Baby Beardie - is this normal??

Hey everyone!

So I'm a new mom and I just don't know what's normal for her! She was out and about on Monday (the first full day we had her), and started exploring the tank that afternoon and getting acquainted with her furniture. Then yesterday she spent a lot of time in her rock hide in the morning, so I ended up taking it out for a bit to make sure she got some UV. This morning after warming up a bit, she's back in there! Should I be worried that she keeps hiding out under there? Her neck and belly also have more black than they did the first day (is that a real sign of stress?), and her appetite wasn't quite as good yesterday either.

After her afternoon bath yesterday, she perked up a bit and hung out outside of the hide, and was basking (with her mouth open periodically) on her rock for a while. The reptile store assures me that she just has to adjust and her eating and everything will vary in the meantime, but more input would be super welcome!

I have a mercury vapor bulb and a dial thermometer (which I'm upgrading today for a digital with probe because, while the store gave me the dial one, it just doesn't give me as much peace of mind). She peed and pooped both days we've had her and she ate more day one than day two, but didn't fast either day.

Thanks in advance! This site is a life saver!

It sounds like she is OK. Let her hide if she wants to for now. It may help her feel more secure in her new home. If she can easily get out and to the basking surface she will move there if need be. Using a digital thermometer with a probe will be helpful to get accurate surface readings so that's a good upgrade to have. I advise having two so you can secure one to the basking area and one to the cool side and have a good idea about what the gradient is. Which Mecury Vapor bulb are you using? How far is it above her basking area?

Ah!! Somehow I missed your response, sorry! I ended up switching to a different rock without a hide since she also has a log she can hide under. I have a Powersun 100 watt which sits on the top of her tank (which is 12 in deep). I have her rockangled so directly under the light is hardly lifted at all off the ground to give her space, but it has a gradual slope upward heading away from the spotlight point. She tends to hang out a little ways up the rock or on the wall (which I’ve just made a new post about because I’m a nervous wreck).

Her basking temps all along the rock slope hover around 115, which I was told was good for a baby, and then a little further into the rocks surface t lowers to around 105. I got one of the laser temp gun things. She’s seemed very happy lately and goes around the tank (seemingly to cool or warm herself appropriately), but doesn’t tend to hide anymore!

I’ve posted a picture of her enclosure to my account if that helps - I can’t figure out how to post it to the thread.

With your PowerSun 100w you will want the main basking area to be around 10-12'' from the bulb (a little closer since it's shining through a screen top so maybe 8-10'' or so. It should be mounted based on (estimated) UVB output rather than temperature. If you can't easily lower the basking area to that range perhaps you can use an adjustable lamp stand to raise the light a bit higher up if needed.