New Beardie Owners that need advice/help

Greetings, my family and I are proud new beardie owners. We got Smiddy from Petco. about 11 days ago. He's approx. 6 inches. Not sure the age.

Setup-

40 gal. breeder tank with a mesh lid.
18 inch Zilla Slimline Desert 50 UVB T8 mounted in the tank (will be swapping to a Reptisun 10.0 soon)
Zoo Med CHE 150w. in a Dome
Zoo Med Basking bulb 100w in a Flukers Sun Dome
Digital Thermometer with probe

The UVB is mounted in the middle (in the tank) with CHE on one side and the basking light on the other side.

One big OOPS that we realized was that we didn't have a basking light for the first 9 days. We misunderstood the heat/light requirements or weren't given proper info from the Petco associate. We also started with dial thermometers so I'm pretty sure the temps have been less then adequate for the first 9 or 10 days.

Now that we have a basking light and a digital thermometer I have been keeping a close eye on the temps and they still seem too low. Approx. 85 in the basking area. I'm not sure what the cool side is as I'm waiting for another digital temp gauge to show up. It seem that my light set up should be enough to heat a tank the size properly... am I wrong? How would I get the temps. up without using a under-tank heater?

So Smiddy was pretty active and alert when we brought him home. He was eating about 3 crickets a couple times per day. He would eat very little veggies. But over the last 3 to 4 days he has become very lethargic and not eating or pooping. Also sleeping in his basking area 95% of the time.

We are very concern that not have the basking light and cool temps have caused this. Can anyone advised us on the next steps to attempt. I have been combing the forum and am a little overwhelmed. Thank you.

Welcome to the forum! It sounds like you've made some good corrections early on. Can you upload some photos of your new buddy and his setup? You can upload photos here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and post them to your thread using the XIMG button.

The Desert 50 T8 bulb is OK, especially if you have it mounted inside. You may want to shift it over the basking area rather than in the middle so you have intense UVB and high heat together over the basking area. That bulb works best about 6-8'' above the basking area. Did you remove the clear plastic from in front of the bulb (if you have the corresponding fixture)? That will intercept all UVB and needs to be removed if it's there.

The temps are definitely a bit low. You may need to play around with different bulb wattages but that CHE should get the temps up. It's good that you got the bright basking light. You may want to try using a 150w basking light and just use the CHE at night if needed. Alternatively you could move to a halogen flood light. I use a 90w GE PAR38 halogen flood light which would work well on a dimmer so you can adjust the power easily. Where do you have the probe for the digital thermometer? You'll want it to be right on the basking surface. I zip tie the probes down in my tank so they stay put - one on the basking surface and one on the cool side. It may take some fiddling to get the temps just right but once they're set then it doesn't take much effort to maintain them.

CooperDragon":2pz28z0c said:

Welcome to the forum! It sounds like you've made some good corrections early on. Can you upload some photos of your new buddy and his setup? You can upload photos here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and post them to your thread using the XIMG button.

The Desert 50 T8 bulb is OK, especially if you have it mounted inside. You may want to shift it over the basking area rather than in the middle so you have intense UVB and high heat together over the basking area. That bulb works best about 6-8'' above the basking area. Did you remove the clear plastic from in front of the bulb (if you have the corresponding fixture)? That will intercept all UVB and needs to be removed if it's there.

The temps are definitely a bit low. You may need to play around with different bulb wattages but that CHE should get the temps up. It's good that you got the bright basking light. You may want to try using a 150w basking light and just use the CHE at night if needed. Alternatively you could move to a halogen flood light. I use a 90w GE PAR38 halogen flood light which would work well on a dimmer so you can adjust the power easily. Where do you have the probe for the digital thermometer? You'll want it to be right on the basking surface. I zip tie the probes down in my tank so they stay put - one on the basking surface and one on the cool side. It may take some fiddling to get the temps just right but once they're set then it doesn't take much effort to maintain them.

Click to expand...

Here are pics of Smiddy and his set up. I honestly do not remember removing the plastic on the front of the bulb. I will check ASAP.

I have the probe right next to the basking surface but I will move it "on to" the surface.

I have been running both lights(UVB and basking) and the CHE together during the day and still only getting 85+/- in the basking area.

Are you suggesting replacing the Basking bulb with a halogen or added it?

Thank you

So little update.

I moved the probe of the thermometer on to the basking area and it's approx. 105-108 which seems appropriate.

I will removed the plastic cover on my UVB light fixture today.

He is still not eating and pretty low key. He did poop this morning which is the first in a couple days.

We are really hoping that with the proper temperature and lights that he will start to recover, eat more and become more active.

Any other suggestions?

