Juvenile bearded dragon not eating, stays in basking

[Jsvargas13]

Hello,
I got my beardie about 3 weeks ago. He is 5-6 months according to the people at petco. He was doing well until a few days ago. He stopped eating his crickets and stays in his basking area all day. He hadn't pooped until this morning when I noticed there was a dry green spot, like if he had diarrhea and it had dried up. He hasn't lost weight, he looks pretty normal just lethargic and not eating. He is currently in a 10 gallon tank, a reptisun 10 UVB bulb, a 75w exo terra day light, and a 50w zoo med nocturnal infrared heat lamp(it's been pretty cold here at night). I feed him small crickets dusted with repti calcium with d3. I did my research to make sure he was comfortable and was well taken care of but this caught me off guard. I'm planning on getting him a bigger tank soon. Any advice would help. Thank you!

 

[Jsvargas13]

This is Si. This is his set up

Middle is night light the two on the right are his UVB and basking light, although I just changed his basking and night light to the right and put the UVB in the middle. Please help. Any suggestions help.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there....Si looks like a cutie pie ! [ Like they all do ] He is more the size of a 3 month old than a 5-6 month. He looks like he may be a bit dehydrated....how does he get his water ? They usually won't drink from a bowl, so try dribbling water on his snout with a small spray bottle, eyedropper or syringe. Just be sure you don't get the tank wet + raise the humidity. You can also put him in a small container with lukewarm water [ about 1 inch deep ] for 5 minutes and he may take a drink.

A 10 gal. tank is easy to overheat, [ you'll want to get a larger tank ASAP ! ] so you want to be sure the temps. are good, and he won't need any night heat unless your house temp. goes below 65 F at night. Night lights can disrupt their sleep. Also, be sure that the UVB bulb is not burning his eyes. Some of the coil ones do, and the safest bulb on the market is the Reptisun 10.0 tube.

Be sure that the crickets are no longer than the space between his eyes, otherwise he may become impacted which would cause him to become lethargic + not be able to poo.
Hopefully a few changes will help him out.

 

[Jsvargas13]

Thank you AHBD! I've actually tried putting him in water, he didn't seem to like it. He stayed in there for about 2 minutes then jumped out. I live in Los Angeles and temperatures have been dropping 40 and below so the night is necessary for now thank you for you advice, I will be getting him a bigger tank soon. His temperature stay at 80-85.

 

[AHBD]

Is that the highest the temp. gets on his basking spot ? The basking spot should be about 105 , the cool end should be about 78 -80. That's hard to achieve in a 10 gal. tank. I saw your other post asking if his lack of appetite might be from a shed, it can affect their appetite+ activity, but not usually that much.

 

[Jsvargas13]

Is that the highest the temp. gets on his basking spot ? The basking spot should be about 105 , the cool end should be about 78 -80. That's hard to achieve in a 10 gal. tank. I saw your other post asking if his lack of appetite might be from a shed, it can affect their appetite+ activity, but not usually that much.

Yes that is the highest temp. When I bought him at petco they told me anything above 85 would be to high. They said they had there's at 80-85. I'm getting him a 20 gallon tank tomorrow. Would I need to get new lights? Are the lights I mentioned on my first post sufficient? He also has stress lines. They haven't gone away since I got him. After his head she'd, his heAd is a light orange.

 

[Jsvargas13]

He stays like this all day, or lays down completely. Usually extending his neck though. I'm not even sure if it's a he or a she :roll:

 

[ToothlessC]

His basking spot is way too cold and I don't think the rest of your lighting is good either. That isn't your fault, the people at pet stores just don't know much about what they're doing.

Fluorescent Tube lights are the best. a reptisun 10.0 or Arcadia 12% is the best. Get rid of the metal screen on top of the tank, it will block UVB rays.

Don't use a red light for night time, it'll keep them awake and is possibly bad for them. Use a ceramic heat emitter. It will fit in a normal light socket.

His basking spot should be 105-110 F, and temps should be taken using either a probe thermometer directly on his basking spot or a temp gun (can be had for fairly cheap off Amazon).

I think I see sand in the picture, but I'm not sure. If it is sand, get rid of it as it can cause impaction. Paper towels, reptile carpet, and newspaper all work well. Slate tile is the best and in the long run cheapest.

