color of beardie faded not very active

[beardie11]

Could this be due to my light. I have powersun 160 watt for 4 months now. Should I use another light that would bring color..

 

[dodgersmom]

Hi,

could you add some information about housing type, temps, substrate.
Also, what is the diet like? Are you dusting with calcium D3 supplement? Any vitamins?
Is he/she eating?

-Vicki

 

[beardie11]

11 month old in a 40 gallon tank. Pierson 160 watt light and cool side 70 in tank and 95 on warm end. I use reptile carpet. She goes to bathroom not on her own anymore I give her a bath if 4 days. She eats crickets 8 every day. I have salad and pellets which she hasnt ate much. Clean cage throughly every 10 days..

 

[burdhr]

Hi,

We just got our baby beardie yesterday. I thought I had the enclosure setup correctly, but just checked out the post "Lighting for Newbies" looks like a have a little adjusting to do! So far he is good, but posted to follow this thread in case something comes up.

 

[dodgersmom]

Ok, a few things.
First, those temps need to come up. Basking side shoud be 105-110F, cool side 80-85F is lowest I would go, these are age appropriate temp, the temps change a little bit as adults.
Secone, she needs way more "bugs". As young as she is she should be eating as much as she can within 15 minutes. They need to be dusted with a good calcium+D3 powder few times a week, and add a vitamin powder to that maybe twice a week.
The light is powersun 160? How far away do you have it setup? If it is powersun then use calcium powder without D3.
Try giving her a warm bath daily.

Also, what other lighting do you have in her housing?

 

[beardie11]

She was eating 35 crickets every other day but her belly was huge so I cut down crickets. The powersun is on a lamp holder which is almost close to wire lid, I have a heat lamp for nite about 80 degrees. Its a desert coil white light that has ub I think on cool side so I need a warmer bulb then...why wont she eat salad? I thought it would be warmer with lite? She had.it 110 in there one day and she was hiding on warm side and didn't move I thought she was dead.I put her in tub and she.was ok. Jyst confused on what to do....

 

[dodgersmom]

Hey, I was searching all over the site to find this, I used it to setup my stuff and it is right on.
http://www.beardeddragon.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=148006

Unless the overnight temp drops below 65F you do not need additional heat. Also, if the extra light you are using has more UVB also, take it out.The goal is light, you have enough UVB with the powersun and too much is bad as not enough. They need to photoregulate (control the amount of UVB exposure). Also, what are you using to measure temps? I know there is a digital probe temp at walmart for like $9 Acurite is what I think it is called. Saw it on this site somewhere. Some temp readers are not accurate and can be off by as much as 20 degrees.

I think there is a minimum distance recommended for the powersun 12" I think, if I am wrong I am sure someone will let you know. It can be confusing because some MVB's have minimum distances of 12-18" and other lighting types don't.

I have a seperate UV/Heat setup as I think a lot do on here (from what I have read). Screens block ~30% of the UV so the dragon doesn't get as much that way, screen doesn't block out the heat so that is ok on it.

That link above will show you an easy setup that offers full UV availability for her; plus a TON of excellent information.
Here is an excellent site for food and nutrition http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

I hope that helps. If not, have you tried to PM Tracie (Drache613)? Excellent for help with everything especially difficult stuff.

-Vicki

 

[beardie11]

What bulbs are best then for uva,uvb and.heat.could that affect color

 

[dodgersmom]

What bulbs are best then for uva,uvb and.heat.could that affect color

ZooMed Reptisun 10.0 or Arcadia 12% bulb - these are the only 2 UVB bulbs that are recommended for beardies.
Both of which (so you can see wht they are); can be found here http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/ard3t522in24.html. I believe outside of UK, this is the only place to get Arcadia. Just fyi, the Arcadia 12% is an HO (high output) bulb, so you will need an HO fixture. There are kits on that site with the fixture and bulb. I would imagine you could find a comparable HO fitting at a local lighting supply store and just get the bulb. Also, there are 6% as well, although the 12% is preferred. Another fyi, the Arcadia is sufficient for UVA as well as UVB, in the 12% bulb.
As far as UVA (if not using above mentioned light), any bulb that produces visible light provides that, just play around til you find right wattage as to not get the enclosure too hot. Some people choose to use a flood light as basking and UVA as it will give heat also. Overnight heat if needed; I recommend a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) which is here http://www.reptilesupply.com/index.php?cPath=30_70 for reference. You will need an appropriate size dome for it to accomdate whichever size you get.

-Vicki