Bearded dragons only turn black due to many reasons such as to regulate their temperature, to express their feelings, if they are scared or threaten or even sick, it is therefore suggested to take them to vets just in case they are sick. Let’s take a look at keeping bearded dragons and what a black bearded dragon might mean.
How to keep a Bearded Dragon as a pet?
It is highly important to keep their environment comfortable for them, therefore their tank should roughly be 120cm long by 60cm high and 60cm wide, it’ll need to be well ventilated with cold and warm tones for the Lizard. To keep their health and happiness secure make sure you get a variety of food for their diet. There light should be turned off at night allowing them to rest and allow them to understand the cycle of the day. Bearded dragons enjoy their space, moreover the point is to not over crowd them.
Black Bearded Dragon due to pigmentation
They often change colour within their body due to external factor responses, they have the ability to change their skin colour as of the chromatophores (contractile fibres can expand the cells and the cell in animals’ surface that contains pigment) which is presented in their skin like most reptiles. Chromatophores cells end up capturing light in a certain way that change the colour that our eyes perceive. The darker colours of the reptiles absorb light and heat due to the thermoregulation cells (the progress allowing your body to maintain its core internal temperature).
Bearded dragon black due to fear or aggression
Bearded dragon turns black due to their emotions as they are trying to express to their handler that something is wrong. A way of telling if the Bearded Dragon is aggressive is when they are head bobbing, this is highlighting a warning of being angry or agitated. The aggression typically only occurs with male bearded dragons when another male is present as they could feel threatened. Male bearded dragons are known to be typically more aggressive than female that even a glance of their own reflection can cause their outburst because they could believe to think it’s another male competing in the vicinity. However, if their colour change isn’t due to aggression as they aren’t head bobbing, they can be highly stressed or ill.
Ill
The bearded Dragon can change colour due to its stress not only that but have a lack of appetite causing your reptile to lose weight, although losing weight can be a sign of illness. If they are sick or stressed often just their beard turns black or a darken belly colour most likely near the rear end orifice. A darken belly is typically signs of impaction or an issue within a female bearded dragon who is egg bound, if these aren’t addressed it can lead to death for your pet.
Black Bearded dragon due to temperature
Black Bearded dragon are cold blooded animals, meaning they depend on heat and light sources to try and keep their body warm. Bearded dragons darken their colour due to temperature to absorb more heat to themselves, this increases their body temperature a lot faster than their normal colour. More often Bearded dragons turn darker in the early mornings to absorb heat more often and once they have contracted an optimal temperature, they turn back to their normal pigment. A lot of the time the reason they change due to their temperature is they are cold and trying to attract more heat to themselves.
Ready to mate
When it is mating season male bearded dragons bloat their beards and darken their skin to improve their chances of mating and to impress the females. During the mating season your beardies behaviour will change, you will notice signs of aggression and irritation to help your bearded dragon out just be patient with them and wait the progress out and make sure they feel safe in their environment to reduce their stress levels.
Shedding – are they ready to shed? How do you know? How do they shed? Do they need help with shedding?
Your bearded dragon will get a glossy appearance on the eyes or anywhere on their body that has started to shed, sometimes your bearded dragon will need help with shedding by soaking their skin in water as it helps the progress of the shedding for them. They often appear darker when they are about to shed.
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