Beardie "Smaug" extra lethargic/lazy?

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Hello,

Might not even be a concern but I love my beardie and doesn't hurt to ask. My Smaug is a 2 year old birdie, very loved, and healthy (up until now?).
As of 2 days ago my beardie has been extra lethargic. Doesnt really go to his basking spot anymore, now always just laying flat usually and sits in a spot with shade, and just lays flat and either sleeps alot during the day, or he's just staring at me and my computer. His behavior was not exactly like this. He was always more alert, moved around in this viv, and just overall more active. But this last 2 days he has just been lounging a lot more and not really moving all day, maybe once or twice.

I always turn on his lamp when I wake up, for at least an hour or so, so he warms up, and I put fresh greens in there, which he eats from time to time. And after a few hours I like to give him his worms, coated in calcium and/or vitamins, he would eat around 4-8 superworms and nap for a bit, but after he used to always be alert and active and I would play with him a little bit.
I have the viv right now at 90-95 F, I bathe him once every 2-3 days, and overall a happy, healthy beardie. But doesnt seem like it the last 2 days? Its the middle of summer so I doubt its brumation? I kinda figure he just needs rest so Iv let him chill in his viv these last 2 days, feed him, and taking care of him but leaving him alone to rest since he seems he wants to rest.

Actually I remember taking him out for a bit yesterday, and he still ran for a tiny bit around my room, chilled on my shoulder just fine for a bit, and I returned him to his viv. He also has a little "cave" in his viv that he used to use a lot but now he kinda doesnt. Right now I purposely dropped a worm at the other side of his viv and he still took it, so he is not refusing to eat.

Maybe its just a paranoid/loving owner and Smaug is just fine? I hope so

Smaug is 14.5 inches (approx) in a 2 and a half foot viv.

EDIT: light info: a "Zoo Med" 100w bulb (used to have 2 of them but Smaug found it too hot and he hid under shade frequently) says on the box it gives him heat, daylight, basking, and UVA. Iv never had a problem with Smaug and heat/light (but maybe now i do?). This one heat lamp can make his basking spot around 100-105F which he loves (loved?), used to bask every day up until the last two. I have his right side of the viv with the basking spot and a shady spot (which is the one he is always in now for the last few days), and the other side a bit cooler with the "cave", the water, and his greens.

EDIT #2: Watched him again and he is actually still alerted, when I pass buy he still always stares at me and turns his head, etc. But I have been noticing recently that sometimes he has one eye closed and one open, like when I pass by and he is "napping" he will open one eye but leave the other one closed. Same at night, before putting him in his viv at night, I sometimes like to put him in a beardie burrito, shut off the lights, and watch a movie and he falls asleep, but sometimes he would wake up for a few seconds with one eye open and one closed.

ANY advice would be very much appreciate it. Bad lighting? Small viv?(could be but he has not glass surfed in a long time). Let me know so I can change asap. Food, water, bathing, anything please let me know. I am a very loving beardie owner who LOVES his lil Smaug.

P.S: Sorry for the looong post. And english is not my native language so sorry for spelling errors, etc.

EDIT 3: I put him in his cave, see if he would be more comfortable there, and he actually moved up to his basking spot, but looks like he is going to go down soon lol.
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
Ah, Smaugie does look a bit tired out, but still quite a handsome dragon. :) I'm pretty sure of what the cause is. You have a heat bulb which produces uva but no bulb that produces uvb. You need to get a good uvb bulb ASAP, pretty much tomorrow. Without uvb they can not absorb their nutrients, especially calcium and will become very ill.

A good choice would be either the Arcadia D312% long tube or the Reptisun 10.0 5 long tube....not a coil or compact. You can Google to find them for sale, most pet stores don't have them. Another option would be an all in one spot MVB [ mercury vapor bulb ] that produces heat, and uva + uvb. Here's where you can get one of those :

http://www.joshsfrogs.com/mega-ray-mercury-vapor-bulb-160-watt.html They come in a 100 watt bulb as well.

