My baby bearded dragon hides 24/7 and will not bask!

[lilblake7005]

I have a 3-4 month old bearded dragon and she is always in her hide and I have to take her out of the hide to eat. I added a new log to her enclosure for a new basking spot. Now she never is out basking and I'm worried she isn't getting warm enough or enough UVB. Should I worry or is it just something normal?

 

[speedyfuzzball]

Hello, what kind of UVB are you using exactly? (Brand and type) what are the temperatures in the enclosure on the basking, hot and cool side? And what are you using to measure the temperatures? Has she always been like this or is this recent?

 

[lilblake7005]

I'm using a ReptiSun 5.0, and the warm side is around 105 degrees at the basking spot and the cold side is about 75-80 degrees. I'm using a strip Thermometer. This is something new, started a week ago when I changed up the enclosure.

 

[speedyfuzzball]

Oh man I hate to say this but you really should get a reptisun 10 tube for UVB, reptisun 5 is no good for bearded dragons and she could be hiding to escape from the reptisun 5. I'd recommend getting a reptisun 10 as soon as possible and mount it on the inside of the tank 6-8 inches from her basking spot. Also the strip thermometers tend to be very inaccurate.. A thermometer with a probe or temperature gun would be more ideal

 

[speedyfuzzball]

You most get more specific help if you answer these questions

How old is your dragon?
How long have you had your dragon?
How long is your dragon?
What is the sex of your dragon?
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
Do you use UVB lights?
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
How old is your UVB bulb?
How close can your dragon get to the UVB?
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb?
What are the basking temps?
What is the cool side temp?
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?
Do you bath your dragon? How often?
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?

 

[lilblake7005]

Oh man I hate to say this but you really should get a reptisun 10 tube for UVB, reptisun 5 is no good for bearded dragons and she could be hiding to escape from the reptisun 5. I'd recommend getting a reptisun 10 as soon as possible and mount it on the inside of the tank 6-8 inches from her basking spot. Also the strip thermometers tend to be very inaccurate.. A thermometer with a probe or temperature gun would be more ideal

Yea I know I should be getting the reptisun 10 and a temp gun when I get some more money.

 

[lilblake7005]

You most get more specific help if you answer these questions

How old is your dragon? 2-3 months not 100% sure
How long have you had your dragon? A little over a week.
How long is your dragon? 6.5in
What is the sex of your dragon? Female
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 20 gallon
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? Packing paper
Do you use UVB lights? Yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? Flurescent tube
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? Reptisun 5
How old is your UVB bulb? A little over a week
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? 7-8in
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb? Yes, 100W, both( I have a day and night bulb)
What are the basking temps? Around+105
What is the cool side temp? About 70-80
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? Stick on thermometer
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? Right at the basking spot
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? No
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. Small gut loaded crickets and regular meal worms
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? Once in the morning and once at night.
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? Yes
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? Calcium, Zoomed, once a day
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? I think so, what is regular?
Do you bath your dragon? How often? Yes, once a week
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? Yes
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? No
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? Nope

 

[speedyfuzzball]

Hmm well she shouldn't be getting mealworms, especially since she's so young, it can cause impaction. You can switch to a softer worm like Phoenix worms how many live feeders does she get in a day? I really hope the others come on to help soon! I just wanted to ask those basic questions because I know they'll want to know anyway
Hopefully she'll start to improve after getting proper UVB, you can take her outside for natural UVB if its warm out!

 

[w0554096]

Hello,
I would highly reccomend that you pick up a digital thermometer with a wired probe. They are quite cheap and can usually be found at walmart for around 10 dollars. They're 'indoor/outdoor' thermometers. Stick on thermometers can be extremely inacurate. Her temparatures may actually be alot hotter than you think, which could be why she is hiding.

Are you feeding her as much as she can eat in 10-15 minutes, or giving her a set amount?

Most babies tend to poop once or twice a day. You can also up her baths to 3-4 times per week. Babies tend to dehydrate quickly, so the extra hydration should help to perk her up.
I would reccomend not using the night bulb. Beardies need darkness to sleep, and the colored bulbs will actually keep her awake. If your temperatures stay above 65 at night, then you don't need a nightime heat source. The drop in temperature is actually good for them. If it does get below 65, a ceramic heat emitter is reccomended. They produce heat but no light.

 

[lilblake7005]

I normally try and feed her 6-8 crickets at a time, and she normally will ignore others I put in after 8. i will stop feeding her meal worms until she is a bit older. She really seemed to like them and I saw many different place online say to feed baby beardies meal worms, so that is why i tried to feed her those. Also she isn't pooping right then, she goes 4 times a week, I think its do to stress from me moving her stuff around.

 

[w0554096]

That's very possible, thought temperatures also have alot to do with it. As soon as you can, pick up a digital thermometer. You'll want the probe to be placed directly on the basking spot, and the display screen should be placed in the cool end.

I would reccomend that you not feed mealworms, even when she's older. They're especially not reccomended for babies for two reasons; Their chitin is very hard and tends to cause impaction, and their nutrition content is very poor. They are not a good feeder for adults either, for those same reasons. Once your beardie reaches 16 inches or so, he can be fed superworms, which are similar in size and texture to mealies but contain less chitin and more nutrition.

Pooping 4 times a week may just be because he's not eating very much. Keep offering as many as he wants to eat, but make sure to remove any uneten crickets from the enclosure.

 

[lilblake7005]

Well today when I came home from school she was out basking and I fed her 10 crickets, when I moved her log/climb there was a massive poop it had to be 2in long and she is only 6.5in. I think she might have been backed up.

 

[w0554096]

That's great that she's had a big poop. Maybe she will start acting more normally now. Were you able to pick up the thermometer?

 

[lilblake7005]

No I will pick one up here in this weekend when I have time to run to the local pet store.

 

[w0554096]

Do you have a walmart around you?
Alot of the petstore ones (not all), only have the capability of taking the temp from the probe. IMO the acurite thermometers from walmart are better since you get a probe ready and a reading from the display. That way you can accurately measure basking spot and cool side. They are also cheaper than petstore thermometers.