate such as sand, gravel, bark and others cause a huge risk or impaction. Loose substrate is not only dangerous, but also harbors a lot of bacteria.
For bedding, please use tiles (ceramic, porcelain, slate) cut to the right size, paper towels or reptile carpet like this. If your bearded dragon digs, especially in a corner, place a soft blanket, a cloth or towel for your dragon to dig and hide. This is to prevent your dragon from scratching the floors.