Mites??? New dragon owner, pls help!!!

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]Hello! Two weeks ago I adopted my bearded dragon Kyro from a friend of mine who could no longer keep him. His conditions then weren’t fantastic — he’s fully grown (about four years old) and was living in a 29-gallon aquarium that was lined with dirty paper towels. I’ve since moved him into a 40-gallon breeder, but his behavior has been kind of strange. He’s very lethargic and hasn’t eaten a single thing in the two weeks I’ve had him. I’ve offered collard greens, kale, bell peppers, cucumbers, blueberries, and superworms, none of which have been touched. The only time I've seen him drink is when I dripped water on his nose in the bathtub. I kinda chalked all of this up to him being in a new and unfamiliar environment, but then today I noticed these four or five spots on the top of his body, and many many more on the underside. I'm new to owning beardies so I don't want to overreact, but can someone tell me if these are mite bites??? And if they are, what do I do?!???!?!! Freaking out a bit!

Sidenote: His UVB is an ExoTerra150 bulb coil 26 Watt and both that light and his heat lamp are clipped onto the sides of his tank. There is no mesh lid
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AHBD

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Hi there, nice looking beardie with cool pattern on his belly and the good news is that he does not have mites. Those are just random specks that many beardies will get and not a health concern at all. :) What's his name ? If you need any help with care + set up be sure to ask.
 

hayley0501

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AHBD":2q90uvt4 said:
Hi there, nice looking beardie with cool pattern on his belly and the good news is that he does not have mites. Those are just random specks that many beardies will get and not a health concern at all. :) What's his name ? If you need any help with care + set up be sure to ask.

Hi, thanks so much for checking him out and confirming no mites, that's such a relief!! And with the spots on his belly, someone on a different forum had told me that those were something to be concerned about, so I'm also super glad to hear that it's just normal patterning haha. His name is Kyro! :) as for additional help (thank you for offering), in the original post I'd talked a bit about how I'm struggling to get him to eat or drink... do you have any advice about how I can combat that? It's been about two weeks since I've had him and in that time I've only seen him drink twice (both times in the bath). He never eats. I thought it was move-in stress, but I've been told that that should've worn off by now... his skin's pretty wrinkly and his fat pads seem like they're just beginning to sink. Not sure what I should do
 

AHBD

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You're welcome ! And yeah, his belly is fine, I've had dragons that had the cheetah pattern as well. So it's good that he's drinking , my guess is that he has lacked good uvb possibly for a long time and other aspects of care may have been off as well. That all affects the appetite + can cause health problems. What kind of lights do you have, name brand, watts, etc. coil compact uvb or long tube ? Post pics of the entire set up + lights.
 

hayley0501

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AHBD":9iqirk7f said:
You're welcome ! And yeah, his belly is fine, I've had dragons that had the cheetah pattern as well. So it's good that he's drinking , my guess is that he has lacked good uvb possibly for a long time and other aspects of care may have been off as well. That all affects the appetite + can cause health problems. What kind of lights do you have, name brand, watts, etc. coil compact uvb or long tube ? Post pics of the entire set up + lights.

He's got the ExoTerra150 coil UVB (26 Watt), it came along with his old setup, but I asked and was told that the bulb had been replaced around 2-3 weeks ago. Here's a pic of his current setup featuring him sitting in his greens instead of eating them smh
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AHBD

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He looks good, just slightly thin but not bad :) The coil bulb is not going to do the trick, can you take it back ? And right now it's possibly burning his eyes, plus he can jump out of there with no problem. Do you have a screen top ? Order an Arcadia D3 12& long tube bulb ASAP. Good uvb should help him greatly. EDIT, you're more likely to find a Reptisun 10.0 uvb bulb so check for that or the Arcadia that I mentioned.
 

hayley0501

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Original Poster
AHBD":12lp79fd said:
He looks good, just slightly thin but not bad :) The coil bulb is not going to do the trick, can you take it back ? And right now it's possibly burning his eyes, plus he can jump out of there with no problem. Do you have a screen top ? Order an Arcadia D3 12& long tube bulb ASAP. Good uvb should help him greatly. EDIT, you're more likely to find a Reptisun 10.0 uvb bulb so check for that or the Arcadia that I mentioned.

