New beardy owner (adult beardy)

A friend of mine moved, and I adopted his 5 year old bearded dragon. He is definitely underweight, and very sleepy/lazy. I have had him about 4 days now. The move in day I did not feed him, the second day i took him out and fed him about 7 or 8 dubia (large) and he seemed to be very lazy still. The following day I gave him a bath, he really did not move much, but seemed to dunk his head to drink quite a bit. That night he threw up a roach leaving me extremely worried. lately he seems to be sleeping most of the day on the ground on the hot side, not basking but on the ground. The last owner was bathing him a little longer than once a month if that, and was feeding him once a week. I would like to put him on a every other day feeding. I keep fresh greens in for him everyday tho.

I am very worried that he may be ill, or hopefully just stressed about the move. please help me understand why he is acting the way he is. (if i take him out hes very calm, usually falls asleep on my chest)

tdxdmc":2adegax3 said:

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He looks very very underweight and unhealthy. You should take him to a reptile vet ASAP to get him checked out.

What UV does he have now, when was it last changed, and what did he have previously? What are his bugs dusted with (calcium?)? What greens is he getting fed, how much, and how often. Please provide as much information about him as possible, so we can help you and your dragon.

Definitely can do with loving and feeding/building up and having a reptile vet assess him for any underlying health issues which might be contributing to his emaciated state.
Here's a list of reptile vet > viewtopic.php?f=45&t=234369&p=1803862&hilit=melissa#p1803862

Also worth while replacing his UVB lighting right away as you have no idea if it's any good (nor can you trust the previous owner on anything they have told you) , highly likely the existing UVB lighting (compact, tube or MVB) is so old it's no long producing sufficient UVA & UVB and likely hasn't been for a long time.
Here's my cheatsheet, I think you'll find it very useful as it addresses most the commonly encountered husbandry and viv setup problems provides guidance on how to setup the viv for him properly : my cheatsheet > viewtopic.php?f=6&t=234738&p=1806050#p1806050

Here's a comparison of feeder insects > viewtopic.php?f=76&t=234999&p=1807834#p1807834

A word of caution on over doing the protein and solids in his very weak and frail state, could do more harm than good if his kidneys are suddenly overloaded and fail.

I think you need to start off slow and use very moist purees and slurries (ie something like HerpaBoost, Oxbow Carnivore Critical Care, very sloppy mix of Repashi GrubPie and give in small doses frequently each day by feeding syringe and feeding needle (onto corner of his mouth to minimize his accidentially aspirating some food (into his lungs --- this would likely to kill him in his state).
His fat reserves are entirely depleted so he needs help to build these build back up. He's definitely too sick to be allowed to brumate.

Keep him warm 24/7 while his sick, it'll help boost his metabolism and what's left of his immune system.

Here's an explanation of how this is done (if he is unable to chew and swallow solids) > viewtopic.php?f=45&t=232687

I hope you can rehabilitate him and get him to be healthy , you need to prepare for this to be a process that will take a long time, as it's taken a long times (several months) for him be reach the poor state he is in now.

Hey, im not sure on the types of bulbs, but my friend said they were replaced a few months ago, i was planning on getting him some new lights today just to be safe. His temps have been on the low end. the basking side is around 90 with the high point being about 105. his cool side is about 85, but has a heat mat under it that gets the tile to 100, i am honestly paranoid about the heat mat tho. I have been feeding him fresh collard greens and endine everyday, but he hasnt eaten any. The bugs, have all been dusted with Flukers calcium.

tdxdmc":3603du0a said:

Hey, im not sure on the types of bulbs, but my friend said they were replaced a few months ago, i was planning on getting him some new lights today just to be safe. His temps have been on the low end. the basking side is around 90 with the high point being about 105. his cool side is about 85, but has a heat mat under it that gets the tile to 100, i am honestly paranoid about the heat mat tho. I have been feeding him fresh collard greens and endine everyday, but he hasnt eaten any. The bugs, have all been dusted with Flukers calcium.

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The temperatures (if accurate) are good. (I see dial type thermometers in the viv, so it's unlikely the viv temperatures are accurate (as these thermometers are so inaccurate as to be worthless).

