Help with my new dragon

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ItsAFork

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I got my new baby dragon approximately a month and a half ago. When I first bought her home she was pretty active and eating well, however after about a week of this behaviour her colour started turning darker, shes a very dark grey and she is no longer eating. Her beard is still the normal kight colour and her tank temps are ranging from 34-38°C. She has normal bowl movements when bathed and shes drinking the water however very small amounts.

Any help is greatly appreciated, if it helps she's approximately 8 inches in length and I don't know 100% how old she is
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
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What are you using for a UVB light? You might want to bump the basking surface temps a bit. Maybe 38-42 or so while leaving the cool side of the tank around 26-28 or so with a nice gradient between. Can you post some photos of her and her setup? You can upload photos here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and post them using the XIMG button.
 

ItsAFork

New member
Original Poster
CooperDragon":3mb66wnd said:
What are you using for a UVB light? You might want to bump the basking surface temps a bit. Maybe 38-42 or so while leaving the cool side of the tank around 26-28 or so with a nice gradient between. Can you post some photos of her and her setup? You can upload photos here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and post them using the XIMG button.


I have her basking spot at 38-40°C, she has a UVB200 Bulb, 150Watt Ceramic Heat lamp and a 50Watt Basking Lamp.
I will be changing her setup a bit more by taking out the stick, placing the heating in the tank and using rocks to hold better heat.

96161-8550707185.jpg
96161-6434286740.jpg
 

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

What brand is your UVB light is it a compact/coil type of light? It's hard to tell from the
picture what type it is.
How are you measuring the temperatures, with a temp gun or digital probe?
Between the two basking bulbs, you are using 200 watts for basking/heating? That seems
like quite a bit, how large is the tank?
What type of foods is she eating?

Tracie
 

ItsAFork

New member
Original Poster
Drache613":3njomjux said:
Hello,

What brand is your UVB light is it a compact/coil type of light? It's hard to tell from the
picture what type it is.
How are you measuring the temperatures, with a temp gun or digital probe?
Between the two basking bulbs, you are using 200 watts for basking/heating? That seems
like quite a bit, how large is the tank?
What type of foods is she eating?

Tracie

Uvb is an ExoTerra Compact/Coio. I'm using both a temperature gun and digital probe. The tank is 90cm long x 45cm deep and 65cm high. The 150Watt ceramic is for mostly night time to keep heat in the tank steady, the basking lamp is 50Watt.
 

tgolden

Sub-Adult Member
In my experience coil bulbs just don't do the trick for reptiles that need high amounts of uv. Also something else to consider is that is a pretty large viv for such a small lizard. In one of your pics it looks your beardie is vary far away from the lights. They need uv even if they are not basking. In the wild they are exposed to uv all day long even if they are sitting in a cool spot to regulate. Your breadie will move to different spots thru out the day to get the temp. he needs either cooler or warmer to fit his needs. I'm not sure what you have access to where you live uvb bulb wise but a tube type uvb light would cover more area. A lot of folks with baby beardies will block of a part of the viv. to keep the lizard in a area that is easier control heat and uv till they get bigger. I have done this myself with my previous beardie. usually if your bearded dragon is staying dark a lot it's trying to warm up.
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator

Drache613

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hello,

I would definitely recommend one of the mentioned UVB lights for your particular style of
tank especially.
What are your temperatures getting to, with the 50 watt basking light? It does need to get
up to a range of 95-110 range for optimal basking areas.
Let us know how your dragon is doing.

Tracie
 

EllenD

Gray-bearded Member
I totally agree, the Exo Terra 200 Coil UVB bulb is a 26 watt UVB bulb, so it's strong, but the issue when you're using it for a Bearded Dragon or other desert reptile that requires 13-14 hours every day of very strong, intense UVB AND UVA light is that if the tank is larger than like a 20 gallon long tank, you have to use special lamps INSIDE that tank to magnify the UVB and UVA light and reflect it throughout the tank for your dragon. So they usually end up getting both inadequate UVB and UVA light, then a calcium deficiency, then MBD, etc. Usually the bearded dragon owners that successfully use the Exo Terra 200 UVB bulb use is inside a special "Nano Lamp Fixture" with a large, metal reflector around it, and they do not have it obstructed by any type of mesh lid. So just having that coil UVB bulb inside a regular deep-dome or clamp-lamp fixture on top of a mesh lid is most likely resulting in a UVB and UVA deficiency.

I'd definitely be switching over to a T5 strength UVB tube, at least a 22" or 24" long T5 UVB tube or longer, in a T5-rated tube fixture with a metal reflector inside the tube fixture behind the UV tube to reflect the UVB and UVA light throughout the tank. He'll perk right up and his appetite will be much better. You can allow either the 22" or longer Reptisun 10.0 T5HO or the 24" or longer Arcadia 12% T5 UVB tube sit on top of the mesh tank lid as long as his main basking spot/platform is within at least 11" of the tube. The T5 UVB tubes only need to be replaced once a year.

I'd also completely ditch the CHE, at least during the daytime, as Bearded Dragons are desert reptiles that naturally get all of their light and heat from the bright, natural sunlight above them. So you should ideally have both a long, strong T5 UVB tube sitting right alongside a high-wattage, bright-white colored Basking Bulb (usually a 100 watt Halogen Indoor Flood Bulb or a bright-white colored reptile basking bulb will get both the Basking Spot Surface Temp and the Hot Side Ambient (air) Temp within the correct 105-110 degrees for baby/juvenile or 100-105 degrees F for an adult for the Basking Spot Surface Temp, and between 88-93 degrees F for the Hot Side Ambient Temp), and then after you get both of those temps within the correct ranges, then measure the Cool Side Ambient Temp, and if it's not between 75-80 degrees (really as long as it's at least 70 and no higher than 80 you're fine), then you can simply add a much lower wattage, bright-white colored Basking Bulb over the Cool Side of the tank in either a separate Dome or Clamp Lamp fixture (usually a 30 watt over the Cool Side in addition to the main 100 watt over the Hot Side will get the Cool Side Ambient Temp around 75 degrees).

In addition, you do not want his nighttime temperature to be "steady", or anywhere near his daytime temperatures in order for him to sleep soundly and comfortably. The Australian Desert gets very cold at nighttime (in addition to being Pitch-Black), and as long as his tank stays at 65 degrees at night he's fine. Actually, they seem to be most comfortable at night when their temps are between 65-70 degrees. A lot of people think that they need to be kept in the 80" or higher at night, and this is totally disrupting their sleep. And a 100 watt CHE is way too hot for nighttime!!!! Think of it this way: Most people keep their homes at least around 60 degrees or higher at nighttime, and this is all it takes to keep your dragon's tank at 65 degrees or higher. If by chance his tank is, say, around 55 or 60 degrees at night, then you only need to bump up his nighttime temps 5-10 degrees!!! This would only require a CHE that is 10 watts max!!! Most people need no nighttime heat source at all though, because their homes are kept at 60 degrees or higher at night anyway.

Also, what is that substrate you have in the bottom of the tank? I can't tell what it is, but it looks to be some type of "Loose" substrate, such as a colored Calcium Sand...
 
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