dark beardie with stress marks

Hi so I recently became a beardie owner
I've had santee for about 3 weeks now (I was told he's about 2years)
He recently just shed most of his skin and was a bright yellow color however I recently discovered that he turned somewhat dark. When he's in his viv he's dark and has stress marks but when he's out he's a bright yellow and orange and is actively running around however lately he's been "digging" and hiding. I want to know what am I doing wrong.
I have a 55 gallon
A reptisun 10.0 in a dual aluminum dome lamp along with a 100 watt basking light
The temps are around 100 on the basking site and low 80s on the cooler side. ( I have a ceramic heat emitter on the cooling side otherwise it drops to low 70s)
He was about 5in away from the basking site but has the option to get lower. He basks on rocks that I collected from outside. He seemed fine At that distance for about a week until he started showing darkening on his aides so I thought he was too close to the basking site which read at 105 so I lowered his rocks and had the temp to be 100 but he still remained with dark color and stress marks.
I also have another Reptisun 10.0 uvb 18 in t8 tube to light his whole viv because the cooler side tends to get really dark without it( it's in a plastic fixture without the plastic covering the bulb) however it is mounted on top of the cage so Plan to put it inside the cage ( he is about 6-7 in from the basking light and I plan to get rid of the compact Uvb bulb bc I've learned they're bad and get the t8 tube within 5in close to him)


However aside from wrong compact bulb, is there another reason why he might be showing dark spotting with stress marks only in his Viv and not outside ?
*this is an updated version of the original post to provide more insight

Update: he also changes colors to dark out of his viv and only lightens when I hold him
This is days before he started turning dark

I'm not an expert, but in the top pick he looks very thin, although he looks better in the second. The coil uvbs can cause problems, you should only need the tube. As for the color changing, he might just be absorbing heat in the viv, what are you using to find the temps, the dials are very inaccurate.

seandeangelis":bakh8jky said:

I'm not an expert, but in the top pick he looks very thin, although he looks better in the second. The coil uvbs can cause problems, you should only need the tube. As for the color changing, he might just be absorbing heat in the viv, what are you using to find the temps, the dials are very inaccurate.

Click to expand...

So are you saying I only need to use the tube uvb instead of both uvb's?

I'm using a zoomed thermometer that scans
And an acurite thermometer that measures temp and humidity

You only need the tube, although 18" may be a little short for 60 gallons. I'm not familiar with scanning thermometers. I looked it up and it looks kind of like a car key? I have heard good things about Acurite, though, so you should be ok.

Do you know what might be causing his stress marks and darkness if his temps are fine? Can the two uvb bulbs have been a factor ?

Hi there!

They can change colors as they grow, especially after a shed. Also, they will darken when they're under their lights to try and soak up as many rays as they can. The term stress marks can be misleading, and lots of things can make their colors change. My little guy seems to be gaining some purplish side bars when he's soaking up the rays, and his yellow stripes have kind of toned down a bit.

As for the lights, as long as the tube UVB is a good quality one that is changed out regularly, you really don't need both. Just make sure that if it is a T8, it is mounted under the screen as it can block out up to 30% of the rays. It doesn't really matter about the distance from his basking light, as that is just providing heat, what matters is the distance from the UVB, as it loses it's potency at greater distances.

I do just want to say that I agree with seandeangelis, he does look a bit thin in that first picture. Has he been acting any differently than usual, or had any appetite changes? It could just be the angle, but we're just making sure.

fuchsiaSkies":3h414wvk said:

Hi there!

They can change colors as they grow, especially after a shed. Also, they will darken when they're under their lights to try and soak up as many rays as they can. The term stress marks can be misleading, and lots of things can make their colors change. My little guy seems to be gaining some purplish side bars when he's soaking up the rays, and his yellow stripes have kind of toned down a bit.

As for the lights, as long as the tube UVB is a good quality one that is changed out regularly, you really don't need both. Just make sure that if it is a T8, it is mounted under the screen as it can block out up to 30% of the rays. It doesn't really matter about the distance from his basking light, as that is just providing heat, what matters is the distance from the UVB, as it loses it's potency at greater distances.

