Bloated Beardie!

Hello!

I am a new beardie dad, I got him a week ago and he is getting accustomed to us well. He is 3-4 months old and is about 8 or 9 inches long. He has good temperatures and humidity, he also has a tube uvb light. He eats about 70% crickets and 30% celery and romaine lettuce.

He poops everyday but he hasn't in a day and a half. It's probably nothing, but I want to make sure he gets the best possible from a new owner.

I gave him a warm bath and massaged his belly. I felt a small hard bump right between but slightly in front of his hind legs, and he seems to have a pretty big belly right now. He just shedded everything but his tail two days ago, and his mood and activity seems normal.

Any info? I really appreciate it!

Thanks

Hi there, he's probably going to go just as you really start worrying. If he skips a day once in a while [ as a baby ] , it's no big deal, and large dragons can go much longer between poos. [ Something to remember as he gets older ] But a few Q's for you....what are the temps. in the tank and how are you measuring them ? What exact type + brand lights do you have ? What exact size are the crickets ? If they're on the large side they can cause impaction. Sand + calcium sand can also cause impaction, esp. in young dragons.For baby beardies the insects should be smaller than the space between their eyes.

Can you post pics of the entire set up, including lights ? Here's how :

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload them

Just discovered it is a she! We named her Scarlett because she has red scales under her ear holes haha. She pooped yesterday after I gave her a bath!!!

I use a 10x20 in glass zilla terrarium but I will be replacing it with a bigger one soon. Temp Is at an average of 90-95 usually, basking area of 98+ degrees. She has a fake flower that she loves to basking on, it is the thin zilla carpet, I'll have to find out about the uvb light, I have a zilla thermometer an humidity meter. But I'm getting a Lazer heat drtector at some point soon. Her crickets are never longer (from abdomen to head) than the space between her eyes.

I will post pics soon!

The lights are a halogen 50w bulb and a 50 uvb tube both from zilla

I also just got a new monitor for temperature and humidity that are more accurate from imagitarium

Is the clear plastic removed from the Zilla fixture? They ship with those on but it will intercept the UVB so it should be removed.

Yeah there isn't any plastic on it, how about the rest?

The rest looks nice. What are your temperature readings on the basking surface and on the cool side? Is your basking light bright white or is it colored? It's hard to tell from the photo.

Cool side is around 80-90 and basking is between 98-110. It is a red lamp on cold days I use a second lower watt red lamp to bring it up.

Maybe she is impacted.

That's good that Scarlett [ newly discovered to be a girl ] has finally " gone ".

One more thing to defintely change is to get a white basking light, red lights don't create a natural atmosphere at all, pet stores make lots of money from the colored bulbs but it's the crisp white heat bulbs that reptiles need [ you can get halogen bulbs at any home improvement or Walmart store.

The Zilla Desert 50 UVB tube is a pretty weak T8 strength UVB tube, and you need to get it mounted underneath that mesh lid ASAP, as this is a common cause of MBD. He must be able to get within at least 6" of that UVB tube for it to be effective, and it must be unobstructed by anything (the mesh lid blocks 40% of the already too weak UVB light). You can poke holes in the mesh and then strap it to the underside of the mesh lid using large plastic zip ties, shoelaces, twine, wire, etc. Do this ASAP! Then be sure that his Basking Spot/Platform is within at least 6" of the unobstructed UVB tube... Also, be sure to replace that UVB tube every 6 months on the dot (write the start date on the tube with a Sharpie), as that's when it will stop emitting any UVB light at all, even though it won't be burnt out at that point...

That's a Zilla Slimline Fixture, are you absolutely certain there is no clear, hard-plastic shield screwed onto the bottom of the fixture that covers the UVB tube inside it? Most all of those $39.99 Zilla combo deals that include the Slimline Fixture and a Desert 50 UVB tube come with a clear, hard plastic safety cover over that is attached to the underside of the fixture with little screws. It blocks 100 % of the UVB light! Just make sure, very, very important to remove it...