The UV is most likely dodgey. I'd ditch the UV lighting that came with him. As I said, you cant trust a word you've been told by the prior keeper.
Of cause if you have access to a Solarmeter https://www.solarmeter.com/model62.html (I have 4 pet lizards and so one of these was good investment for me) , it would take no time at all to check the microW UVB / sq.cm output at the basking spot distance from the globe / tube and if its over 150 microW UVB / sq.cm the need to replace becomes not so urgent (unless it's a dodgey Chinese knockoff)..
Best to simply ditch the existing globe / tube and invest in a new one rated AT LEAST 10% UVB.

If you can, I'd upgrade to a T5HO 10%-12% UVB tube in a reflector hood MOUNTED UNDER THE LID of the viv and about 10 inches from the basking spot see extract from my cheatsheet below :
UVA AND UVB
High levels of UVB and UVA are mandatory for a beardie to be healthy.

>>> is the uv rated AT LEAST 10%UVB ?
>>> is it a COMPACT (curly globe & WATTAGE ?
>>> or a T8 tube ?
>>> or a T5 tube ?
>>> or a Black Light globe or tube ? == best to avoid these for bearded dragons.
>>> how old is the compact or T8 tube or T5 tube ? == they decay in performance over time.
>>> or an MVB ?
VERY IMPORTANT : what is the brand ?

Zilla, All Living Things, Reptile-One, Nat Geo , Natural Selections (in green boxes) which are cheap Chinese clones made very cheaply using very poor quality quartz glass and cheap phosphors ==> very poor UV spectrum produced including UVC and bad parts of the UVB band.

>>> also is it sitting ontop a mesh top ? == BAD
will cut UV by at least 28% == I recommend mounting UVB globes and tubes UNDER the lid.
data drawn from UV Guide :


>>> how far from basking spot ? == there are optimal distances for all UVB lights from the beardie see Arcadia Website for a good guide (a good UVB for beardies at their basking spot is about 180 to 200 microW UVB / sqcm ).


The optimum UVB distance will be somewhat closer than the distance x.
For example a 26W UVB200 globe :
.......Effective Distance up to 40 inches ==> 4 microW UVB / sqcm
.......At a distance of 24 inches ==> 10 microW UVB / sqcm
.......A good distance for beardies is 6-8 inches ==> 160 - 90 microW / sqcm.

Too far and the UVA and UVB WILL BE TOO DILUTE (as illustrated in the example above).
UVA FLUX TOO LOW where dragon is ==> a very lethargic dragon w/ a very poor apetite just in the short term , and neurological problems if this persists , not to mention MVB if UVB flux too low long enough with inadequate metabolisation of dietary calcium or inadequate intake out calcium

A GOOD GUIDE FOR SETTING UP THE THERMAL AND UV GRADIENT IN A VIV.




Compare T8 and T5ho tubes


is a good idea to mount the UVB globe or one end of the UVB T8 or T5 tube, so it’s adjacent as close as you can arrange it , to the basking bulb.

VIV TEMPERATURES ?
...... how are you measuring your temperatures ? These are very good : 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
TOO COLD = SLEEPY DRAGON
>>> overnight minimum viv temperatures ?

i have a thermomoter on each end of the tank, and i recently borrowed my friends temp gun.

it also seems like my local pet shop is pretty small, are these lighting options common?

tdxdmc":1zyheg6o said:

it also seems like my local pet shop is pretty small, are these lighting options common?

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Some will have them, some will not. Your best (and cheapest) bet is ordering online from a company like Amazon.

tdxdmc":1vo10amu said:

it also seems like my local pet shop is pretty small, are these lighting options common?

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Forget about buying gear and lights from your local pet shop , Google is your friend , so is Ebay . There are many very large mailorder pet supply companies who are very happy to sell and ship your special reptile lighting and will sell to you lots cheaper than the local petshop even with the postage included.
What country are you based in - we can easily send point you in the right direction.

tdxdmc":2nayrvyk said:

i have a thermomoter on each end of the tank, and i recently borrowed my friends temp gun.

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Temperature guns are OK, but need to be used properly to get good surface temperatures.
They wont tell the zone temperatures (this is an artifact of the warm circulating air in the viv), a digital thermometer like this 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 go to get a handle on the zone temperatures and have the advantage that the remote sensor probe can be dangled or fixed anywhere in the viv and left there so you can see the temperature at a glance.
I have a bunch of these ( as well as my laser thermometer gun ) , they are so cheap I have 3 per viv / tank , and I've tested them and found they are very accurate ( +/- 1 degC ) and their batteries last years.

how would you recommend i got him to eat?