Why is this happaning!

[numchacar]

My guy has been black all week, I was told he might stay like that for a month to a whole year

 

[maddog-1979]

my boy has been getting his black beard out alot in the last 2 months, he is very randy atm. little girl has been black all over for last few days, she is about 1 week away from laying her second clutch

 

[Bluetongue1]

It is not at all unusual for dragons that are basking first thing after emerging from their night quarters to flatten their bodies and go quite dark until they reach their preferred body temperature. They then tend to take on the more normal active colours for that species. Displaying and darkening of the beard are what you might term ‘emotional’ response – asserting dominance, sexual attraction, self-defense and when feeling stressed. Animals kept on their own will often go through a behavioural repertoire that under natural conditions would only occur in response to the presence of another dragon or a potential predator.

Dragons that are unwell will also assume the completely grey colour. Those that are continual stress, also. Usually this not accompanied by much beard raising in Pogona species. Here’s a couple of photos to help you try and sex your dragon...

Sexing using hemipenenal bulges e.g. Bearded Dragon
Hold the dragon in the palm of your hand with its tail facing you, carefully fold the tail up over the back and examine the area just above the vent opening. In males, hemipenal bulges can be seen on each side of the tail with a slight indentation in the center of the tail between the two hemipenes. On females, the lack of hemipenes means the bulges are absent, thus causing the area above the vent to protrude slightly.

View attachment 220030The male (above) clearly shows the hemipenal bulges, which causes an indentation in the center of the tail.

View attachment 220031Females (below) will have a slight protrusion in the middle due to the lack of hemipenes.

Blue