Poo 3x a day ! and strange behaviour.

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dragonlux

Member
Hello since a week I have 2 bearded dragons.
I'm building them a new cage because the pet store told allot of lies and made it seem easy.
(naïve to trust them)
almost everything was wrong light substrate food etc.. I read allot on the forum and I think I know what they need.

But now both of them are defecating like 3 times at least a day each.
The consistency looks different everytime. sometimes allot of water in it.
sometimes white in it its really strange

They eat greens and crickets every day and go outside when the temp allows (3-4 times a week)
They get reptile flower mix with herbs and calcium with vit d3.
Also I bath them 2x a week or something.

It seems like they are shedding maybe that explains the really strange behavior ? should I go to a vet ? and wont that be rlly expensive for 2 dragons.

I'm just worried :( they don't look to bad though they are always friendly
 

traildrifterphalanx

Sub-Adult Member
Welcome!
I first want to confirm that you do not have the dragons housed together as that could end badly.

The pooing 3 times a day can be normal for younger dragons.
How old are they? They poop a lot more as babies/juvies because they eat so much, but their diet can affect this, too. Depending on what veggies you are providing, this could be part of the reason for the pooping/watery poops. Please go over what you are feeding them as there may be something harsh on their bellies giving them digestion issues.

A run down of your setup may help us figure out anything that could be contributing to the poops.

What is the weird behavior you speak of?
 

dragonlux

Member
Original Poster
They are housed together as suggested by the pet store.
The guy said its fun to see 2 dragons interact.. they had mites but he said they were gone.
Also he suggested sand! and some light bulbs that were wrong...

Now I have them on newspaper with 1 infrared 60w lamp and a exo uvb bulb (I read somewhere that the new coil lamps aren't blinding them but don't provide sufficient uv that's why I let them outside.
because all this is causing me allot of work but I want to keep them. ( I know these lamps are wrong but I try the best I can at this moment) (current dimentions 80x50x50) I know its to small when they get bigger, but I planned on upscaling in months not after a week)

That's why I am building a 1.20x50x50 terrarium. I really have no option to keep them separate.
Don't know how I'm gonna build 2 big terrariums and provide sufficient lamps I'm putting all my free time in this 1 I'm making. (I have a 2x55w T-neon (pl-p) reflector with 6500k lamps for flowers)
maybe I can use that ??)

They really seem to get along pretty well the small one dominates the big one ( laying on her) a few times but it didn't look aggressive the way they interact. The first days I could go outside and hold them but today the small one suicide jumped against things (not from high). the big one is hyperactive in the cage glassurfing and when I take him out he is relaxed. (now I read this it makes sense he is just happy to get away from the others territory?)
Something just seems a bit off maybe they are stressed because I clean the cage 2 times a day because they **** all over the place and it smells.

I feed them endive every day with dried reptile herbs and flowers for vitamin. also they get gut loaded crickets. sometimes I add some red bell peper(rare) and zurkine(rare) for variation but not to often I follow the recommendations. 5 times a week they get calcium powder with vitd3

Thanks for helping here are some pictures to make things clear.
http://share.pho.to/Ahsjt (mealworms was the first day only, I read they are not good)
 

traildrifterphalanx

Sub-Adult Member
Thanks for more info! There's unfortunately a lot of things the pet store got wrong so I'll quickly go over.

Please ditch the infrared bulb. They require a bright white basking bulb and the UV bulb. You are basically trying to imitate sun light, so bright white light is needed. No lights at night. Ceramic heat emitter can be used if temps get below 65 degrees at night, otherwise only basking and UV bulb are needed.
EDIT*** Talking Fahrenheit, would be 18.3 Celsius

Those compact bulbs are definitely better nowadays, but as you read, their UV output is weak. the dragons would need to remain about 4" from the UV light if it's ontop of a screen in order to benefit. Natural light is perfect for them, so take them out when you can! But please upgrade to a long tube light when you make the bigger enclosure. I recommend a ReptiSun 10.0 T5 bulb. It's a long, skinny bulb.

