Am I doing the right thing? (Relocation Stress...)

Hi there-

I'm new to the site and just made my formal introduction on that thread.

Anyway, I got my first ever reptile in December, a leopard gecko, and just adopted a baby beardie a week and a half ago, named Barnaby Dragon. He was hatched only Dec 19, so he's a wee baby still. He experienced a lot of stress when I got him, which I take responsibility for, because, although I researched and researched bearded dragons before I got him, I never heard about relocation stress or any of that until after I got him and realized he was stressing.

So anyway, I handled him a bit, and switched things around a bit after he moved in. I now realize that this stuff was wrong, and I regret it. As a result of taking a bit longer to adjust, he hadn't been eating or basking, and that was worrisome to me. He also wasn't really basking at first, but now he climbs on the wall and gets some heat and UVB that way.

His diet consists of gut-loaded dubias and turnip greens - and he only ate a few dubias, and they were ones that escaped out of his bowl when I was figuring things out. He went a couple days without eating after that, and I realized that he is maybe too nervous to explore his enclosure and discover his food down below. He was really worrying me and getting weak and skinny looking. So, as an experiment, I gently put him on his basking log and plopped a dubia in front of him and he gobbled it right up. He managed to eat 4 yesterday morning, 2 more after work, and 3 this morning. I felt good about this, until I started wondering - am I doing the right thing? I mean, should I really be handling him like this and just keep putting the critters in front of his face? Or should I put them in a bowl down below and hope he eventually chills out and notices they are there?

I am feeling like I'm trying to control the situation a lot and make him eat when he might need more time. I am committed to this little guy and want to do right by him. Any and all advice would be super appreciated!

By the way, I'm using a mercury vapor light in a deep dome on one side of his enclosure, and all the temps are in the zones they should be in. I have one of those laser thermometer thingies.

Welcome and lets see what we can help w/. Please post pics of your tank and what kind of lighting your using for your little guy-- handling and hand feeding him so to speak is good- he will get used to you and bond w/ you--

Karrie

Okay, so this is Barnaby's enclosure:


To the right he has a Reptisun 5.0 fluorescent, and to the left he has a ZooMed Power Sun 100W in a deep dome. I have an IR thermometer and the different areas on the basking log to the left are reaching between 95 and 110. (Barnaby is hanging out there on the faux foliage, do you see him? Such a cute little guy!)

He looks really cute-- I would upgrade your UVB bulb to a 10.0 T8 bulb the Reptisun is good but needs to be stronger - and it looks like the reflector cover is off the bulb too correct? You can offer him mustard greens collard greens squash any kind green beans maybe throw in a little fruit like apple mango strawberries blueberries -- they mainly eat bugs at this point and dubias are great Offering him greens every day is good too --- but I definatley would be upgrading your UVB bulb to prevent MBD-- are you dusting his bugs? and giving vitamins 2 x per week ?

Karrie

KarrieRee":lly1032u said:

He looks really cute-- I would upgrade your UVB bulb to a 10.0 T8 bulb the Reptisun is good but needs to be stronger - and it looks like the reflector cover is off the bulb too correct? You can offer him mustard greens collard greens squash any kind green beans maybe throw in a little fruit like apple mango strawberries blueberries -- they mainly eat bugs at this point and dubias are great Offering him greens every day is good too --- but I definatley would be upgrading your UVB bulb to prevent MBD-- are you dusting his bugs? and giving vitamins 2 x per week ?

Karrie

Click to expand...

The T8 10.0 is a bit weak, a T5 10.0 HO is the best other than an Arcadia 12%D3. These are highly recommended here.

I am dusting his bugs 5x per week and offering him turnip greens, which he's eaten a little bit of. I have vitamins on order and they should be delivered today, so I'll start giving him those tonight.

I thought it would be alright to get the 5.0 bulb since his basking bulb is a mercury vapor bulb shelling out tons of UVB. He doesn't spend much time on the other side, and note how close the orange ledge thingy is to the Reptisun fixture. I really installed that as a supplementary measure. Should I put the cover back over the bulb? I thought that might filter out all the goodness and since the bulb doesn't get very hot I thought it would be best to keep the cover off.

The T8 10.0 is a bit weak, a T5 10.0 HO is the best other than an Arcadia 12%D3. These are highly recommended here.

Click to expand...

Would this T5 bulb fit into the same type of fixture as the T8?

Barnaby":3650ys3m said:

I am dusting his bugs 5x per week and offering him turnip greens, which he's eaten a little bit of. I have vitamins on order and they should be delivered today, so I'll start giving him those tonight.

I thought it would be alright to get the 5.0 bulb since his basking bulb is a mercury vapor bulb shelling out tons of UVB. He doesn't spend much time on the other side, and note how close the orange ledge thingy is to the Reptisun fixture. I really installed that as a supplementary measure. Should I put the cover back over the bulb? I thought that might filter out all the goodness and since the bulb doesn't get very hot I thought it would be best to keep the cover off.

The T8 10.0 is a bit weak, a T5 10.0 HO is the best other than an Arcadia 12%D3. These are highly recommended here.

Click to expand...

Would this T5 bulb fit into the same type of fixture as the T8?

Click to expand...

No, they are not compatible. If you MUST keep the T8 at least get the 10.0 the 5.0 is not strong enough and, make sure he is within 8" of the T8 10.0.