{"id":2054,"date":"2022-03-22T06:07:45","date_gmt":"2022-03-22T06:07:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/reptilestime.com\/?p=2054"},"modified":"2022-04-19T19:34:20","modified_gmt":"2022-04-19T19:34:20","slug":"bearded-dragons-nocturnal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reptilestime.com\/bearded-dragons-nocturnal\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Bearded Dragons Nocturnal or Diurnal? (Full Guide)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
A quick answer to this is that bearded dragons are not nocturnal. They are diurnal, meaning that they are energetic during the day. They’ll hunt for food, bask under heat lamps or sunlight, and lounge around their enclosure during the day.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n These reptiles are native to Australia, meaning that they are used to basking in the deserts. Therefore, they’ll be awake during the day as they hunt for food and sleep at night. Keep in mind that they enjoy basking in the sun, and thus you must provide them with both artificial UVB lighting and direct sunlight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n On a typical day, a bearded dragon is usually active for 12-14 hours, meaning it sleeps for about 8-12 hours, but of course, this depends on the time of the year and the conditions you’ve set in its enclosure. Mostly, bearded pet dragons follow the same routine every day \u2013 they’ll look for water first thing after waking up in the morning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, even though bearded dragons are diurnal, it’s not uncommon for their owners to see them active at night when the lights are still on or when there’s loud music keeping the beardie awake. That explains why some people term beardies as nocturnal, whereas they’re not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let’s discuss the reasons your bearded dragon is acting as a nocturnal pet<\/p>\n\n\n\n All animals need to get sufficient sleep, and this includes bearded dragons. Therefore, failure to get enough sleep can be worrisome, especially for many days.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Let’s look at some of the common reasons your bearded dragon is not sleeping enough at night:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like humans, bearded dragons can experience too much adrenaline in their system and thus struggle to sleep. That’s why it’s essential to give your beardie enough time to calm down before bedtime to settle in for the night with ease.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Handling often excites beardies, and this makes them get overly stimulated. Therefore, avoid handling your beardie a lot during the night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, you shouldn’t take them out of their enclosure as hours near their preferred bedtime and reduce movements outside their enclosure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, just like people, beardies need total darkness for them to sleep. Therefore, turn off lights in their enclosure shortly before bedtime. When there’s darkness, their biological clocks switch in fast, and temperatures lower too, making it easier to digest their food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition, avoid feeding your beardie in hours leading to their bedtime as food makes them excited, which may interfere with their sleep patterns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bearded dragons, just like many people, will struggle to sleep with lights on. And we’re not talking about their enclosure lights only; even lights from nearby rooms can affect their sleeping patterns.<\/strong> Therefore, as it nears bedtime, switch off both their enclosure lights and nearby lights. That includes ceiling lights, electronics, and even cell phones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If your beardie takes longer to calm down, you may have to start turning your lights off slightly earlier. Beardies use their third eye to tell when it’s nighttime, meaning that you have to set the mood right for them to know it’s night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Bearded dragons have a good sense of hearing and thus can be affected by too much noise. Unfamiliar noise from TV, music, traffic, or other pets can make your beardie experience struggles with sleep. In fact, they tend to interpret any strange noise as threats and predators.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n As a survival instinct, your dragon won’t sleep until they feel safe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Therefore, if the window of the room your bearded dragon is facing a busy road, this might interfere with their sleeping patterns. Make sure there’s calmness in the room your beardie is in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beardies use a combination of factors to know when its night time and temperature is one of the ways. As we mentioned earlier, bearded dragons are native to the Australian desert and thus will associate too high temperatures as daytime. That means that if their enclosure is too hot, they’ll struggle to calm down during nighttime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Tank temperatures should differ noticeably between daytime and nighttime to help beardies differentiate between night and day.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Ideally, the basking area should have 95\u00b0-100\u00b0F while the cooling spot should be 75\u00b0-80\u00b0F hot. Tank night temperatures should be 70\u00b0-75\u00b0F. You should not let temperatures fall below 66\u00b0F as this can be too dangerous for your beardie.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n You should not make your enclosure colder at night as temperatures tend to fall naturally. However, it’s essential to check if the temperatures in the tank are within these parameters. If they fall below 70 degrees, you should use a ceramic heat emitter to keep the enclosure heated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since beardies are omnivores, you should feed them both plants and animal products for them to grow healthy. If you get it wrong with their diet, they may become more active at night or sleepy during the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Diet impacts their energy, and thus you need to keep things balanced. Adult beardies should eat a diet consisting of plant-based foods (80%). 20% should come from animal proteins such as insects. Baby bearded dragons’ diet is the complete opposite of their adult counterparts, with 80% insect proteins and 20% plant-based foods.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Adults should be fed bugs a few days a week, while veggies should make up most of their daily intake. You may need to supplement with calcium or vitamins if less sleeping is caused by a deficiency of crucial minerals and vitamins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you have altered your beardie diet recently and notice a change in their sleeping patterns, you should check if the food has all the needed nutrients.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The biological clock of your beardie is made to mirror those in the wild. As such, you should try as much as possible to keep things as they are. In other words, if it’s the winter period, days should be shorter than nights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Generally, if your beardie is active during the night, it might be due to the light in its enclosure not reflecting the seasons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Stress can also cause your bearded dragon to sleep less as it heightens anxiety. If your beardie is stressed due to new pets in the house, loud noises, poor habitat, improper lighting, or lack of a place to hide, they’re likely to sleep less.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Baby beardies tend to sleep for longer hours than their adult counterparts,<\/strong> meaning that they’ll be sleeping less as they become adults.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As a beginner owner, you should be aware of this fact and thus should take necessary measures such as adjusting their lighting cycle and sleeping times as your beardie matures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some disorders and diseases can interfere with your beardie’s sleeping pattern. For example, calcium deficiency can cause nervousness, ultimately affecting your dragon’s sleeping patterns.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Also, illnesses that make your beardie lethargic can cause it to be sleepless. Parasites can also be the culprit, making your pet eat more or need food more. Therefore, be on the lookout for any disease or disorder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n9 Reasons Your Beardie Is Not Sleeping Well At Night<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
1. Overstimulation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
2. Too Much Light<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. Noise<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
4. Too Much or Too Low Temperatures<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
5. Incorrect Diet<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
6. Light That Doesn’t Reflect Seasons<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
7. Stress<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
8. Age<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
9. Illness <\/h3>\n\n\n\n