My baby bearded dragon is acting strange

Hey guys, I’m new to this. So I got a baby bearded dragon about 2 weeks ago from petco(first mistake, I know?). I am not sure how old he is but he’s tiny. So we have fed him crickets tossed in the powdered calcium, and some kale and fruits that I have not seen him actually eat. We give him 15 min baths almost daily. But skipped his bath two days in a row. Our cleaning lady turned his heating and UV lamps off yesterday not realizing what they were used for and they were off for no more than 3 hours. But today he has been strangely still. Eyes sunken in and looks dehydrated. I have given him two 15 min baths since I noticed him looking this way. He pooped in his bath and again about 2 hours later on me along with pee! So I know he’s going to the bathroom. I have no idea what’s going on but I’m worried! Anyone know what could be going on?

Hi. Can you give a rundown of the set up? Lights used?Brands? Temps and how you take them? How big is the enclosure?

I am taking my kids to school at the moment and can give more details once I’m home. But we bought the reptihabitat from Pet co. It was like the starter kit! Dual dome lamp fixture with a reptisun 10.0 UVB compact fluorescent bulb and a 100 watt repti basking spot lamp. It’s a 40 gallon glass tank with white repti sand substrate (which I now read isn’t great for baby bearded dragons bc of impaction. But I watched him poop twice and pee once yesterday so I don’t think that’s the issue). And we use the temp gauge that came with the set up. It sticks to the glass. Thank you so much for responding!

Thanks for answering. For starters the uvb light you are using causes appetite, lethargy issues. You want to replace it with a reptisun 10.0 t5 long tube. Second the temp gauges you are using are very inaccurate. You want a temp gun or a digital thermometer with a wire probe. You want to know the temps on the basking spot. Definitely get rid of the sand before he becomes impacted. That calcium sand turns into concrete when digested. You can use paper towels, non adhesive shelf liner or tile.

Wow thank you!! All good to know!! What about the carpet for reptiles? I have that but was told by petco sand is best. They also tried talking me into just trading him in today instead of trying to help me figure out what’s going on with him. But anyway, I actually took him outside in the sun and he immediately went from looking dead, to walking a lot. I gave him another bath (filled a container with Luke warm water and took it outside with me) and I can’t figure out how to post a pic but his “this morning” pic and his pic after being outside and in the bath are like night and day. He looks so much better now. I am thinking this heat lamp isn’t getting his tank warm enough bc of the way he reacted being in the natural sunlight. We also keep our house a little cooler than most. Our AC sits at 72 all summer. Do I need to get rid of the heat lamp too or just the UVB lamp? Ours has two bulbs. A UV bulb and I guess just a heating bulb. Do I replace both of just the UV (blue bulb)? THANK YOU SO MUCH!!

Unfortunately pet store employees are not informed of how to properly take care of animals. Carpet is fine. Just make sure you have a few on hand so when he messes you can put a clean one in while the other gets washed. Also the only way to know how hot his basking spot is to get an accurate thermometer. Temp gun or digital with a wire probe. Also just get rid of the uvb. Is the basking light a bright white light?

Yes, it’s a briggt white light. I am going to an exotic pet store today that I didn’t know existed about 25 mins away to try to get all the right stuff. So you suggest just turning the uvb light off until I get the reptisun 10.0? Also, another thing that came to mind. We have well water and we have a chlorinating system for the entire house. Basically mixes water with bleach and then runs through a filter. Could that have anything to do with his issues? He’s looking bad again so I took him outside in the sun for a little bit and he’s doing a little better.