discolored.

Question
QUESTION: Hey again Tracie. I am writing to ask a few questions about George. He is doing extremly well. After I put the UVB tube in his tank, the sides of his mouth went back to normal. The only thing is, he is still staying a dark brown color. Also if you look at his beard area, from the tip to about half way down is white, and then the beard part is jet black. When he is sitting in his tank is like that. If I take him out of the tank, and let him sit on my shoulder. He is a bright orange color, and his beard goes to a whitish color with a bit of orange, black, and yellow strips in it. It looks like normal coloring not distressed. If I try to put him in his cage he will grab my finger and will not let go. When I do get him off he will just sit in the tank for 5-10mins stareing before he will move. Any ideas on how to make him less stressed in the cage. Also he has grown A LOT. He runs from my finger tips all the way to my elbow. So a good foot and a half. The only thing is. It seems his tail has gotten twice the size of his body, but his body hasn't really grown any. Other then getting the yellow, orange, and black strips in his beard. His body is all the same size. Also his tail has doubled in thickness near his body. Will he eventually start to get bigger body wise?

ANSWER: Hello Will,

Great George is doing better & the UVB tube has helped so much.
Maybe you can post a picture of him in the tank, so I can see what the tank looks like, lighting wise.  What type of basking light are you using?
How old is he again?  It is important that his tail base is thickening though for fat reserves.  His body should begin to fill out soon, just give him time.  
Something sounds like it is bothering him in his tank possibly if he brightens up immediately upon being taken out.  Is his beard dark all of the time, or just sometimes?
It kind of sounds like he is getting spoiled!!  LOL  :-))  
So he must be eating really well also, what is he eating now?

Tracie

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: He is about 6-8 months old. I had carpet in the tank with him before, but he was still stressed and after so long was getting very smelly. So I put the sand back in his tank. I kept some of the clean carpet and put that on one side. I put his food and water there so the sand doesn't get on it. His beard is only a dark black in his cage. If I take him out of his cage it goes to a light color. His beard kinda goes ||| ||| ||| ||| each strip goes orange, yellow, black, and then repeat the colors. Also inside his cage his other coloring is dark brown. Outside of the cage he is a vibrant orange color. The other day I had him out in the hallway. I had all the little hidey holes and doors blocked with towels. I thought I had both cats locked up, but one must of snuck out, and it spooked him. He ran off, and I was able to calm him by kinda laying on the floor, and he ran up and hid under my upper body. Even then tho with being spooked he stayed a bright orange color. He only changes color in his cage, and has always been like that since I got him. I was feeding him crickets, then went to silkworms for awhile, and now I am feeding him superworms (which I read was safe after they are 18 inches. He seems to love them, and goes after them faster then with the crickets and silkworms. Before I put the sand in he was useing the bathroom fine. After putting it in he did once, and its been a day or two. But he usually does that when I change his tank around some. I know he isn't impacted because he still runs across the floor as fast as before (which by the way is A LOT faster then I thought they ran) almost lost him the first time. The dog has been moved inside so now he is in the garage by himself unless the cat goes out there, but I think he wants to eat the cats more then is scared of them. Because if I take him out and the cats are on the bed. He trys to run up to them and chase them out of his room. I still have him on a veggie diet of romane lettuc, mustard greens, collar greens, sweet potatos, squash, and peach baby food every so often. I was useing a 50 watt flood light because I was thinking he was getting to hot, but I just changed it back to the 100 watt bulb from the pet store, and he tried to get real close to it. One thing I noticed when I had the 50 watt in. he didn't really bask much. He would lay under his log and just kinda hide in the shade. He would only go on his log to bask under it when he first ate. I'll have to get the picture tomorrow so you can see.

Answer
Hello Will,

It sounds like he is doing pretty well though.  He is eating very good also!  Great that he likes the superworms  too, they are fine for larger dragons, yes.  The variety of foods sound great to me, so continue with that.  
At least he has alot of fun running around the house though & doesn't seem to get too scared of the cat or the dog.  
Perhaps it is just too dark in his tank, or the lights are not placed quite right.  That is why I want to see your tank setup.  
Thanks!
Good to know that his beard is not chronically black though.  

Tracie