Until you get him a good bulb, you can set with him out in the sun for an hour a day for plenty of uvb right away. He needs calcium as well, so be sure to keep dusting his insects with calcium powder every other day for a few weeks. BTW, what substrate do you use on his floor ?
 

Vh621

Hatchling Member
Hello, sorry your beardie isn't doing well, couple of things you mentioned he has a zoomed light is it just a basking bulb or does it give off uvb as well, all reptiles that bask need some form of uvb especially a desert species like beardies. Unless it's an mvb(mercury vapor bulb) you should have two lights a basking light that produces heat and bright light (uva) and a uvb, that's essential for them to metabolize calcium without it they fall ill to diseases like mbd(metabolic bone disease). Also you said the viv is 2.5ft is that long or the width? For instance ideal size enclosures for beardies are 4x2x2(LxWxH).
 

starshooter123

Member
Original Poster
AHBD":44rr596o said:
Ah, Smaugie does look a bit tired out, but still quite a handsome dragon. :) I'm pretty sure of what the cause is. You have a heat bulb which produces uva but no bulb that produces uvb. You need to get a good uvb bulb ASAP, pretty much tomorrow. Without uvb they can not absorb their nutrients, especially calcium and will become very ill.

A good choice would be either the Arcadia D312% long tube or the Reptisun 10.0 5 long tube....not a coil or compact. You can Google to find them for sale, most pet stores don't have them. Another option would be an all in one spot MVB [ mercury vapor bulb ] that produces heat, and uva + uvb. Here's where you can get one of those :

http://www.joshsfrogs.com/mega-ray-mercury-vapor-bulb-160-watt.html They come in a 100 watt bulb as well.

Until you get him a good bulb, you can set with him out in the sun for an hour a day for plenty of uvb right away. He needs calcium as well, so be sure to keep dusting his insects with calcium powder every other day for a few weeks. BTW, what substrate do you use on his floor ?

Thank you SO much . I will buy him tomorrow first thing in the morning a uvb lightbulb. Darn stupid me. Forgot to mention, I got him 2 months ago from my brother, since he is moving in a month or so, he wanted me to have him. And he's been my (not so) baby ever since. So he is around 2 years old but im sort of new. And forgot the name of the substrate for his floor, but its the carpet-like substrate.
So im using this and I thought he was fine:
93306-3864413416.jpg
 

starshooter123

Member
Original Poster
Vh621":ivlrd9qz said:
Hello, sorry your beardie isn't doing well, couple of things you mentioned he has a zoomed light is it just a basking bulb or does it give off uvb as well, all reptiles that bask need some form of uvb especially a desert species like beardies. Unless it's an mvb(mercury vapor bulb) you should have two lights a basking light that produces heat and bright light (uva) and a uvb, that's essential for them to metabolize calcium without it they fall ill to diseases like mbd(metabolic bone disease). Also you said the viv is 2.5ft is that long or the width? For instance ideal size enclosures for beardies are 4x2x2(LxWxH).


Hi, thank you so much for the reply and help. You can see in this thread a pic of the bulb Im using. But im buying his a separate uvb bulb tomorrow asap.
Yeah his viv is 2.5ft long. I never saw him bothered by the size of the viv, havent seen him glass dance in forever, so I thought he was comfortable. But I will buy him a bigger viv soon, Im just a little bit short on money sadly.
 

starshooter123

Member
Original Poster
AHBD":qm415ol7 said:
Ah, Smaugie does look a bit tired out, but still quite a handsome dragon. :) I'm pretty sure of what the cause is. You have a heat bulb which produces uva but no bulb that produces uvb. You need to get a good uvb bulb ASAP, pretty much tomorrow. Without uvb they can not absorb their nutrients, especially calcium and will become very ill.

