Have you ever met a person you just could not read because of very weird behavior? It is always an uncomfortable situation to meet those people because you just do not know their intentions. Well, you won´t have that problem with bearded dragons.
They have clear ways of communication – a black beard, for example.
Most of the times, bearded dragons show a black beard when they are scared or excited. However, a black beard can have a lot of meanings. For example, it could also be a sign for stress, sickness or territorial behavior. It is up to the bearded dragon´s owner to read the dragon right and act accordingly.
If your bearded dragon shows a black beard all the time, it is very important that you act quickly to find out the reason for that. The following article will show you 8 reasons for a black beard and what you can do about it.
I Just Looked Into My Bearded Dragon´s Cage And…
…his beard is totally black? Most probably this is what happened to you and you are a little bit worried now. I know this from my own experience.
When I was a reptile beginner I thought that only Chameleons could change their colors and I thought my bearded dragon is about to die when I first saw him with a dark beard.
Your Bearded Dragon Is Scared
See? If your bearded dragon tells you that he is scared, what do you do? Of course, you answer by making sure that there is nothing to be scared of.
So this could be one reason: being scared.
It could be anything. Do you wear a new shirt today with a bright color? Your dragon could be scared! Is it possible for your bearded dragon to see outside through a window? There could be a bird that scares the hell out of him.
Remember, bearded dragons have excellent eyes, they can see everything perfectly. So if your dragon sees another animal or a new piece of furniture in the room, this could be the reason.
In this case, your bearded dragon will get used to the new piece of furniture. However, regarding seeing birds through the window or something similar, I recommend to make sure that your beardie can´t see your window.
How To Help Your Scared Bearded Dragon
If your bearded dragon is scared you need to make sure that it feels comfortable in its tank. You need to make sure that there is a place where your bearded dragon feels absolutely safe. So how to do that?
I recommend to get a couple of plants and put them into the beardie enclosure.
Cover three sides of the terrarium with plants or get one of these backgrounds and cover only the other two sides with plants. If you need to know which plants you can use for your beardie tank, read this article.
This way your bearded dragon can´t see too much of what´s going on outside of its terrarium and this will help tremendously to calm down a bearded dragon with a black beard.
You can also get a hide for your bearded dragon. I recommend to get this hide. It is cheap, you can get it in various sizes and it gets the job done perfectly.
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Your Dragon Is Excited
Another very common reason.
As I said your bearded dragon has got excellent eyes. If he sees anything that he likes, he might get excited and turn his beard black.
For example: If your dragon sees you walking to the place where you store your live food. Yepp, your bearded dragon can see that and it knows exactly what you are about to do, lol.
The Puberty
I´m not going to talk about my puberty now and I´m not going to compare a bearded dragon´s black beard with anything human right now … 🙂
However, most people do not know that there is puberty when it comes to bearded dragons.
It starts around six months and one year of age. Normally bearded dragons mate after brumation and the mating season lasts around 4 months. More about brumation here.
The male bearded dragon shows courtship behavior: a black beard and heavy head bobbing. Further, normally male bearded dragons start hefty territorial fights. Which leads us to the next point.
More on bearded dragons and puberty here.
Territorial Behavior
Do you keep more than one bearded dragon in one cage? This could be the reason for the black beard!
As already explained, during mating season, bearded dragons start territorial fights. Bearded dragons are solitary animals and they should not be kept with another bearded dragon in one cage. Read this article to learn why this is important.
If you want to keep two or more bearded dragons in one cage you have to make sure that you have a tank that is big enough and you should not get two males.
It should always be one male with one or more females. Here is how to tell your dragons gender! (BTW: Even if you get a male and a female it can happen that you have to separate the dragons.)
A lot of beginners do not know this because they got misinformation from pet shops that just want to sell. Which leads to the next point.
Bad Husbandry
Do you know what I can´t stand? Those poorly equipped reptile tanks that you can see all over Youtube.
Those people use newspaper as substrate. Besides that, the only accessories they have is one hide or log and one water or feeding bowl inside the tank.
In my opinion, this is not okay. In my opinion, if you want to keep a reptile you have to make sure that you create a habitat that is very close to their natural habitat. Just going for the cheapest option is BS.
Don´t be such a person. Your dragon deserves better than that. If you need a good bearded dragon substrate – Check this substrate!
