Hi all! This is going to be a long one so my apologies in advance.
My baby Senua's been having some behavioral issues recently and it has me worried. My partner's baby Zaku has been thriving in his setup and both were bought at the same time from Petsmart at the beginning of October. They both have near identical tank setups with the exception of decoration (mine is desert vs his forest theme). Their tanks are at opposite ends of a 24-foot room.
Her setup:
- 40 gallon breeder, single occupant
- Zoo Med Reptisun T8 10.0 mounted inside the tank w/ command strips
- 100w basking bulb during the day, sitting on top of screen
- 100w ceramic bulb at night sitting on top of screen (the room can drop to 68 degrees in the evenings)
- Paper towels for substrate until I can get my slate cut
- Tall basking tree that gets Senua about 4-5 inches from the screen lid where heat source is
- 1 large basking platform with a cave under lamp on the floor of tank
- 1 hammock on hot side
- Other misc. decorations on both sides for aesthetics
- I'll update with tank temperatures tonight when I get home
When we first got Senua she was incredibly alert but nervous, which was to be expected. She ate tiny crickets just fine and eventually we bought extra small dubia roaches - she had a great appetite and would eat 10-15 dusted in calcium in a sitting up to 3 times a day. She always has a flat dish of water and mustard greens in the tank at all times. I don't know whether she was eating them or running through the dish but I'd see greens on the tank floor around the bowl. If I held a piece in front of her face she'd usually take a couple of bites. I was also bathing her 2 times a week but looking back that may not have been enough.
About a week ago she started acting strangely and refusing food after a pretty big shed over her entire body. I felt like we were finally starting to bond but when I would open the lid of her tank she would jump, puff up, then make quick jerking motions away from my hand. If I continued to pursue her she would run from me so I eventually just left her alone. My partner comes home on his lunch break around 2pm to feed them and noticed she wasn't eating as much. He would hold Zaku first and let him eat roaches from his hand, then would hold Senua and do the same. She would eat maybe 4 roaches then turn up her nose so we figured it was related to her shed. A few days ago I was holding her and inspecting her skin to see if she was hydrated. I took her side skin gently in my fingers to see if it bounced back and it must have felt threatening to her because she bit me on the finger! I bathed her then put her back and didn't hold her for the rest of the night. Two nights ago she started sleeping in her cave after the lights were turned off. Sometimes during the day she'll try to burrow under the paper towels on the cold end of her tank and sleep. Other times she basks happily at the tallest point of her tree or will lay on the basking platform down below.
She still isn't eating much, maybe 8 small dubias a day and no greens. I'm bathing her daily and she still seems really skittish of my presence. I bought some Fluker's ReptaBoost and she drank it up yesterday from the syringe. She's making pretty big poops and they're slightly on the watery side and they stink badly. I'm looking into doing a fecal parasite test. This is my first time raising a beardie from a baby (my last beardie was over 10 years ago and was 8 months old when I got him) and my partner has me so paranoid that something is wrong with her. We keep comparing her to Zaku who is calm, happy, and hungry and I don't think that's exactly fair for Senua...she has her own personality. He's also a lot bigger than her and I'm wondering if he's a few weeks older despite them appearing to be the same size when we bought them.
Any help is very appreciated! I can also provide pictures of tank setup and dragon when I get home.
My baby Senua's been having some behavioral issues recently and it has me worried. My partner's baby Zaku has been thriving in his setup and both were bought at the same time from Petsmart at the beginning of October. They both have near identical tank setups with the exception of decoration (mine is desert vs his forest theme). Their tanks are at opposite ends of a 24-foot room.
Her setup:
- 40 gallon breeder, single occupant
- Zoo Med Reptisun T8 10.0 mounted inside the tank w/ command strips
- 100w basking bulb during the day, sitting on top of screen
- 100w ceramic bulb at night sitting on top of screen (the room can drop to 68 degrees in the evenings)
- Paper towels for substrate until I can get my slate cut
- Tall basking tree that gets Senua about 4-5 inches from the screen lid where heat source is
- 1 large basking platform with a cave under lamp on the floor of tank
- 1 hammock on hot side
- Other misc. decorations on both sides for aesthetics
- I'll update with tank temperatures tonight when I get home
When we first got Senua she was incredibly alert but nervous, which was to be expected. She ate tiny crickets just fine and eventually we bought extra small dubia roaches - she had a great appetite and would eat 10-15 dusted in calcium in a sitting up to 3 times a day. She always has a flat dish of water and mustard greens in the tank at all times. I don't know whether she was eating them or running through the dish but I'd see greens on the tank floor around the bowl. If I held a piece in front of her face she'd usually take a couple of bites. I was also bathing her 2 times a week but looking back that may not have been enough.
About a week ago she started acting strangely and refusing food after a pretty big shed over her entire body. I felt like we were finally starting to bond but when I would open the lid of her tank she would jump, puff up, then make quick jerking motions away from my hand. If I continued to pursue her she would run from me so I eventually just left her alone. My partner comes home on his lunch break around 2pm to feed them and noticed she wasn't eating as much. He would hold Zaku first and let him eat roaches from his hand, then would hold Senua and do the same. She would eat maybe 4 roaches then turn up her nose so we figured it was related to her shed. A few days ago I was holding her and inspecting her skin to see if she was hydrated. I took her side skin gently in my fingers to see if it bounced back and it must have felt threatening to her because she bit me on the finger! I bathed her then put her back and didn't hold her for the rest of the night. Two nights ago she started sleeping in her cave after the lights were turned off. Sometimes during the day she'll try to burrow under the paper towels on the cold end of her tank and sleep. Other times she basks happily at the tallest point of her tree or will lay on the basking platform down below.
She still isn't eating much, maybe 8 small dubias a day and no greens. I'm bathing her daily and she still seems really skittish of my presence. I bought some Fluker's ReptaBoost and she drank it up yesterday from the syringe. She's making pretty big poops and they're slightly on the watery side and they stink badly. I'm looking into doing a fecal parasite test. This is my first time raising a beardie from a baby (my last beardie was over 10 years ago and was 8 months old when I got him) and my partner has me so paranoid that something is wrong with her. We keep comparing her to Zaku who is calm, happy, and hungry and I don't think that's exactly fair for Senua...she has her own personality. He's also a lot bigger than her and I'm wondering if he's a few weeks older despite them appearing to be the same size when we bought them.
Any help is very appreciated! I can also provide pictures of tank setup and dragon when I get home.