I do just want to say that I agree with seandeangelis, he does look a bit thin in that first picture. Has he been acting any differently than usual, or had any appetite changes? It could just be the angle, but we're just making sure.

Click to expand...

I think it's just the angle. He hasn't had any appetite changes although he hasn't been really wanting to eat veggies as much as he wants to eat worms. His behavior hasn't changed aside from the color changes and constant digging and hiding.
How do I know whether it's a T8? The uvb lights I have are both 10.0 reptisun and I've only had them for 3 weeks as well.
When he's in his viv under the basking light he gets very dark and he gets stress marks on his belly but when I take him out his stress marks go away and his color returns back to normal, but he also tends to go digging and hiding under dark spots. Right now I put him in his viv without the basking light and he went into hiding.
I don't know whether this is sign of brumation or when was the last time he Brumated because I got him at a pet store and got no history on him

Hi. Those coil bulbs cause eye, lethargy and appetite issues. When you buy the tube uvb it says on the end of the bulb if it's a t8 or t5. Do you know the exact temps on his basking spot? It sounds like he's trying to get warmer by turning darker. What watt is the basking light and is it a bright white light?

destiny1998":3fjzh37w said:

Hi. Those coil bulbs cause eye, lethargy and appetite issues. When you buy the tube uvb it says on the end of the bulb if it's a t8 or t5. Do you know the exact temps on his basking spot? It sounds like he's trying to get warmer by turning darker. What watt is the basking light and is it a bright white light?

Click to expand...

So it's a t8 tube, and the screen that covers the top of the tank is like a metal kind that they sell at petco not the ones with the mesh. Should I still place the uvb light inside ?
The basking light is 100 watts and yes it is bright
Correction: it's a 55 gallon
For a week I had him about 4-5 in away from the uvb and basking dual lamp and he was fine and the temps read up to 105 but then I started noticing a dark color and stress marks so I lowered his rocks and now he is within 6-7 in away from the basking site and the temps read 99-100 but he still remains dark with stress marks but he stays flat on the rocks
The uvb is from 5-7 in away from him depending on where he is (the uvb is on top the cage)

If he was trying to get warm why is it that once he is out of his viv he is active or sometimes opts to go "digging" and hiding in dark places ? Also his color changes back to normal (not as dark)?

Is 100 degrees okay for his basking site ? ( he rarely goes to the cool end)


By the way thank you so much for the feedback!

Thanks for answering. The t8 does need to be mounted in the tank. The screen blocks most of the uvb. You want to mount it 6 to 8 inches away. Make sure there is no plastic over the. Uvb bulb.

Well the uvb bulb I was using from the first tim I got him was a 10.0 reptisun compact bulb but I guess I will stop using that

And the second one i recently got which is what I'll be sticking to was the 18 in reptisun 10.0 t8 however I had it mounted on top of the tank and I also had it in a GE basic flourescent light fixture brand, I think the fixture itself is plastic but I took off the plastic cover that covers the bulb

Nevertheless, why is it my beardie still reacted with dark colors and spots when he still had the uvb that was in the aluminum fixture? Thanks !

The dark color isn't necessarily a problem. They darken like that when they bask and want to absorb more heat/light. It helps make them as efficient as possible. You definitely want to use a reflector with a T8 and keep it no further than 8'' from the basking area for best results (6'' is better). The Zilla Slimline fixture has a reflector built into it which is nice.

CooperDragon":1zfls3aw said:

The dark color isn't necessarily a problem. They darken like that when they bask and want to absorb more heat/light. It helps make them as efficient as possible. You definitely want to use a reflector with a T8 and keep it no further than 8'' from the basking area for best results (6'' is better). The Zilla Slimline fixture has a reflector built into it which is nice.

Click to expand...

Is it bad that he shows stress marks when in his viv and doesn't really move but when hes out of his viv he stress marks disappear and he's very active and he lightens
Also he never did that before until just yesterday

The darkening is likely just him basking and absorbing light. When he's out and about he lightens up because he isn't basking. I'll bet if you bring him outside in warm sunshine he'll turn his back to the sun, darken, and flatten out to absorb the rays.