Relocation stress

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Matang613

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So, I moved my 4 month old beardie from a 20gal long to a 4'x2'x2' pvc viv about a week and a half ago. That was stressful enough, of course, but then he started shedding within a day of moving into his new home, and that just exacerbated him further. Now he's been done shedding for a few days, but still very actively stressed in his new home. He has stress marks constantly, he hisses at my hand every time I get near him, and he's practically not eating. In fact, I was getting so worried about him not eating that yesterday I started putting crickets in his mouth when he hisses at me. I managed to feed him about 30 total across two feedings yesterday, but he's still stressed and doing the same routine today.

His basking spot is good at 105-111, cool side is 82, uvb is a reptisun t8 10.0. I don't think anything is off to stress him out, but the combination of shedding and moving at the same time was just too much for him. I know I need to keep handling to a minimum right now, but is okay for me to keep hand feeding him when he hisses at me? He's about due for a soak as well, so can I handle him for that at least?
 

Matang613

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CooperDragon":lerremcp said:
That's a nice upgrade, Temps are OK. Does he have a place to hide? He may just be upset from the move and shed at the same time so it may just be coincidence. Feeding while he is acting mean is often a useful way of getting them to stop but if not then I'd take the hint and give him some space for a bit, going to his tank for feedings and cleanings only for a bit and see if he calms down.
So is it best for me to just leave him alone altogether? He would have eaten nothing at all these past two days in a row if I hadn't started putting crickets in his mouth when he was mad. I put fresh greens and even a few wax worms to try and entice him in the tank this morning. He didn't even touch the greens, he ate one wax worm, and he's still extremely skittish this evening.
 

Matang613

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I did what you said these past two days and noticed a few things... When I'm away from his tank he eventually starts glass surfing pretty incessantly. I checked temps on both sides again and everything seems good, however, the very tip of his basking spot has a very small area (maybe a 1/4 inch squared) that gets significantly hotter than the rest of the basking spot... like 130+ degrees. I swapped out the 100 watt bulb for a 75 watt and now that same spot caps at about 122, which is still way too high, but I don't really know how to approach it. It's a bizarre issue.

That being said, he was definitely more cooperative with me today. He ate two fat crickets out of my hand without being mean about it, and he ate about 8 more out of the food tweezers and one out of his food dish while I sat nearby. He also stayed pretty calm when I slid my hand underneath him and he basked on the back of my hand under his lamp for about 10 minutes. He took about a 5 minute break and then let me do it again for another 10.

He still has some really dark stress marks, but when he sits on my hand they actually fade, and they even went away after the second time he basked on my hand. Within five minutes of removing my hand, however, he got really dark again. I'm starting to wonder now if it does have to do with my temps. Maybe I'm not getting a very accurate reading for some reason or another. He's definitely energetic so I don't think he's sick, but I still can't figure out what has him so high strung. Does he still need more time to acclimate maybe?

Also, I'm waiting on a nanotech fixture and Arcadia light to arrive in the mail. In the meantime I've hung an additional smaller uvb on the back wall (it's a tank hood so it sticks out farther and I have it about 8 inches from his log). Unfortunately, it's another t8, but I can't seem to find any t5 fixtures around here where I live.
 

Matang613

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Both bulbs (the 100watt and 75watt) are reptisun spot bulbs. The fixture I'm using is only compatible with spot bulbs according the website I bought it and the enclosure from. I would like to install a different lamp, but it would require some modifications to the enclosure itself, I think. It's not screen top or anything, it's just a pvc/compressed foam ceiling.

This is the exact enclosure: https://www.diycages.com/products/new-48x24x24-cf-pvc-front-sliding-display-cage?variant=33747107789

This is the light fixture: https://www.diycages.com/collections/herp-reptile-lighting/products/incandescent-light-fixture-for-critter-condo?variant=3191437852685

This is the bulb (I also have the 75watt version) : https://zoomed.com/repti-basking-spot-lamp/
 

Matang613

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He's still got stress marks pretty consistently while in his enclosure. He's totally calm when out and chilling with me on the couch, but he darkens up again almost instantly when he goes back in his tank. That reptisun 10.0 t5 was delayed in shipment, unfortunately, but is finally arriving today (I also ordered an Arcadia 12% to compare the two). I went ahead and purchased one of those nanotech sunblasters as well, so I should be able to get that hooked up today and see if it makes a difference.

On a more positive note... while he was totally uninterested in going after crickets, I put about 20 dubias on a large dish in his tank (dusted with calcium and multivitamin) and he went nuts for them. I had given him a sample feeding a month ago of dubias and he ate them all, but didn't seem necessarily more interested than he was in the crickets. Now he can't get enough of them. I had bought a bunch to breed, but the colony hasn't really been taking off so I figured I'd try feeding him some today and he loved them. He's basking with a fat belly (still with stress marks) right now.

Cooperdragon: thanks so much for the great communication and help thus far. I'll keep you posted on his demeanor following the uvb change.
 

Matang613

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So a bit of an update: He's definitely dialed back on the grumpiness when he sees my hands (until this past day or so, but he just started shedding yet again). He also seems to be utilizing all of his enclosure and not glass surfing anymore, so maybe it was the uvb situation.

I am excited to say we seem to be bonding at lot more easily now. I had him out sitting on my belly last night watching a movie, and he climbed up on my shoulder and sat there for an hour watching tv. He'd have stayed longer, but I needed to put him to bed. Made me happy though. :)
 

Matang613

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Well, back to refusing food... with changing weather came changing ambient temps in my room and the little guy's enclosure got wayyyy too hot because of it. Like 125 in his hotspot and 90 on the cool side of the tank. I did some rearranging and improved the ventilation on his tank, and now he's glass surfing and super stressed out again. Really the only thing I did as far as rearranging was flip a branch on its side to get it a little further from his heat lamp, and I added a new hide in his corner that he never really explored anyway. Temps are totally perfect now, and I've got a much more stable setup going on. He's just so sensitive to changes though.
 
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