A good choice would be either the Arcadia D312% long tube or the Reptisun 10.0 5 long tube....not a coil or compact. You can Google to find them for sale, most pet stores don't have them. Another option would be an all in one spot MVB [ mercury vapor bulb ] that produces heat, and uva + uvb. Here's where you can get one of those :

http://www.joshsfrogs.com/mega-ray-mercury-vapor-bulb-160-watt.html They come in a 100 watt bulb as well.

Until you get him a good bulb, you can set with him out in the sun for an hour a day for plenty of uvb right away. He needs calcium as well, so be sure to keep dusting his insects with calcium powder every other day for a few weeks. BTW, what substrate do you use on his floor ?

Omg by the way I call him smaugie too! but brownie points if anyone know where is the name "Smaug" from :D
 

Vh621

Hatchling Member
[/quote]
Hi, thank you so much for the reply and help. You can see in this thread a pic of the bulb Im using. But im buying his a separate uvb bulb tomorrow asap.
Yeah his viv is 2.5ft long. I never saw him bothered by the size of the viv, havent seen him glass dance in forever, so I thought he was comfortable. But I will buy him a bigger viv soon, Im just a little bit short on money sadly.[/quote]


Yea I here you, though there are cheap ways to get a nice size enclosure. Do you live in the US, if so petco, I believe is having their $1 gallon sale, you could get a 40g breeder for like $50 with tax the size is a 36x18 it's the minimum size requirement for beardies or you can check ad listings like on Craigslist for used tanks or vivariums also, though I would thoroughly disinfect. Or if not in the US and you're good with your hands you can build one out of melamine which is really cheap. There are plenty of tutorials on youtube.
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
Hi, thank you so much for the reply and help. You can see in this thread a pic of the bulb Im using. But im buying his a separate uvb bulb tomorrow asap.
Yeah his viv is 2.5ft long. I never saw him bothered by the size of the viv, havent seen him glass dance in forever, so I thought he was comfortable. But I will buy him a bigger viv soon, Im just a little bit short on money sadly.[/quote]


Yea I here you, though there are cheap ways to get a nice size enclosure. Do you live in the US, if so petco, I believe is having their $1 gallon sale, you could get a 40g breeder for like $50 with tax the size is a 36x18 it's the minimum size requirement for beardies or you can check ad listings
<<<< only OK for a rearing enclosure.
<<<< An adult requires a tank AT LEAST 4ft L x 2ft W and about 2ft tall.Your best bet is get hold of a sheet of 3/4in plywood and build your own 4x2x2 with sliding front glass doors. You'll save lots of $ by building your own.

like on Craigslist for used tanks or vivariums also, though I would thoroughly disinfect. Or if not in the US and you're good with your hands you can build one out of melamine which is really cheap. There are plenty of tutorials on youtube.
<<<< give melamine + particle board / MDF a wide berth, the stuff disintegrates when wet and is impossible to keep hygienic
[/quote]
 

starshooter123

Member
Original Poster
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. :)

93306-5771069135.jpg
 

AHBD

BD.org Sicko
That's really good to hear. :) What bulb did you get ? You can always take him out in the sun for 45 minutes or so as well, that can accelerate his calcium absorption. Other than that, I wouldn't take him out for at least 3-4 days and then not for very long. Be extra careful while handling him that he doesn't fall, with a calcium deficiency it can weaken the bones so they are more susceptible to breaks.
 

starshooter123

Member
Original Poster
AHBD":bw072p6z said:
That's really good to hear. :) What bulb did you get ? You can always take him out in the sun for 45 minutes or so as well, that can accelerate his calcium absorption. Other than that, I wouldn't take him out for at least 3-4 days and then not for very long. Be extra careful while handling him that he doesn't fall, with a calcium deficiency it can weaken the bones so they are more susceptible to breaks.

Gotcha. Thank you :)
 

kingofnobbys

BD.org Sicko
starshooter123":1pduma1p 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. :)

93306-5771069135.jpg

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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