Please help I don't know if he's sick

So when I got home from school his beard/side of his belly was black. And his mouth was open? I put him in the bathtub and he opened his mouth and made a dry bark noise like 4 times. I don't know what's going on he looks like he's dying his eyes are a little closed to being completely shut. He drank a tiny bit of water in the bath. After I put him back into his cage he wasn't doing that cough any more?

Hello,

I am sorry your dragon is not doing well.
Can you review your tank setup, such as the type/brand of UVB, the supplementation & the temperatures in the tank. Are you using a digital probe or a temp gun?
How old is he?
Do you have any pictures of him & his tank setup?
You can try to get some food into him, such as chicken or turkey baby food, mixed with sweet potato or squash baby food. Use a plastic dropper or plastic syringe to drop food onto the end of his nose to see if he will lick that off of his nose.
Keep him a little extra warm at night, around 80 in the tank can help while he isn't feeling well.

Let us know how he is doing.

Tracie

His heat setup has a 100w daytime lamp with a 150 uvb lamp with a heat pad. For night time he has a night heat lamp with 75w with the temp of 90 degrees. For the daytime lamp it's 122 degrees. He also is eating super worms with greens.

You don't need a light at night they prefer it to be dark and cool. As long as the Temps in your house don't drop below 60 to 65 you don't even need a heat source.

Been to hot and can't sleep, could be part of it.

Okay thanks I will see if that changes anything.

Eternal":3iy5xk5y said:

Okay thanks I will see if that changes anything.

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How old is your dragon?

Probably a year old. How can I show you a picture of what he looks like right now? And since yesterday his beard has been black.

If you upload a picture here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ then press XIMG on your post you'll be able to add pics.

Hi there, how long have you had him, and has his temp. always been that high ? Not only is the night temp. way high, but a day temp. of 122 is also way too high. Daytime basking area should be 100-105 at the hottest for an adult dragon, with a cooler side of about 75-80. He has been overheating , that's why he has a black beard/gaping so get the temps. down ASAP.

Okay if that doesn't work I'll take him to a vet

How large is his cage?

50 gallon tank? I'm not to sure I'll need to look at it again

For your lighting: Is your UVB a strip light or a coil bulb?

For the heat: How are you taking temperatures? Is it with the stick on thermometers or a probe or IR Temp gun? The heat pad is unneccesary for dragons. They have a "third eye" on the top of their head and this is how they seek out heat and UV. Since they are basking animals, they are designed to absorb heat from above them and will flatten out to absorb more if they need it. They can't find heat that's underneath them, so the heat mat is not needed and is likely just making him too warm. It is also not recommended to use lights at night. It disrupts sleep cycles and if they are not allowed to have a cool down period, they can quickly become dehydrated. They do not need to be heated unless temperatures fall below 65 degrees, and if they do, use a ceramic heat emitter instead. These heat the air gently instead of providing a harsh night time basking spot like the lights do.

Alright I switched out the old heat lamp to a 60w daytime lamp. And the heat sources are bulbs for the uvb it's a coil. And if the night lamps aren't needed why do they sell them?

How are you measuring temperatures? The stick on thermometers or one with a probe? Or do you have a Temp gun? As for the UVB, if you can, get a strip light instead, like the ReptiSun T5 HO 10.0. Coil bulbs only produce UVB in one spot of the tank instead of the whole length of the tank. In an artificial setting for captive animals, you'll want the UVB to span about 2/3 of the tank as UVB bulbs are weaker than radiation from the sun, so the animals need to be exposed to more of it to compensate for that. Coil bulbs also produce an unreliable amount of UVB because of the way they are shaped and the UV wavelength they output is shorter than in strip lights, making them harsh, and can cause photo-keratitis, which is severe eye damage.

As for night bulbs, companies sell them because they can make money off them. They burn out quickly so people buy them frequently. Plus, many people think all reptiles need to be kept warm all the time, but most need a night time temperature drop in order for their bodies to slow down and relax, just like ours. Just because something is made does not mean they are necessary or safe. A type of beef jerky dog treat was linked to the deaths of over 1000 dogs before they recalled it. And companies like Iams still make "Cat Chow" which is made only of wheat and corn gluten that's flavored with chicken fat. It's the same reason they still sell 1/4 gallon tanks for betta fish, because they can and people will buy into it, thinking it must be good if they sell it at a pet store. But pet stores are like any other company that sell dangerous items, like how CVS sells alcohol and used to sell cigarettes. Companies make terrible products all the time and it's up to us, as owners, to make sure what we introduce to our animals is safe and necessary.