Getting darker and not basking

I've only had my bearded dragon since September 9th, but recently she's been acting (and looking) a little different. She's around 6 months old on a stable diet of live food (crickets + superworms, looking to move her on to dubia roaches soon) and vegetables, and she always seems prompt and happy to eat.

However, she recently has changed colour almost completely. She was orange and yellow with these 2 darker lines running down her back, but now her torso and tail have gone DARK. Her head and legs have stayed the same, but her torso is like a completely different dragon than when I got her. I've done some reading online and many people say they go darker to soak up as much UVB as possible, or it could be because of stress. In terms of UVB, I was told that the ReptiGlo was good (I had the 10.0 UVB one) but with further reading I had not seen very good reviews, so as of yesterday I immediately switched her to the 10.0 ReptiSun, but she doesn't seem to like it. Today, I caught her in the back right of her cage (the cool side) hanging at the very top on some leaves and when I grabbed her she was VERY cold, so I immediately placed her in the basking spot. Her temperatures are fine from what I've read, her basking spot is about 90F and that's where she was spending a majority of her time...

I have no idea what to do at this point. In terms of stress, I have 3 dogs and 4 cats but they're unable to touch her as her stand is very high off the ground and the cats are unable to jump on/around/near her at all.

Also, her poops are very healthy and consistent...

PLEASE help me! I'm not opposed to going to the vet if that's what anyone sees fit, I just don't want to go and have them be like "she's fine, just a little stressed, give me $100!"

https://imgur.com/a/xJZ9t
^ There's an album with a few photos

Well she looks healthy, but not 6 months old, more like 3-4 months old. They do go darker to absorb more heat, and I'm assuming that's exactly what she's doing because her basking temperature is way too low! First of all, I hope you're using either a digital probe thermometer or a temperature gun to measure her temps and not any sort of stick-on thermometers, like the round, gauge thermometers, because they are incredibly inaccurate and are usually off by up to 20 degrees, plus you can only read ambient temperatures with them and not the exact temperature on her main basking spot, which should be between 105-110 degrees maximum (never over 110) for a baby to juvenile/sub adult. Usually once they hit around a year or so old they like the basking spot temperature to drop a little bit, more between 100-105, but 90 degrees on her basking spot is far too cool for her to properly digest her food or absorb any nutrition or vitamins/calcium. She should have a temperature gradient inside her tank, with a basking spot temperature between 105-110, a Hot Side Ambient between 88-93, and a cool side between 75-80. So she probably darkening herself in order to absorb more heat because her basking spot temperature is too low.

The long, flourescent Reptisun 10.0 UVB tubes are very good UVB for bearded dragons, the Reptiglo tubes have had lots of issues throughout the years, all I know is I and many other long-time beardie owners use nothing but 18" or 24" Reptisun 10.0 or Arcadia 12% tubes with no issues at all. That being said, it must be mounted at the correct distance from her basking spot and possibly unobstructed by any mesh lid, depending on which strength Reptisun 10.0 tube you bought (if you did not buy the long tube but rather the Reptisun 10.0 compact UVB bulb you need to invest in the long tube and matching long, flourescent tube fixture). If you bought the T8 strength it absolutely must be mounted inside the enclosure and under any mesh lid, as the mesh will block up to 50% of the UVB light, and the T8 is not strong enough to penetrate the mesh and still provide enough UVB light. Also, the T8 must be mounted within 6-8" of her basking spot, and be replaced every 6 months. If you bought the T5 High-Output UVB tube then it can sit on top of a mesh lid (but never a glass or clear plastic lid, no UVB light penetrates glass), but still must be mounted within 11" of her basking spot, and replaced once every 10-12 months. Her UVB tube should be right alongside her bright white basking bulb, and both should be right overtop of her basking spot, so she gets both at the same time while basking. So you need only 2 lights, the long Reptisun 10.0 UVB tube and a single, bright white (only, no colored bulbs, and absolutely no coil bulbs) basking bulb. Most of us use regular household halogen indoor flood bulbs as basking bulbs, like the kind you buy at Walmart, Lowes, or Home Depot.

