Most bearded dragons are very sociable and curious, and are tolerant or enjoy of being around people. However, due to various reasons, your bearded dragon might start hiding a lot or all the time in a corner, under a rock, log or carpet and so on. So why is my bearded dragon hiding all the time? In this post, you will find a list of reasons why bearded dragons might be hiding and what to do in those situations.
Reason 1: Your bearded dragon is still new
When you just bring your bearded dragon home, it will be stressed and scared. You will need to give your bearded dragon time to acclimatize and get used to its new surroundings. Your bearded dragon will be mostly hiding and will be eating little to nothing.
Please allow your bearded dragon at least 7-10 days without handling it. Also, make sure to include hides in the tank so that your bearded dragon can hide whenever it wants to.
If your bearded dragon is acting extra scared, then you can cover the sides of the tank with cloths. Start removing cloths gradually, one by one, after a week.
Baby bearded dragons are also very likely to hide a lot. In fact, baby bearded dragons are much more likely to hide than adult in stressful situations or when feeling threatened.
Reason 2: Your bearded dragon is hiding from bright/strong light
If lighting is too bright in the tank, your bearded dragon will be hiding from it. In general, bearded dragons need bright light to be stimulated to eat and stay active. However, when lights get too bright, your bearded dragon will become stressed and will hide.
If your bearded dragon is also squinting, it could indicate that lights are too bright for it. This is especially if it opens its eyes again normally when you take it out of the tank.
During the day, make sure to use bright white light. Some bright light can be too bright, for example “soft white” bulbs. Don’t use overly bright light in the room or something that might reflect in your dragon’s tank. Choose bright white bulbs (such as halogen flood), but not ‘soft white’ or colored bulbs.
At night especially, you must not use any colored bulbs – such as red or blue or even black ones. This is because bearded dragons can see color and it will distract your dragon’s sleep cycle. Eventually, your dragon won’t be able to sleep properly unless it hides somewhere and is likely to be tired the next day.
What is more, strong UVB light can make your dragon’s eyes hurt and make it hide. Don’t use coiled bulbs, as they don’t distribute UVB evenly and hurt your dragon’s eyes. Also, while UVB tube lights are the best, you cannot use them in smaller tanks (smaller than 25 gallons).
Always position lights from overhead, 6-8 inches (15-20 cm) from above, or otherwise it will hurt your dragon’s eyes and will make it hide more.
If you suspect the problem with UVB light, you can turn it off for 1-2 days and see if it makes any difference. With HO (high output 10.0-12.0 UVB tube), position around 12-13 inches (30.5-33cm) away from your dragon.
Reason #3: Your bearded dragon is stressed
If your bearded dragon is stressed, it will be hiding under a log or rock, in a cave or in a corner. There are many reasons for stress, this can include bright light, other cage mates or larger pets, health issues and more.
Make sure that if you have other larger pets or children, that they don’t bang on the glass and don’t approach when dragon is still new. Few weeks after bringing your bearded dragon home, you can start introducing your other pets to your dragon.
Loud noises will also cause stress, so don’t place a tank in the living room or other rooms with loud music, TV and so on.
If you would like to find out if your bearded dragon is stressed, please read this post.
Reason #4: Your bearded dragon is sick
If your bearded dragon is sick, it is most likely to act sluggish, lethargic, refuse food and hide a lot. To find out what is going on with your bearded dragon, you will need to look at symptoms and observe your dragon.
If your bearded dragon is lethargic, has any bone deformities and doesn’t seem to be wanting to walk, it could suffer from MBD. MBD is caused by lack of calcium/vitamin D3 in the diet and possibly lack of UVB.
Can you see any parasites in your dragon’s poop or is the poop extremely smelly, runny or has blood in it? Is your bearded dragon losing weight as well? In this case, your bearded dragon could be suffering from a parasitic infection.
What is the substrate in your bearded dragon’s tank? And do you make sure not to feed any bugs that are larger than the width between your dragon’s eyes?
Loose substrate is a big no, as well as big bugs – both of these can cause impaction. Impaction is often caught late, and can even kill your dragon. When was the last time that your dragon pooped?
Depending on symptoms, you will be able to tell more about your bearded dragon’s sickness. If you suspect something serious, please take your dragon to the vet.
You can find a list of bearded dragon illnesses and their symptoms in this post.
Reason #5: Your bearded dragon is starting brumation
Many bearded dragons start brumating when they feel any changes in temperatures and daylight cycle. Even though most owners keep temperatures and light cycles constant, you should reduce number of daylight during winter by 1-2 hours.
Bearded dragons are very sensitive to changes, and can feel even slight changes. This will cause them to start brumating. Brumation often lasts for few weeks to few months, and can start in mid-late autumn. During brumation, your bearded dragon won’t be fully asleep, but will be mostly laying down, hiding and sleeping.
At this time, you don’t need to feed your bearded dragon properly, just offer a little food if any, and water. Also, take your bearded dragon out once a week for bathing and to clean its tank.
Symptoms of brumation include a lot of sleeping, hiding, laying with open eyes but not moving much. Bearded dragons start brumating when reaching 12-18 months old.
You can learn all about brumation in bearded dragons in this post.
Reason #6: Your bearded dragon is sleeping in or taking time to wake up in the morning
If your bearded dragon takes a long time to come out of its hide in the morning, it can be normal. Many bearded dragons over a year old will be taking some time to wake up and start their day.
