Bearded Dragon... I'm worried...

My son bought a bearded dragon awhile back, promising me that he would be the one taking care of it..
well, for the most part, I think he may have lied... although he is still buying it's food and doing most of the work cleaning the cage.
I am the one that is usually feeding him.
I'm worried, used to be that his beard would darken when he was frightened, or fighting with his reflection in the glass of his aquarian. but, it seems to be always dark now.. he's not being vicious, I mean I hand feed him a few times a day, he shouldn't be frightened, and I am just wondering what could be making him feel anxious, or unhappy. or maybe he's sick?
I know there are others that have bearded dragons on the forums, so was wondering if someone might be willing to give me some advice. do their beards naturally darken as they age, this one is just about an adult now.
heck, I'm not even sure if it's a male or a female really, thought it was a female till it started acting so aggressively with it's reflection, now I am not sure.

He might just be still adjusting to his new habitat, get him a buddy. I had one for about 10 years and he was a tank! He was in a old saltwater tank that had a built in filter chamber and I went on vacation for two weeks and he got stuck in there some how? He had to climb all the way to the top like 24 inches, anyway when I got back I thought he was dead, I loaded the tank in the back of my truck and was gonna take it to the dump because I couldn't get him out, when I got to the dump he crawled out, and was perfectly fine! Also I never noticed his beard change color. Also my dragon would trip out when he saw himself in a mirror. a reply to: dawnstar

How big is it?

a reply to: bananashooter
we had him since he was a baby... he should be pretty well adjusted, although he might be irritated that he isn't being held as often.. I don't mind feeding him and will hold him while my son cleans his tank, but for some reason, I don't like lifting him up, I'm afraid I'll hurt him or something, not to mention, that he'll get away from me and get lost somewhere in the house.
I'm not sure if it's really a he, and before I got him a friend, I'd need to know that. since if it is a he, he wouldn't get along too well with another he, and I ain't sure if it's a she if it would get along with another she.
and I really don't need alot of little baby dragons anyways.
if it is a she, then she might be coming of age to lay eggs... which, I am not sure what I am supposed to do with that, but she would need some kind of nesting place before she would lay them... that could be the problem.

but thanks for the input!!!

a reply to: bananashooter
I don't know, maybe a foot from nose to tail, maybe a little more or less..
it doesn't fit in my hand anymore

a reply to: dawnstar

If you have pictures, I could sent them off to my uncle. He's reptile and amphibian pro, has had several bearded dragons, and used to own a pet store in florida strictly for lizards, snakes, turtles/tortis, and frogs/toads. He could probably be of help, if no one else can give you answers.

ETA:
As for figuring out the sex, I can help you there. It's actually quite easy. Just look at the under-side of the tail, at the base of it. If it's a male, there will be two vertical bulges on the sides, these are his testicles. If it's a female, there will be just one bulge, in the center of the base of the tail. If you still can't see from the surface, shine a flashlight from the top side, and you'll be able to see the shadow of the testicles.

Huh he is huge, my dragon was like 15 years old And wasn't a foot, you won't hurt him picking him up, just mind the tail.
When I had mine I lost him in my yard a handful of times but he always came back, one time it was gone for a month! I am not A helicopter dad if you can tell. One thing is maybe he doesn't like to be handled. Oh oh oh... I almost forgot. Bearded dragons require a special light which you probably know...but those lights stop putting out the rays they need not to get metabolic bone disease, even if the light still works you are supposed to replace every year, this might be your problem.

a reply to: bananashooter
I'd be in a panic if I lost him for a half a day. the uv light has been changed recently, after the old one died on us and I didn't notice for about a day...
my son seems to think that he might be going into his form of hibernation, since he doesn't seem to want to eat half the time anymore. he does seem to sleep more than usually.
isn't as active either really, but then again, I suggested that my son take him to the vet to have his nails clipped, wouldn't cost that much. I was noticing him getting them caught on his branch and such. still waiting for that to happen.
was supposed to get another basking light for him also, right now we have one, but don't think it's as good as what he had. will probably end up ordering him one before long if my son doesn't get one.

a reply to: MDpvc

I probably could get a pic of him on my cellphone, but not sure how I would upload it from the cellphone. heck, what am I talking about, someone had to show me how to answer the danged thing!

Is he sheading ?

Is the tempatures right heating pad on with a cold side and hot side

Non reflective glass lots of people use aquariums insted of terariums aquariums need something for the glass most pet shops sell this

Live food will also help

Enclosure size has he outgrown his home should be 2-3x his size meshured from nose to tail

a reply to: markovian
he seems to be almost always shedding, but right now, only a little bit of his tail..
I am wondering about his heat lamp, we were using a basking light but it died, right now, we only have a heat bulb, think the basking lamp put out more heat.
the day one out of these...
www.walmart.com...

but we also have the heat pad on. it seems to be warm enough, but not sure.
right now he is being fed live superworms, although it wouldn't surprise me if he is missing the crickets. they're more fun to chase.
I don't know weather the tank he is in is an aquarian or not, but think it came as part of a set for reptiles when my son bought the dragon.. it should be plenty big though...

a reply to: dawnstar

As long as its not for fish and the right size its fine

It can be really hard to tell even a vet visit can result in more questions than ansers

Id definitaly get his light back so he can regulate his body temp easyer

Could he be impacted ?

en.m.wikipedia.org...(animals) incase u dont know what it is

If he gets worse on eating take him to a vet asap impaction is fatal

And yea nothing beats crickets for u and him

Try a warm soak iv yet to see any cold blooded animal that dosent love that
www.beardeddragonlady.com...

And hopefully he poops in the water than ull know hes not impacted

Go to any reptile forum for a wealth of information or check out youtube vids. Seems to be a rather common occurrence. I just quickly skimmed over youtube but I'm not sure if it is stress related or not enough heat or what.

I'll try to get a better picture, but this is lizzy... tried like heck to get it to embed, but guess someone will need to clue me in as to how.

Lizzy