I don't know what size enclosure you have, or what type or wattage of basking bulb, but it sounds like you need a stronger wattage basking bulb to get her basking temperature up a good 15+ degrees. Usually a 100 watt bright white halogen indoor flood bulb will get the temps correct in a 40 gallon breeder tank, but sometimes you have to try different wattages to get the temps within the correct ranges, and if you're using stick-on thermometers you need to get a digital probe thermometer that you can use to place the probe right on the basking spot for 20-30 minutes and then read the basking spot temperature, move to the floor on the Hot Side and let it sit for 20-30 minutes then read the temperature,and then move to the floor of the Cool Side and let it sit for 20-30 minutes and read the Temperature, after you get your UVB tube mounted correctly...

Hi there, your dragon is a real leatherback beauty, great looking tiger bars. I agree that she needs a higher basking temp as was mentioned and that she may be younger than 6 months.
The color is actually her going in to a shed, clear line of demarcation at her neck, like my guy here.
https://www.beardeddragon.org/media/30038/full

Can you post a pic of her enclosure and the bulb placement ? If it's mounted inside, the Reptiglo 10.0 is fine, used them myself for years and a top U.S. breeder uses them for all her dragons. [ Tamara from Rainbw b.d.'s, raises big healthy dragons for many years using the Reptiglo. ] The problems were mostly with the compact or coil bulbs .

If the bulb is close enough [ within 8" ] it should be fine. If the basking spot is further away you'll be better off with a t5 bulb.

EllenD":3injso6s said:

If you bought the T8 strength it absolutely must be mounted inside the enclosure and under any mesh lid, as the mesh will block up to 50% of the UVB light, and the T8 is not strong enough to penetrate the mesh and still provide enough UVB light. Also, the T8 must be mounted within 6-8" of her basking spot, and be replaced every 6 months.
So you need only 2 lights, the long Reptisun 10.0 UVB tube and a single, bright white (only, no colored bulbs, and absolutely no coil bulbs) basking bulb. Most of us use regular household halogen indoor flood bulbs as basking bulbs, like the kind you buy at Walmart, Lowes, or Home Depot.

Click to expand...

I got her from the big reptile expo in Toronto from a group called “T Dot Exotics", and they were firm on the fact that her hatch date was March 4th.
I am currently using an infrared thermometer, due to hearing such bad things about any stick-on thermometers.
She’s currently housed in a 40 gallon large/wide Exo Terra tank using the 24” Reptisun 10.0 with the T8 Strength, however there is an aluminium mesh top, so I will try to have it mounted on the inside, but the ornament with her basking spot reaches almost the top of the tank so I don’t know how there will be room…
Also, I currently have the 150w Intense Basking Bulb by Zoo Med, and it’s positioned right above her basking spot.

So essentially, I just need her UVB to be inside the tank as oppose to outside on top of the aluminum mesh, and to switch my bulb to a 100 watt bright white halogen indoor flood bulb? Thank you for your response, it means a lot, all I want is for her to be comfortable and happy.

AHBD":2ul1vo31 said:

Can you post a pic of her enclosure and the bulb placement ?

Click to expand...

Thank you, I think she's quite beautiful as well but I definitely preferred her oranges and yellows!

https://imgur.com/CahQmwV
^ At the front is the basking bulb, which is a 150w Intense Basking by Zoo Med, and at the back is a T8 with a 24" Reptisun 10.0 UVB.

With a t8 bulb mounted inside it should be fine . And yes, she is beautiful. I should add that her dark color is from shedding but also she is probably cooler in that pic like Ellen mentioned so it adds to the darker color.

Don't throw out the Reptiglo bulb, you can use that as well as the Reptisun 10.0 if you are staying with the t8 fixture.