Beardie "Smaug" extra lethargic/lazy?

kingofnobbys":1ry1o4qg said:

starshooter123":1ry1o4qg said:

Hi everyone,

Bought him in the morning his UVB light, and so far I have seen a lot of improvement, thank God. So thank you so much everyone here that took the time to help a newbie beardie owner. He is back in his basking spot after soaking the UVB light, and its only been like an hour. He only ate one worm, which is fine with me, better than nothing. I put in fresh greens, water, sprayed him too a tiny bit, and I think for today and maybe tomorrow Im going to let him just rest and soak as much UVB light as possible before I can take her our for play/bathe? Or should I let him be for more time and get him to soak all the UVB he can?

Thank you everyone. Next step is upgrading his tank.

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exactly what UVB light did you buy ?

I note you have an analog thermometer in the tank - these are worthlessly inaccurate , better off buying a bunch of these http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Aquarium-LCD-Electronic-Digital-Thermometer-Fish-Tank-Water-Detector-Practica-BU/252762165947?_trksid=p2385738.c100677.m4598&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908110712%26meid%3D6ac464a2a1b24339be32c744b2ff5cf9%26pid%3D100677%26rk%3D2%26rkt%3D15%26sd%3D201577608563

Is the sand / dirt gone ?

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yes his place is clean now, and I bought an exo terra 13W UVB 150 (not sure what the 150 means). And I agree the thermometer right now that came with the tank (i think) its really bad. I'm upgrading the size of his tank really soon along with a new and better thermometer.

starshooter123":2m3iyluz said:

kingofnobbys":2m3iyluz said:

Is the sand / dirt gone ?

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yes his place is clean now, and I bought an exo terra 13W UVB 150 (not sure what the 150 means). And I agree the thermometer right now that came with the tank (i think) its really bad. I'm upgrading the size of his tank really soon along with a new and better thermometer.

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13W UVB150 is a 13W 5%UVB compact , sorry , but it's totally inadequate , you need at the very least a 26W UVB200 (which is a 10% UVB) and very good at 8 inches from the basking spot if mounted in a ExoTerra Nano-Hood.
I strongly recommended returning the 13W UVB150 and exchanging it for a 26W UVB200 because the 13W will not have sufficient power to penetrate to the basking spot AT ALL, and even then the UVA & UVB will be much too low , your beardie would have to get inside 2 inches of it to get sufficient UVB.

Sorry, he beat me to it, but the UVB light you bought is not adequate at all for a bearded dragon. You don't want to buy any UVB bulb that is a coil bulb or a compact bulb (like a regular lightbulb), he needs a long, flourescent tube UVB light, usually 18", 24", or 36" long, depending on the size of his enclosure. Some of those compact and coil bulbs actually cause severe damage to their eyes and skin, and can even blind them. So you need to pack that light and fixture back up and return it ASAP. You'll have to buy both the long UVB tube and then a long flourescent tube fixture.

The easiest and one of the best UVB tube lights you can buy is the Reptisun 10.0 (not the 5.0, it's for tropical reptiles) UVB tube. You can order an 18" Reptisun 10.0 T8 tube for around $23 from www.petmountain.com, or you can buy one at Petco, they all stock the 18" Reptisun 10.0 UVB tube, the in store price for the tube is $37, but their online price is around $25, and they'll price match their online price if you take your phone in and just show them the page on their website. Then you can go to Walmart, go to the lightbulb aisle, and buy a regular 18" flourescent tube light fixture for $10. Make sure there is no clear plastic cover on the fixture that covers the tube, if there is remove it as it blocks the UVB light.

I'm sorry you bought the wrong UVB light, it's unfortunate but 90% of the UVB lights made for bearded dragons are inadequate in wavelength and strength, and as I said, most of the coil and compact bulbs cause serious eye issues. The EXO Terra UVB bulb you bought doesn't supply the correct wavelength UVB for a beardie, and not even close to the correct strength, it's like having no UVB on him at all. A lot of people make the same mistake, no big deal, but you really do need to get him the Reptisun 10.0 UVB tube ASAP, like today, because he hasn't ever had any UVB, or at least hasn't had any for a long time, as in his photo he looks like he's got a bit of an underbite already. That's a sign of no UVB light and calcium deficiency. He looks pretty healthy in general, but he really needs adequate UVB light immediately.

You also need to remember to replace the UVB tube every 6 months, they stop emitting any UVB light after 6 months, even though the light doesn't burn out. This is very important to remember because if you don't replace it it's like he's getting no UVB again.

Gotcha. Thank you guys for the info! I will change his bulb tomorrow and either tomorrow or friday i will buy/build him a much bigger tank . Thats why I'm here to ask my questions, its never a dumb question, and there are experts here as well. So thank you, give me all the advice you can, every bit of it is appreciate it <3
Thank you guys!

P.S: He is starting to eat his greens more! slowly but surely. He was raised given purely insects. I always prepare a salad for him in the morning, and put it in his tank as he is waking up so is there nice and fresh every morning. Seems to be working. Like mustard greens, kale, and a piece of bell pepper here and there! I'v tried some fruits, but to no avail yet.