The smallest tank he should be in now is a 20 gallon long, and the minimum for an adult is a 40 gallon breeder.

These factors could all be contributing to his not eating.

 

[Jsvargas13]

His basking spot is way too cold and I don't think the rest of your lighting is good either. That isn't your fault, the people at pet stores just don't know much about what they're doing.

Fluorescent Tube lights are the best. a reptisun 10.0 or Arcadia 12% is the best. Get rid of the metal screen on top of the tank, it will block UVB rays.

Don't use a red light for night time, it'll keep them awake and is possibly bad for them. Use a ceramic heat emitter. It will fit in a normal light socket.

His basking spot should be 105-110 F, and temps should be taken using either a probe thermometer directly on his basking spot or a temp gun (can be had for fairly cheap off Amazon).

I think I see sand in the picture, but I'm not sure. If it is sand, get rid of it as it can cause impaction. Paper towels, reptile carpet, and newspaper all work well. Slate tile is the best and in the long run cheapest.

The smallest tank he should be in now is a 20 gallon long, and the minimum for an adult is a 40 gallon breeder.

These factors could all be contributing to his not eating.

I just got him a 20 gallon tank today. I have the reptisun 10.0 but it's a mini compact. Is that not right? He doesn't have sand he has a carpet material. How can I make my tank hotter? I've tried different bulbs and it doesn't seem to go up. I also made holes in the screen before so he wasn't be deprived of uvb.

 

[AHBD]

Hi JS....he looks cute in that pic, the shed looks like a scarf flying in the wind. As far as getting the temp. up, just use the fixture that you have the red bulb in, and put a plain housebulb [ try 60 -75 ] in it [ the old fashioned ones that we've used for years ] That should get the temp. where you need it. For the future, if you ever need another fixture you can get one at Lowe's / Home Depot that is aluminum....they reflect more heat than the black and are usually cheaper.

 

[Jsvargas13]

Hi JS....he looks cute in that pic, the shed looks like a scarf flying in the wind. As far as getting the temp. up, just use the fixture that you have the red bulb in, and put a plain housebulb [ try 60 -75 ] in it [ the old fashioned ones that we've used for years ] That should get the temp. where you need it. For the future, if you ever need another fixture you can get one at Lowe's / Home Depot that is aluminum....they reflect more heat than the black and are usually cheaper.

Thanks AHBD, I was wondering if my uvb light was okay? I have the compact repti sun 10.0, not the tube. Do I need to get the tube? If so where can I get the fixture?

 

[ToothlessC]

No, any compact florescent bulbs are a problem. Temps are between -10 and 30 here currently, so I understand the temp problems. What wattage heat bulb are you using? And is it compact or what type of bulb?

Assuming you have a 20 gallon long tank (30") then a 24" fixture would be best. Reptisun doesn't make 30" bulbs so you'll have to mount the 24" fixture in the tank. I believe walmart sells "grow lights" or black lights with t8 fixtures and the correct wattage for $10 or so. Just buy whichever Is cheaper. Same fixture different bulbs.

 

[Jsvargas13]

No, any compact florescent bulbs are a problem. Temps are between -10 and 30 here currently, so I understand the temp problems. What wattage heat bulb are you using? And is it compact or what type of bulb?

I have a zilla sun glo 75 w. It looks like a regular bulb. I don't know where to get a fixture for the reptisun tube light.

 

[ToothlessC]

Afterthought: he might be scared/intimidated by seeing around his tank or his reflection. I had to tape plain white papers on 3 sides of my tank and remove 1 a week til they were gone. Also mine has crazy stress marks today for a few reasons. He met my cat for the first time today (by mistake) did a lot of roaming around the house yesterday, and I believe he's going to shed soon. Anything like this happening to Si?

 

[ToothlessC]

No, any compact florescent bulbs are a problem. Temps are between -10 and 30 here currently, so I understand the temp problems. What wattage heat bulb are you using? And is it compact or what type of bulb?

I have a zilla sun glo 75 w. It looks like a regular bulb. I don't know where to get a fixture for the reptisun tube light.

Edited that post with info on a fixture. Any regular household (not compact) bulb will work for heating. Try 100 watts that's what i have to use.