Hmmm I don't have a screen top, no /: I saw somewhere that so long as there wasn't enrichment right up on the rims of the tank, they wouldn't be able to climb out. I was hesitant to buy a lid because right now all of his equipment clips onto the edges of the tank, but if I'm going to need to replace the UVB light anyways, I guess it doesn't really matter. On amazon, I saw the Reptisun 10.0 and the Zilla Desert Series 50 T8, but the zilla was arguably less expensive for the whole light and fixture setup. Do you think this would make a good replacement? If so, I'll order it tonight. https://www.amazon.com/Zilla-Reptile-Habitat-Lighting-Fluorescent/dp/B000QFROMQ/ref=sr_1_2?crid=3NA2MINV1U86F&dchild=1&keywords=zilla+18+inch+uvb+fluorescent+bulb&qid=1599082233&sprefix=zilla+18+%2Caps%2C175&sr=8-2
 

KarrieRee

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Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4

AHBD

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Beardies love to climb and they can hop out of there in 2 seconds if in the mood. The Zilla is O.K. but if you get it you need to remove a plastic shield if there is one covering the bulb. Or order the ones from Pangea that Karrie linked. They seem to be superior bulbs. If you're handy you can build a lid with wood and large gauge screen from Lowe's or Home Depot.
 

hayley0501

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Original Poster
AHBD":g0lgk6ho said:
Beardies love to climb and they can hop out of there in 2 seconds if in the mood. The Zilla is O.K. but if you get it you need to remove a plastic shield if there is one covering the bulb. Or order the ones from Pangea that Karrie linked. They seem to be superior bulbs. If you're handy you can build a lid with wood and large gauge screen from Lowe's or Home Depot.


I just ordered the zoo med reptisun 10.0 uvb, so that should be coming within the next couple of days. I'm still a bit concerned/confused though... before I adopted Kyro, he lived with someone else for four years with the exoterra coil bulb that he has right now, and during that time despite the uvb not being the greatest, he was still eating. Are there any more thoughts as to what could be stopping him from eating aside from that light? If not it's okay, I really appreciate the help you've given so far!
 

Drache613

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Hello,

Sorry I am just now weighing in here, but it's all under control! LOL
I agree, I don't see any mites or mite bites either. Those are just freckles or just small
pigmentation dots or changes that a lot of them get. The belly is nice white beardie belly
with some dull spotty scales which is normal.
I think overall, he looks good! I'm sure that he will gain some weight with you, & love his
new home with you, too.
His tank looks nice & bright. I'm glad to see that you ordered the Reptisun 10 tube bulb,
he should love that. He is very lucky that he does not have any bone issues since he was
not exposed to much UVB at all.
He is probably going through relocation stress which is completely normal. Also, AHBD
suggested brumation because it is getting that time of year.

Tracie
 

hayley0501

Member
Original Poster
Drache613":1fg0k689 said:
Hello,

Sorry I am just now weighing in here, but it's all under control! LOL
I agree, I don't see any mites or mite bites either. Those are just freckles or just small
pigmentation dots or changes that a lot of them get. The belly is nice white beardie belly
with some dull spotty scales which is normal.
I think overall, he looks good! I'm sure that he will gain some weight with you, & love his
new home with you, too.
His tank looks nice & bright. I'm glad to see that you ordered the Reptisun 10 tube bulb,
he should love that. He is very lucky that he does not have any bone issues since he was
not exposed to much UVB at all.
He is probably going through relocation stress which is completely normal. Also, AHBD
suggested brumation because it is getting that time of year.

Tracie

Hi Tracie, thanks for responding!! I appreciate all the advice given so much. I'm thinking brumation might be the cause of his behavior. At first I was a bit suspicious because it's so early in the fall and we're in Florida, so I didn't think he'd have been picking up on any cues of the seasons changing. The past two weeks I was bringing him outside a lot trying to get him some hours in the sun and I was giving him a lot of baths to keep him hydrated, but after people here suggested brumation, I wondered if I was interrupting his natural urge to sleep. Ive left him alone the past two days and he quite literally has not moved from his hammock and spent both days in very deep sleep. I'm going to keep offering water, but I think leaving him alone for a while might be the next step..? I'm doing lots of research on how to take care of him during this process, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't last very long!!
 

hayley0501

Member
Original Poster
AHBD":rb2cn3br said:
Relocation stress can cause this, plus it's near time to brumate for some dragons.

Hi again!! So, it's been about a week since I first posted with all my questions.. I wasn't sure if I should've started a new thread or if I should keep posting here, but I think here's a safe bet since all the info's already posted. Since the last post, I've set Kyro up with a new UVB (the reptisun 10.0). I was suspecting brumation before because he was super lethargic and sleeping throughout the days and nights, but for the past five days or so he's been relatively awake, moving around a lot between the warm and cool sides of his tank. He's pooped at LEAST every other day despite still not having eaten anything since August 21st (that was the day I got him, I have no clue when the last time he ate was before that), and only drinking three times that I've seen, so I don't know where all that's coming from. But I think that might be a good sign, that he's more active? Idk what more I can and should be doing for him, but I feel like his behavior still isn't 100% right.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
What bulb did you get T 5 or a T 8 and where is it? Placement is key here
Karrie
 
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