It may be a good ideal for your doctor to look at the levels of serotonin and norepinephrine. The former chemical also causes the brain to release glucose into the bloodstream, which may account for the higher levels of blood sugar you mentioned was in the blood results. However, keep in mind that being stuck with needles in a vet's office is likely to cause stress by itself, so the results may be inconclusive because of this.

I will definitely ask him about this. I can tell when any of my other animals are stressed Cyrus will get dark and his or gape (think it happened once, he's a pretty mellow cham) and the blotchies are hyper anyway and never handled (except to get Ana into her laying jar), but Darwin. he is always the same. Being a citrus he does change his color to a lovely yellow when he is warm and when I am holding him (like just hanging out with me while I work).

If stress is playing a role in your dragon's lack of activity, reassessing his environment will be necessary. Buy another digital thermometer and double check temperatures.
I sue a temp gun and nothing has changed. I use quality UVB and change them every 6 months. I use the 10.0 for him b/c his tank is deep (can't recall if I mentioned that in an earlier post or not). His routine has been the same as long as he has been in that tank - 2 years this month. The only thing that varies is his supplementation because he is not eating much. He will lick calcium off a rock (much like my female blotchie when gravid), but as an adult always has. His calcium level was fine in results (11.6 mg/dl).

Check for anything in and out of the cage that could be intimidating to your dragon (pictures of predatory animals, high traffic area, change in the environment around time this all started etc). It could easily just be a plastic owl set outside the window to scare away pigeons, which the dragon is seeing through the window and thinks it is a hawk hoping to eat him etc.

again, nothing. I live a rather routine life myself and not big on change so other than getting a new bedspread last year (lol!) that's it. And no, it does not have lions and tigers and bears - oh my! It is a very muted green floral.

He hangs out with my cats right on the sunning window seat. not much gets him riled. I have Cyrus in my office and when Darwin sits n the window sill he can see the blotchies and Cyrus and doesn't even look at them. (Cyrus had eye surgery and limited vision in his right eye so he doesn't get stressed seeing Darwin - I'd be more concerned about that since chams can stress easily.)

DO you have a ceiling fan?

no, but that is an interesting thought. I use air conditioners and one is next to his tank (flush in wall, same as short end of his tank - his tank sticks out long ways from wall so it is open on three sides. I'll upload some pics of it later and see if you have any thoughts) but it's in the BR so I use it at night if at all. If I do use it in daytime he's clueless.

If your dragon is stuck in your room all the time, alone, put a small tv in there and have it on. I find bearded dragons will watch a television (or most likely the moving images) though not sure if this is something they enjoy or just a distraction to relief the everyday boredom.

I know moving a large cage can be a pain, and impractical if you can't get help to move your dragon's cage. Perhaps you can spend more time interacting with your dragon (other than taking him to a vet). Take him outside for an hour of natural sunlight (best to keep him in a container, be it a large rubbermaid or a flexarium type cage. Just be sure there are shaded areas in the cage so he can get out of the sun if it is too hot. Also, don't leave him alone out there, stay with him the entire time. Bring a book and something to drink.


I showed him some beardie armwaving, head bobbing videos on the computer yesterday after reading what you said and he barely looked. I interact with him a LOT. I take him out to be with me, he goes on errands - we went to the dump and the bank yesterday ) and he will sit on me while I work. I rear wild silk moths and am sometimes working with the rearing sleeves for a couple hours a day. I bring him with me and keep him on a long leash, usually he just finds a hollow of some sort or bush to hide in. He will not stay in the sun for very long (and this NH, not overly hot). I have not set up either of their sunning cages yet b/c it has been an unusually cool summer so when I take either out it is when the sun is out and/or it is warm enough.

I believe you also mentioned ot place your dragon on a windowsill to get UVB...

he is one the sill with just the screen so he gets no less (and hopefully more) than what he gets from his light.

So you can see, most things have been covered, but I will def. ask the vet about the stress hormone.

thanks so much!
lele
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Chameleon Help & Resource Info
1.0 Nosy Be Panther Chameleon - Cyrus
0.1 Veiled Chameleon - Luna. She's now hanging from her big jungle gym in the sky
1.0 Beardie - Darwin
1.1.1 Side-blotched lizards - Ana and Stan
0.2 felines - Kyndra and Lita
0.1 African Clawed Frog - Skippy
0.1 Chilean Rose Hair Tarantula - Rosa Leigh, Died 4/21/06
0.1 Goliath Bird-Eater Tarantula - Natasha, donated to science 4/4/06
?.? Pinktoe Tarantula - no name yet

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