The wrong temperature, the wrong humidity, the wrong food could be a reason, too.
Your Dragon Might Be Sick
It could be a reason, but most of the time it is not. If your dragon closes his eyes and sleeps all day with a black beard it could be sick. There are a lot of diseases, here are a couple of common bearded dragon diseases:
New Environment
If you just got your bearded dragon and you put it into his new cage, it can happen that he colors his beard dark. There is no need to panic, this is absolutely normal. He just has to get used to the new environment and after a couple of days or weeks, he will be happy and calm.
Your Bearded Dragon Hates You!
A little bit harsh, right? I know, I´m sorry, but it could actually be a reason for a black beard.
Your bearded dragon might not want to have you around him and shows you this by coloring his beard black and puffing it up to keep you away. If you got him new, give him some time. After that you can start to tame your bearded dragon.
Okay, I hope I could help you to bring some light into the darkness of your bearded dragon´s beard. If you have any more questions, just leave a comment below. Any cool stories about your bearded dragon´s beard? Share it in the comment section below.
Need to know more about bearded dragon behavior?
Before you leave!
Since I receive many comments and emails from bearded dragon owners that tell me that their bearded dragon is refusing to eat greens, I decided to help with this issue.
What most bearded dragon owners do not know is that a bearded dragon that does not eat greens might be sick or is on the best way to getting sick.
Bearded dragons are omnivores, which means that they eat anything they can find in the wild. The problem that most bearded dragons are picky when it comes to food only arouses due to bad husbandry.
If your bearded dragon is refusing to eat greens, and maybe even only accepts mealworms as food, I highly recommend that you get my ebook: How To Make Your Bearded Dragon Eat Greens Within 7 Days!
After going through the steps outlined in the ebook I will personally check on you and your beardie via email and will support you if needed.
Keep your beardie healthy!
I dropped my baby beardie and he fell on the hard floor and his beard turned black is he okay? 🙁
Hey mad,
oh, that doesn´t sound too good. The black beard shows that your bearded dragon might be a little bit shocked. It could also be in pain from the fall. I recommend to let your herb vet check if your beardie is okay.
All the best,
Pierre
this was very helpful! Thx Pierre!
Thanks for reading, Nolan!
Pierre
Good site I got some knowledge from it.
I am happy that you find it helpful. Thank you, Eragon!
Pierre
Hiii! I just read your article, and I found it very helpful. I just wanted to add that if your beardie has a black beard, it could also be caused by shedding. Sometimes it’s hard to breathe when their nostrils are shedding. It’s happened to me, and I got so scared I took her to the vet, and they just plucked the excess skin out. Their beard will also turn black if their beard is shedding. During this time they’ll even puff their beards to pop the shed off.
Hey Chelsey,
very interesting! I have never heard, nor experienced that with the nostrils, great that you told us about it!
Thank you so much for sharing your story with us and adding something valueable 🙂
All the best,
Pierre
I keep my bearded dragon in my classroom. On occasion, his beard will turn black, he will glass surf, etc. During that time, I’ll take him out, let him ride on my shoulder, even take him for walks outside around campus. His beard goes back to normal, and he is super chill. I’m assuming all is good and he is simply communicating with me that he wants attention whenever he turns black. However, he seems to be doing it a lot more lately. I have cleaned out his terrarium, and I need to probably add a better natural hide into his enclosure, but I am concerned about one thing. His poop the last couple of days has been a bit smaller than normal, and I’m concerned that something else is going on. Should I be concerned?
Hey Jeff,
nice to hear that you keep a bearded dragon in your classroom 🙂
I doubt that your dragon wants to tell you that he wants to get out of his terrarium but who knows 🙂
It is probably that something in his tank or around him scares him. So you are on the right path with getting a hide for your beardie.
Still, great to hear that you are able to take him out in the sun.
Regarding his poop: Hmm, have you changed your feeder insects? Smaller food or less food could be the reason obviously.
However, it could also be that you have fed insects that were too big. Those can impact your dragon.
Is your dragon acting normal or does he show any weird behavior? Is he as active as always?
If your dragon seems normal, I would try giving him a warm bath and see if he poops.
If you still feel that something might be wrong, I would send a fecal sample to the next reptile vet to check if your dragon might suffer from parasites.
Hope this helps,
Pierre