Welcome to the forum! I'm glad you're doing your research and have come to the right place for tips and advice

The temps you are taking, are those still being taken by the stick on? I just ask because the one that came with my "kit" back in the day was off by nearly 20 degrees! If yours is accurate, it's at a great range, and he has the stick ramp to work his own temp as desired.
I know you're upgrading the UVB but I'd scoot it closer to his basking platform. It's best they can soak up both at the same time and the UVB is a little far

It's perfectly normal for them not to eat for the first week to even two. They are territorial and moving them out of their "safe zone" can really throw them off and they take some time to re-adjust, referred to as relocation stress.
If you want to make him feel more at home, I'd recommend a background of some sort to cover at least 2 of the walls to make him feel more enclosed. I see you have something rigged up, but it may be helpful to have it cover the full walls

traildrifterphalanx":1n8qwxf4 said:

Welcome to the forum! I'm glad you're doing your research and have come to the right place for tips and advice

The temps you are taking, are those still being taken by the stick on? I just ask because the one that came with my "kit" back in the day was off by nearly 20 degrees! If yours is accurate, it's at a great range, and he has the stick ramp to work his own temp as desired.
I know you're upgrading the UVB but I'd scoot it closer to his basking platform. It's best they can soak up both at the same time and the UVB is a little far

It's perfectly normal for them not to eat for the first week to even two. They are territorial and moving them out of their "safe zone" can really throw them off and they take some time to re-adjust, referred to as relocation stress.
If you want to make him feel more at home, I'd recommend a background of some sort to cover at least 2 of the walls to make him feel more enclosed. I see you have something rigged up, but it may be helpful to have it cover the full walls

Click to expand...

Thank you for the input. The thermometer is digital and the probe is on his basking rock.

We also just got a nice desert background for his tank, so hopefully that will improve his mood.

I will remove the plastic cover and move the UVB light closer to the basking area.

Hopefully he will start eating soon.

Thanks again.

So we put a background on the tank. Moved a branch close to the UVB light. Temps are great.

And our beardie still will not eat anything (over a week now).

We have tried different types of veggies and fruits that are good for Beardies. Crickets too (hand feeding). He as pooped a couple times. He's pretty much sleeping full time in his basking area.
He does become a little more alert when he gets a bath...

Any ideas why he's not eating? Thank you.

It's a little alarming that a little guy so young would be sleeping so often. He should be bursting with energy.

Are you able to have him taken into a vet for a check-up? As much as I'd hate to instill unnecessary fear, it may be time to consider he could have a parasite or two messing with him as they tend to make them lethargic and lose their appetite.
It may be best to have someone with more experience in this field respond.

traildrifterphalanx":t51fnscs said:

It's a little alarming that a little guy so young would be sleeping so often. He should be bursting with energy.

Are you able to have him taken into a vet for a check-up? As much as I'd hate to instill unnecessary fear, it may be time to consider he could have a parasite or two messing with him as they tend to make them lethargic and lose their appetite.
It may be best to have someone with more experience in this field respond.

Click to expand...

We haven't taken him in yet. I really just got the light/heat situation dialed in the last 5-6 days...so I'm curious if it takes a little while for him to acclimate...?

It could definitely take some time to acclimate, but what concerns me is the sleeping all day (though I figure it's not literally the whole day.)

Even when I had gotten my most recent dragon, he went about 2 weeks without eating but was very very alert in his little basking branch, though he did not move around too much. He only slept after lights out, but was head high when lights were on.
I eventually got him eating Repti-Boost to get his appetite back on track and he eating on his own not long after.
http://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/flukers-reptaboost-insectavore-and-carnivore-high-amp-boost

This is something you could try prior to a vet visit if he's alert, or baby food squash/chicken/green beans through a dropper to try and entice him eating. If he is not acting awake/alert, I would have him seen by an experienced herp vet as soon as possible to rule out any underlying issue.

traildrifterphalanx":2u89s09b said:

It could definitely take some time to acclimate, but what concerns me is the sleeping all day (though I figure it's not literally the whole day.)

Even when I had gotten my most recent dragon, he went about 2 weeks without eating but was very very alert in his little basking branch, though he did not move around too much. He only slept after lights out, but was head high when lights were on.
I eventually got him eating Repti-Boost to get his appetite back on track and he eating on his own not long after.
http://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/flukers-reptaboost-insectavore-and-carnivore-high-amp-boost

This is something you could try prior to a vet visit if he's alert, or baby food squash/chicken/green beans through a dropper to try and entice him eating. If he is not acting awake/alert, I would have him seen by an experienced herp vet as soon as possible to rule out any underlying issue.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the input. Much appreciated. If he does eat anything in the next day or so I will try the Repti-Boost.

Thanks

No problem, best of luck, and hope it helps!
Please keep us informed on his progress