Lastly, and I know you do't want to hear this, they cannot remain together. Along with all the other stuff the pet store said, they are solitary animals and cannot live together. As babies it's very cute to see them interact and stack... but the stacking (and you phrased it correctly) is a sign of dominance and disregard for the well being of the other dragon. The fact you're seeing, what you called, aggression is concerning being so young. They may appear fine, and even if there is nothing physical being seen, that doesn't change what is mentally going on. The submissive one will live a life in fear, get the second picks to food, the second basking spot, and will generally have a very unhappy life. Even if you feed them separately and provide 2 basking spots does not change the mentality of both dragons. There will be a hierarchy, and it could get physical.
This isn't even taking into consideration the gender of the two. Two males will fight, a female and male will breed nonstop, and two females "could" be ok, but regardless, no keeper on this forum would recommend housing them together beyond hatchling phase.

Please reconsider a second enclosure/setup or rehoming one of the two. Forcing them to live together would be inhumane to either one or both of the dragons until they die. I personally have two dragons, and my male is so extremely territorial I would never allow him near my girl, or any other dragon, without extreme supervision. I only allow one dragon out at a time.
 

dragonlux

Member
Original Poster
Yes I know you are right...
I'm really upset I got misinformed I don't have the money to get all that stuff times 2 for 2 enclosures. And I was thinking I did really good taking care of them (little did I know)
I really need to figure something out its stressing me..
The guy at the pet store was taking care of so much reptiles I trusted him but what a #@#@.
If he was right, there whould be no problem but now it keeps getting worse :banghead:

I was told they are both female (around 27cm long) so I guess they are not as old as I thought.

Thanks for your info although its not nice to hear because now I have a big problem :)

Ps : Do you think I could use my6500k tneon lamp ?
its 2x55w 6500k "grow lamp" Its made to imitate the sun I got it in storage whould be cool.
 

traildrifterphalanx

Sub-Adult Member
No problem, and I know it's a huge bummer to not only be given incorrect information from someone you should be able to trust, but to have said information cause a dilemma like this.

I had my first dragon for about a year and a half before getting my second, and I bought a baby, and I thought they could share a tank regardless of what I read because my older one was sooo sweet and so tame... Immediately my older dragon tried to go after the baby. I bought a second setup the next day :| Was not expecting all that extra expense but I had no intention of getting rid of either of them, so now I run a second set of lights and buy food for two... Oi. But their safety and happiness is my #1 priority, and a lot of peace of mind.

Regarding the grow bulb, I would strongly recommend a fresh brand new bulb for bearded dragons. I'm unsure of the UV put off to "grow" a plant, but I am familiar with different lizards having different lighting needs, aka tropical vs desert. Not to mention, UV bulbs may still light, but they lose their output over time. Coils/compacts are recommended to be changed every 6 months, T5 bulbs every year.
 

dragonlux

Member
Original Poster
If I had the money Id get all the stuff in a heart beat, last few days ive been cutting glass from trash windows collecting all sorts of stuff building etc allot of effort because I feel **** about this.

The lamps have less than 2 burn hours. so if I could use them whould be awesome. if not I need to figure something out.
 

traildrifterphalanx

Sub-Adult Member
If you need to buy some time to afford a second set of stuff, you could always somehow separate the current enclosure into 2 smaller ones, but I'm unsure of the current size, and do not want to have them in something bitsy.
I'm unsure what options are available for you, but when I buy my enclosures I use PayPal Credit, so you have 6 months to pay it off with no interest. I did the same thing for my high end lights. I have the 22" version of this:
http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/34-t-5-ho-fixture-high-output-with-arcadia-d3-6-ho-bulb/

I'd still recommend investing into a light actually meant for the dragons as they need intense desert UV rays, but perhaps someone with more grow light experience could weigh in
 
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