Bearded Dragon acting weird

Hey I have a bearded dragon I'm not sure how old he is but I got him from petsmart back in June and he was about 7-8 inches. He is now about 18inches and has been acting weird for about a month. He eats significantly less than he used to, maybe like 2 superworms a day, and has been pooping like every 3 days. Also when I turn his light on he will wake up but when I come home from work a lot of times he'll be in the exact same spot he went to sleep in. He also stays out of his basking area unless I move him there and will always make his way back to the cool side shortly.

I'm not sure if this is brumation or if he is sick. This is my first dragon and I'm not really sure how to tell if it is brumation. I've been giving him baths every other day which has been helping him poop. He doesn't seem to be losing weight either.

Thanks

Hi there, these are all classic symptoms of the " slow down/brumation " phase. Please post pics of his entire enclosure though so if anything looks like it needs adjustment it can be pointed out. What type of uvb do you have and is the bulb new or past 6 months old ?

Hi, welcome to the forum...I'm sorry your guy isn't doing well, the good news is that I don't think he's sick at all, the bad news is I think it has something to do with either his lighting, temps, diet, or a combination of all of these.

Can you please post some photos of him, his entire tank and set-up, including his lighting? That's always extremely helpful.

Also, what UVB light do you have (brand/wattage or strength/type). By "type" I mean compact, coil, long fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor Bulb. Also, how old is your UVB light right now? How far away in inches is your UVB light from his main basking spot/platform? And do you have your UVB light on top of any type of mesh lid? If your UVB light is a long, fluorescent tube, is there any type of clear, plastic cover on the bottom of the tube fixture, over the UVB tube?

And then your 3 temperature zones, can you list all 3 current temps? (Basking Spot Surface Temp, Hot Side Ambient Temp, and Cool Side Ambient Temp)? What type of thermometer do you use to measure his temperature zones? (stick-on, Digital Probe, or Temp Gun)

How many hours per day do you leave both his Basking Bulb and his UVB light on? What wattage/color of Basking Bulb do you have?

It sounds like he's most likely around 9-10 months old, as they are typically between 1-2 months old at Petco and Petsmart. So he's still a juvenile. He's definitely large enough to eat superworms, but superworms should not be his daily "staple" insect, superworms should only be a Bearded Dragon's supplement to their actual "staple" live insect, or an occasional treat. They are very meaty and so if you're feeding him size Medium or especially Large Superworms, you have to realize that 2 Large Superworms is a meal, and is way too much fat. That's the problem with feeding Superworms as their "staple" live insect, they have a low protein content and an extremely high fat content, so often beardies who are fed Superworms daily end up with Fatty Liver Disease and live much shorter lives than those fed appropriate live "staple" insects that are high in protein and low in fat, such as Crickets, Roaches (several different species are appropriate), Silkworms, or Phoenix Worms/BSFL/NutriGrubs/ReptiWorms/CalciWorms (all the same thing). For instance, I have been feeding my Beardies size Large BSFL as their live staple insect for the past 10 years, and I will supplement 1-2 Large Superworms only AFTER they eat their fill of BSFL, so they usually will only eat 1 Superworm or none because they are full, and I only offer them every other day. So I suggest choosing a healthy staple live insect and ordering them in bulk online from a place like http://www.dubiaroaches.com or one of the many other places that sell all live feeder insects, in bulk, extremely cheaply.

If you post some photos and answer the husbandry questions, we can make sure that there's nothing going on that is negatively effecting his health. I wouldn't worry about him only pooping "every 3 days", as they do tend to poop less often the older they get. Some dragons only poop once a week, or once every 10 days, and this is completely normal, so that's not necessarily an issue, and I'm not thinking that it is in this case either, because he is approaching a year old. The other thing to keep in mind is they do usually have a normal "Slow-Down" period that typically happens between 6 months old and a year to a year and a half old, where they do become less active, they do begin to eat less live insects and should be in-turn eating more fresh greens/veggies. So if you're not offering him a nice, big, fresh salad every day now, made up of healthy greens and veggies, then you absolutely need to start ASAP, as he's approaching the age when they do start the switch to less insects and more salad. He still needs to eat a large amount of live insect protein every day until he's at least a year old, as he's still growing, but he may just be transitioning out of being a juvenile and heading into being a sub-adult...

