Bad Stress Marks

Isadoglover":1bsn5dju said:

Hi everyone,

My bearded dragon has had very dark stress marks for about 2-3 weeks now. The marks are darkest when he is basking which he does most of the time, and they lighten or go away when he's out of his tank or being fed.

He does look like he's going to shed soon but it seems to have gone on for a long time for the stress marks to just be about shedding.

Here's some information on him and his set up! Hopefully that's plenty of information but let me know if I'm missing anything!

Age:6 months old
Diet: I used to feed him twice a day but I'm moving to once a day as he's now 6 months old.
<<< keep on with the 2 feeds of insects per day for another 6 months.

He used to eat about 40 crickets a day but he's now getting about 20-30. He isn't huge on veggies yet so he only eats a bit of cucumber but I'm trying to get him to eat more. He also has regular poops.
<<< is still in his fast growth stage so needs high quality insect protein and dietary calcium MORE than vegs and greens, if he eats some greens , it's a bonus.

Tank size: 4ft
<<< very good size .... is it one with a solid lid and front sliding glass doors.

Lights: I have a ReptiGlo 10.0 36' UVB light and a 150 watt light bulb to heat up his tank. The lights are on for 12 hours.
<<< bump up by 3 - 4 hours per day to 15 - 16 hours per day.
<<< if it's the T8 version , it wont have the penetrating power to give good levels of UVA and UVB (about 190 microW / sqcm) at the basking spot if your viv is taller than 12 inches , see viewtopic.php?f=34&t=232429
and for a good guide
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=234801&p=1806497#p1806497

I recommend upgrading to a T5HO 10-12%UVB in a good reflector hood mounted under his viv's lid , is more then 2x as powerful .
Substrate: He has Kritters Krumble which is a loose substrate
<<< get rid of Kritters Krumble , it's an impaction risk for him .
No particulate or woody or fibrous substrates

but he eats in a seperate area.
Temperatures: I measure them with a digital probe
Basking spot: about 100° Fahrenheit
Cool spot: 70° Fahrenheit which I know is cold but I'll get a new bulb very soon and he spends most of his time at the basking spot anyway so I don't think it's the problem
Supplements: I'm starting to dust his food once every 1-2 days.
<<< every day for calcium on insects, on weekend I'd recommend calcium + reptile vitamins while he's growing .

Hydration: He has a bath 3-4 times a week and I spray him at least twice a day.
<<< cut back the baths
Only bath when needed.

Here's some pictures of the stress marks and thank you in advance if you can help me figure out what's wrong!

Click to expand...