over heating

Question
i jus bought a baby bearded dragon last week and i came home tonight with him sitting in the water dish of his and i had the red light on. what is he doing?

Answer
Since your title is "Overheating" I would like to ask what the temperatures are in his enclosure?

The best way to accurately measure them is with a digital thermometer with a probe on the end of it or a temp gun

The basking temps under the spot bulb should be 95 to 100 degrees but the rest of the enclosure/tank should be cooler

Sitting in the water bowl could just be that he wants a good soak

Do you mist him or soak him when he is shedding to aid with the dead skin coming off?

Why are you using a red light for him at night?

Are the tank temps too cold with the basking light turned off?

Temps at night can fall to the upper 60's  but since we usually keep out homes much warmer than this-a red light is usually not needed unless we are in the midst of winter

A ceramic heat emitter works much more efficiently than a red light bulb for warmth in the tank at night during the very cold weather

Bearded Dragons often do things that seem to defy explanation but it sounds to me that he was just enjoying a good soak

Also-they do have a behavior which is called "gaping"

When they are basking you will often see them sitting with their mouths open to regulate their internal temperature

Check your temperatures and make sure that there is a good gradient from the hot end to the cool end so that he can move to regulate his temperature as he needs

I hope that this has helped

Sandy aka LadyGecko