That being said, it's always a good idea to go over your husbandry to make sure it's all good...

Ok let's see, for the lighting I have the reptisun 10.0 along with a 60w basking lamp and a 150w heat lamp. The basking spot is 110-115, the hot side temperature is 90-95, and the cool side is about 85. I have a temp gun that I use to measure. I bought the UVB was purchased in July and it's about 5-6 inches from his main basking spot.

Here is a picture of his set up


And here is a close up of him


I originally fed him crickets but I switched to superworms a while ago so I guess I should switch back? Also I've tried feeding him collard greens which he has no interest in and carrots which he eats a little of.

Also I leave his basking and UVB light on for about 12 hours a day.

Yes, I would definitely switch back to the crickets or another adequate, staple live insect. The superworms just have too much fat to be a staple insect. Period. They are okay to supplement the main staple live insect, but they cannot be his main feeder insect.

Your setup looks good, except his basking spot is on the left side of the tank, or the Hot Side of the tank, underneath the basking bulb, but the UVB tube is not. That's a problem. You have that UVB tube angled in the back corner of the Cool Side of the tank, and he's not getting any direct UVb or UVA light when he's on his basking spot. The photo you posted is a really good example, he's on his basking spot under his basking bulb on the Hot Side, where he should be, and the UVB tube is no where near him.

You main goal with his lighting is to replicate natural sunlight as closely as you possibly can over the Hot Side of his tank, with his basking spot/platform positioned directly underneath BOTH his UVB tube and his Basking Bulb, so that he gets both lights at the same time, directly over top of him, while basking. That way he's getting bright white light and heat, as well as strong, adequate UVB/UVA light. And since it's a weaker T8 UVb tube (good that it's within 6" of the basking spot), even with a metal reflector inside the fixture it's not reflecting much UVB or UVA all the way over onto the opposite side of the tank where his basking bulb is. As it is set up, a lot of the UVb light is being lost off the back glass of the tank. He needs to get UVB light right directly under the tube on top of him.

It should be set up so that both the bright white colored Basking Bulb and the UVb tube are RIGHT ALONGSIDE EACH OTHER, OVER THE HOT SIDE OF THE TANK, SO THAT THEY ARE BOTH "SHARING" THE TOP OF THE HOT SIDE OF THE TANK, WITH HIS BASKING SPOT/PLATFORM POSITIONED RIGHT DIRECTLY UNDERNEATH BOTH LIGHTS. You've got it under the mesh and within 6", and you're replacing the T8 every 6 months, so this is all good, but you need to get it moved over the Hot Side, right alongside the Basking Bulb. And I'd also bump up his daily photoperiod under both lights to 13-14 hours instead of 12.

Other than that it looks good, and I think his main issue is he's going into his slow-down or transition phase into adulthood. I understand that he's not eating many greens/veggies right now, but he will soon enough, so make sure that you're offering a fresh salad to him every day, but not until after he eats at least one live insect feeding session, as he's still growing and still needs a lot of live insect protein every day.

I'm going to assume, however, that once you get that UVb tube directly over his basking spot/platform, and even more so once you switch back to live crickets, roaches, silkworms, or BSFL, his appetite may pick up again a bit. Superworms are extremely filling to them because of the extremely high fat content (and very low protein content), so when that's their main staple insect they fill up on fat, get very little protein, and eat less overall. So since he's still a juvenile and is still growing, you don't want to cut out live insect protein and up his fat content like that. Plus the risk of him developing early Fatty Liver Disease makes it not worth it...

Whatever live insect you choose, say crickets, be sure to not feed them any commercial "cricket food" or "cricket quenchers" or "gel hydration beads" or "water pillows" (they are all a total waste of money and also the hydration stuff is toxic, it's the same exact stuff that makes those gel beads you put into potted plants to keep them watered over the winter), and instead gut load the crickets daily with the same fresh greens/veggies that you offer him. That's a very healthy and efficient way to get both the veggies and more hydration into him...