Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Kinda a silly question I know, But do dragons get depressed? My boy whip is just under a year old, a little longer then 17 inches, weighing in at 326 grams, his veggies mix is good (thanks to some of you fine folks), and he's getting about 2 doz crickets or more every other day. Lately he seems really lathargic, doesn;t move around much, sits on his branch or on the bottom of his cage. He doesn;t wave, bob, or do much of anything, but he used to do this alot a few months ago. SO I am just wondering can a dragon become depressed? He had a lady friend a few months aago that was a rescue, but we foound a very loving home for her. When she was around he used to be all over the place. Now we are thinking about getting another girl at hamburg next week to perk him up but I'm not sure this is the right way to go. Any thoughts?

~Mrez

check the temps on your guy and make sure he's warm enough but assuming he is I'd say boredom is a better discription than depression. My adults can see each other. The guys all flare and flirt, turn black and paw at the glass. The girls are less restless but flirt back through the glass. We also have quite days that no one pays much attention to anyone. Provided you know all the reasons to house them seperately,I don't see a problem with another dragon that lives in his/her own house. Be aware that my guys can get so worked up even from a distance that they will often forget to eat. You can get some response from your dragon with a mirror placed where he can see himself. Hope this helps some.
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3.4.0 Beardies
1.2.0 Crested Geckos
1.1.1 Box Turtles
0.1.0 Sulcata
1.1.0 Ball Python
2.1.0 corn snake
0.1.0 great plains rat snake
0.1.0 Blue Beauty Snakes
1.0.0 Banana King snake
1.0.0 Desert King snake
2.7.0 Guinea Piggies
3.6.0 Dumbo rats
1.0.0 Blue Front Amazon Parrot
0.1.0 Congo African Grey Parrot
1.1.0 house cats
2.0.0 Maine Coon Cats
2.0.0 Boxers

that if he hasn't yet brumated, his instinct to do so is kicking in. Brumation with beardies dependes alot on age, and their breeding cycles, to a greater extent than when we decide to manipulate their temps and day length. Often, we think dragons should brumate in the fall simply because that's when our seasons change here in the states, but these days we are hatching eggs every day of the years. My experience has that if a dragon is not induced to brumate before 6 months of age, they often decide themselves they eant to around 9-12 monthe os age regardless of what my plans.

Sometimes a dragon will shut down when a dragon is going to shut down.

Paul Kemes