In some cases, it can take your bearded dragon about 30-60 minutes to get up and start doing anything.
Bearded dragons prefer routines, so you can establish one for morning time. You can set the timer to turn on lights around 30-60 minutes before you and your bearded dragon start morning activities. This will allow some time to warm up and prepare for a day.
Reason #7: Your bearded dragon is too hot
If the temperatures in the tank get too high, your bearded dragon will try to escape from the heat. First of all, your bearded dragon will move to its cool spot.
And if it’s cool enough – it will stay there instead of going back and basking again. Your bearded dragon is also very likely to dig and try to burrow under structures to cool down, or hide in a cave.
As already mentioned, stick on thermometers tend to be very inaccurate. You shouldn’t rely entirely on readings from stick on thermometers. Instead, get digital thermometers with probes like this, that you can put in specific spots for checking temperatures. Use one in a hot spot, and one in a cool spot.
And on top of it, use a handheld thermometer like this that will allow you to check temperatures in any spot by pointing at it. Please stand only 2 inches away from a spot to measure temperatures, or they will be inaccurate.
Reason #8: Your bearded dragon is going through changes or is not in the mood
Sometimes, bearded dragons might become a bit skittish or less sociable. This is normal during different stages of life – just like in people. For example, bearded dragons going through puberty at around 8-14 months old will be moody sometimes and will hide more.
Even in general, bearded dragons can also have their moods and sometimes want to relax and hide. Unless your bearded dragon has been hiding for a long time (more than couple days), then there’s nothing to worry about.
Sometimes your bearded dragon might be sleepy, not due to brumation. During this time, it’s better to leave your dragon alone and let it go through this phase.
Reason #9: Shedding
If your bearded dragon is going through problematic shedding, then it’s likely to be grumpy and hide more.
Few days before, during and after shedding, your bearded dragon is also likely to refuse food and not want to be handled much. If your bearded dragon is shedding, give it baths daily in a warm water to help it to remove the skin.
You can read about giving your bearded dragon a bath in this post.
Reason #10: Your bearded dragon is hiding from other cage mates
If you have housed 2 or more bearded dragons together, hiding is very likely to happen. In general, you should never house bearded dragons together, even females.
Bearded dragons are very competitive for food, basking spots and will try to dominate. In groups, there will always be a dominant bearded dragon, and submissive one will be stressed.
Alpha (dominant) bearded dragon will stress out the beta (submissive) dragon, and it will try to escape, will start eating less and growing slower than normal.
Please separate bearded dragons as soon as possible, as it’s never good to house them together. Stress can even kill your bearded dragon over time.
Reason #11: Your bearded dragon is unhappy
If your bearded dragon is unhappy about something, then it’s likely to hide in a corner or in its hide. Curling up in a corner could possibly indicate that there is something wrong in the tank that is making your dragon hide.
For example, bearded dragons don’t like when their tank is dirty. How often do you remove the poop and replace/wash the substrate/bedding? If there is poop near your dragon, it will be unhappy and hiding.
Another reason that could make your bearded dragon unhappy is a small tank. Your baby or juvenile dragon can live in a smaller tank only for few months. An adult bearded dragon needs a 55-70 gallon tank to thrive and be happy. A bare minimum size for a bearded dragon tank is 40 gallon breeder.
You can read a full post on choosing and getting a tank for your bearded dragon in this post.
Reason #12: Any new changes
If you change anything in a bearded dragon’s tank or its surroundings, expect it to be stressed for a few days at least. Bearded dragons don’t really like changes, and often get stressed when something gets moved around or replaced. This can even be something changed in the room around the tank!
So if you have recently changed substrate, accessories, a whole tank or something else, expect your dragon to hide and even refuse food for few days to up to a week or two.
Reason #13: Constipation/impaction
If your bearded dragon is impacted or constipated, it is likely to hide a lot and act unhappy. When was the last time that your dragon pooped? Do you make sure to only offer right sized bugs (not larger than the width between eyes)? If using any loose substrate, replace immediately with towels, carpet or tiles.
If you have had your bearded dragon for a while, you might know its pooping schedules. However, if your bearded dragon is not pooping, it could be due to internal or external issues. Soak your bearded dragon for 20-30 minutes and let it poop.
If your bearded dragon is not pooping, read this post to learn about possible causes.
What should I do when my bearded dragon is hiding?
If your bearded dragon is hiding a lot, please review the setup and try to understand why this is happening.
First of all, check the setup and make sure everything is in line. If everything is fine, your bearded dragon could be brumating or just going through puberty.
However, if your bearded dragon is hiding most of the day, take it out to feed and place it in a basking spot. Don’t do this if your bearded dragon is brumating, though. During brumation, your dragon doesn’t need to eat much if at all. Take it out once-twice a week and give it a bath.
Does a bearded dragon need a hide?
Yes, your bearded dragon does need a hide to hide in when feeling stressed or threatened. Hiding is normal behavior in lizards and you should allow your bearded dragon to hide when there is a need.
Please provide at least 1 hide for your bearded dragon. But better, provide one hide in a hot spot, and one in a cool spot.
If your bearded dragon is hiding a lot, please make sure that the hide isn’t fully covered from top, so that your bearded dragon can soak in UVB light. So if your bearded dragon is hiding a lot, how will it get enough UVB and heat?
In this case, you can use a big branch or a cave without a roof, so that your bearded dragon can hide but still get light from top. You can also use a rock or fake plants that your bearded dragon can hide behind.