My baby looked like death!!!!

Yesterday my bearded day lights didn't come on. She stayed with her night heat lamp til about 4:30 pm! The timer screwed up. I kept her day lights on til around 9:30 and then had to put her night heat back on for night time

She only got about 7 crickets yesterday bc the pet store was all out and that's all I had left.

Today when I came home and she was close to her basking spot. She was SUPER brown, wrinkly, and skinny. I immediately fed her 12 calcium dusted crickets. She ran after them and caught them just like normal. I dripped water on her nose, she licked a little. She also took a couple bites of mustard greens. She's been alert ever since. Head up, light colors, looking around. She looks normal now with a full belly and no wrinkles. Prior to the pet store incident, she was eating 20-30 crickets a day over 2 feedings, with a couple bites of greens.

She's been pooping every day to every other day. When I came home today there was a little poop with a small amount of the white stuff.

She's in a 40 gallon tank, temps range from 60/65 at night to 70-110 during day with humidity staying in desert range. Right now she has a UVB coil ( being replaced with a repti sun 10.0 tube next week. The shipment is in the mail.) reptile carpet as substrate.

She shed her tail a week ago. She shed her back and legs a couple days ago. Her nose started to shed last night before I turned her day lights off.

She looked like she was about to die today. Never seen any bearded dragon that dark brown (not stress marks) and wrinkly. I could also see her hips for the first time ever. I'm not prone to exaggeration.

Here's a picture of how she looks now. http://i1301.photobucket.com/albums/ag118/Atoth3izzo/image_zpsbd248f22.jpg

Any idea what just happened?

Thanks.

Does anyone know what's going on?

It sounds like she was dehydrated, have you been bathing her? What type of thermometer are you using to ck the temps?

Good that you have the Repti-Sun 10.0 tube on the way. I would keep an eye on her closely because she could be having bad side effects from the dangerous coil UVB. If it were me, I would turn off that coil bulb as I feel she would be better off without any for a few days instead of continuing to use that one.

I have been bathing every to every other day since she's been shedding. She was such a terrifying color brown, like gray brown dirt.

I have 2 types of dial thermometers and a digital one on the way with the repti sun.

Do you suppose the day of darkness had any effect?

Also, unless I drip water on her nose, she does not drink. I make sure her greens are doused in water, and she'll only eat those by hand mostly. She's only a baby, just under 6.5 inches long. How can I get her to drink more water? How much water should she get every day? Are a couple licks enough?

I'm sure the change in the lighting schedule really confused her and when they are stressed, they darken in color and her total feeding schedule and amount was different too so it all threw her a curve.

Good that you're bathing her that often, make sure the baths are at least 15 to 20 min each time for proper hydration. As long as you're putting water on her greens and offering her water, that's good. Very few beardies drink from standing water although more tend to do it when they're older. You could pick up some 100% juice (no sugar or anything else added), like apple, grape, cherry or cranberry, dilute by using 3 parts water to 1 part juice and offer that to her. It's very cute to watch their little tongues move in circles to try to get every drop.

As you probably know, the dial thermometers are very inaccurate and can be as much as 20 to 40 degrees off. What size tank is she in and what is the wattage of the basking bulb(s)?

Good to hear that you have a Repti-Sun on the way, is it the 10.0 strip fluorescent? What are you using now for UVB?

You might want to think about getting a ceramic heat emitter for night, they give off heat but no light. The blue & red bulbs actually disturb their sleep. With the blue night bulb on at night, you're only getting a temp of 60 to 65 now?

diamc":273unwu3 said:

I'm sure the change in the lighting schedule really confused her and when they are stressed, they darken in color and her total feeding schedule and amount was different too so it all threw her a curve.

Good that you're bathing her that often, make sure the baths are at least 15 to 20 min each time for proper hydration. Okay, her baths are usually 15 minutes, unless she starts trying to get out. As long as you're putting water on her greens and offering her water, that's good. Very few beardies drink from standing water although more tend to do it when they're older. You could pick up some 100% juice (no sugar or anything else added), like apple, grape, cherry or cranberry, dilute by using 3 parts water to 1 part juice and offer that to her. It's very cute to watch their little tongues move in circles to try to get every drop. sounds fun, I'll have to try it.

As you probably know, the dial thermometers are very inaccurate and can be as much as 20 to 40 degrees off. What size tank is she in and what is the wattage of the basking bulb(s)? Shes in a 40 gallon tank. Basking is 150w.

Good to hear that you have a Repti-Sun on the way, is it the 10.0 strip fluorescent? it is the 24" tube I believe. Is that the right one?What are you using now for UVB? uvb coil, zilla desert series

You might want to think about getting a ceramic heat emitter for night, they give off heat but no light. The blue & red bulbs actually disturb their sleep. With the blue night bulb on at night, you're only getting a temp of 60 to 65 now?

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Its a cold winter house. But I'm waiting on a digital thermometer.

Thanks for the advice! I really appreciate it.

Let me know how she likes the juice.

Good that the baths are about 15 minutes, that's very helpful to her.

Wow, 150 watts is a lot for a 40 gallon tank. One of my tanks is a 40 breeder and I only need a 50 watt basking bulb to get a temp of about 103 and a 40 watt household bulb on the cool side to get a temp of about 81. Once you get the digital probe thermometer, I think you're gonna find out that you need to use a lower wattage basking bulb. Does she lay right under the basking bulb now for a good part of the time?

Great that you're getting the tube, yes, if it's the Repti-Sun 10.0, that would be the right one. Please keep a close eye on her as the Zilla coils are very dangerous and can cause eye problems, loss of appetite, lethargy, etc.

Just curious, where do you live?