Suddenly hiding all day

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ksk810

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Hi all,

Just this week, Benni (almost 11 months old) started keeping strange hours. I have her on a 9am to 9pm lights schedule and she normally takes about twenty minutes to wake up, come out of her hide, and bask on her own. In the last week she started staying in there for up to two hours in the morning (which is how long I wait before taking her out myself and putting her on her rock). Sometimes she'll stay on her rock until lights out, sometimes she'll get back off after five minutes and hide again, and other times she'll stay up until about 5pm and then go hide (and fall asleep). Last night I moved her out of the hide and wrapped her in a blanket so that she would wake up outside the hide instead, but when she woke up this morning she just left the blanket and went into her hide right away. She doesn't usually go to sleep immediately, she just sites by the opening and peeks out until she gets cold and then falls asleep.

She's still eating bugs and pooping normally (and lots of white urate) and she's alert and active when she's up. Her basking rock temp is around 100 (I've experimented with making it slightly warmer and slightly cooler and it doesn't seem to make a difference) and her ambient temp is usually around 80. She has a T5 reptisun 10.0 uvb light with a reflector.

This morning I removed her from the hide and took her to sit in the sun on my bed and she black-bearded at me for the first time. Not sure if this is potentially relevant but it seemed weird.
She has also stopped eating her salads the last few days, or at least is eating a lot less of them even though she was loving them for the last few months. Thoughts?
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Your T 5 is in the tank or on top of screen? She could just be lazy mine does the same lazy one day and not eat hide in his cave all day -- asking about the UVB cuz it does play a part in the behavior and if its correct distance etc then it could be just her
Karrie
 

ksk810

Member
Original Poster
Yeah, I think the UVB is fine because someone went over the correct distance/setup with me when I first installed it and I haven't changed anything...she's probably just being lazy :lol: I woke her up today and put her on her rock and she ate and stayed up until lights out. I'm just a worrier!
 

Draven88

Hatchling Member
Just because it wasn't specified, i understand you haven't changed the UVB setup as far as height. But how old is the bulb itself? despite that it hasn't burned out there is a degradation in the UVB output and they do need to be replaced periodically. At 11 months old if that is the original bulb from when she was a baby it may be too little UVB still.

If this is not the case then just disregard, just wanted to be sure it isn't a possible problem. I replace my UVB bulbs every 6 months to be sure but some are supposed to be good for 11-12 months, I just don't take the chance as I don't have a UVB meter yet.
 

ksk810

Member
Original Poster
Thanks for checking! The uvb bulb is about 7 months old because I bought the wrong kind at first. It's advertised to last for a year but that could be it...I have another one I could test.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Possibly but tell us the distance you have it at before you change it out please-- if its inside the tank it needs to be 12-15 inches from basking decor if its on top of the tank it needs to be 8-10 inches from basking decor w/ decor piece directly under it
Karrie
 

ksk810

Member
Original Poster
It's on top of the mesh screen, 8-9in from most parts of the basking rock/climbing equipment. It's a little farther away from the floor...maybe 10-11in but she doesn't spend much time off her toys
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Ok I would change it out around 11 months- I usually change mine out about a month early- you can see a difference in the brightness of the tube when you do or at least I do when I put the new one in--I dont have a meter to test mine either
Karrie
 

ksk810

Member
Original Poster
Okay, that's good to know. Thank you both for your input! I'll update if her behavior changes.
 
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