Trouble in paradise

We got a female bearded dragon about a month ago. She is roughly 7 months old. Everything seemed fine at the beginning but now she has trouble with her digestion. We feed her dubia roaches and greens. She usually pooped once a day but now I actually have to bath her and rub her belly until she goes. I was told heat is an important factor. Her "cold" side is around 85 and her bathing side 110 ( on top ). I also dust her roaches with calcium D3. I wait about an hour in the morning after the light went on to feed her. At night the light is on for another 2 hours before I shut it off. I don't know what i am doing wrong.
She shed once so far at the very beginning. Was quick. Now it started but doesn't seem to progress.

Hello,

What type of thermometer do you use to measure the temperatures?
Do you feed her in the evening also, or just the morning?
Which UVB light are you using?
Please review the setup with us, just so we can be sure it's all correct. If you have any
pictures of the tank & of her, you can post them here.
Also, as they get a little older, they may or may not go to the bathroom every day. You
could try increasing her fluid intake some to help out. Are her urates hard or soft?

Tracie

Dear Tracie,
Thank you for replying so fast. I am using those plastic one you attach on the back side. I feed her twice a day. Morning and evening. Not sure on the light. I just read that too much calcium is bad. Shoot I dust the roaches every single time. I am so afraid I am hurting her. One thing I found out here is that the UVB light should be under the mesh and it is not so this is something I have to change tomorrow.
How can I attach a pic?

How much does she normally eat? Are the roaches smaller than the size between her eyes?
Unfortunately, the stick on thermometers aren't very accurate, you'll need to buy either some outdoor thermometers with probes or an infrared temperature gun, so that you can accurately measure the temperatures as they are very important.

The UV light should say on the bulb itself what brand/strength it is. Can you take a look (turn it off first!) and let us know?

How much does she weigh? (A kitchen scale or something can be used to weigh her) She's looking good in that picture.

Is that sand on the bottom of her tank?

She's lucky to have such a caring owner

Ok so the light is a reptisun 10.0 UVB. Yes the roaches are smaller then the size between her eyes. It always shocks me how big the greens in cages in pet stores are. She eats a lot!!!! 10 to 15 roaches each time. She eats good is alert
And moves around. No sand it is an outdoor type of carpet.
I am just concerned. She is like my 3rd child!!!! Not sure in the weight don't have a scale! Should I bring her to a vet??

And now she looks like

Hello,

You will need to get either a digital probe thermometer or a laser temp gun so that you can
be sure your temperatures are accurate. The plastic, stick on types are not very accurate.
You can leave it in & it might measure ambient temps or humidity though.
She is a cutie! It appears that she is going to shed soon.
They oftentimes lose their appetite a bit right before a shed which may be one reason why
she isn't eating many greens at the moment.
Definitely try to attach your new UVB Light underneath of the screen within a 6-8 inch distance
of her so she can benefit from stronger UVB emissions.
As far as the dusting goes, if you get a good amount of powder on during one feeding, that is
all she needs, daily. You are correct. Too much calcium can be trouble for them. It will be
hard on their system & cause their urates to get more chalky.

Tracie

Thank you so much!! I definitely do some adjustments tomorrow.

Lizzylove":13aijtgm said:

Click to expand...

Issue 1
UV is a ONTOP THE FINE MESH LID --> about 40% the UV is blocked !

Issue 2
UV should be 2/3 to 3/4 the length of the viv with one end overlapping the basking globe

Issue 3
UV is too far from the dragon even when at it's basking spot.

See this : viewtopic.php?f=34&t=235611
try to get about 180-200 microW UVB / sq.cm at the basking spot and about 80 microW UVB / sq.cm elsewhere.

Lethargy & lack of apetite likely mainly due to the UV setup (Insufficient UVA).

Issue 4
DIAL ANALOG STICKON THERMOMETERS ARE JUNK , they are so inaccurate and unreliable as to be worthless ---> you have absolutely no idea what the viv temps really are .
this is the kind of thermometer I use , very accurate +/- 1 degC and very reliable : http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/4x-LCD-Digital-Temperature-Thermometer-Fridge-Freezer-Aquarium-Fish-Tank-Reptile-/152552282270?_trksid=p2385738.m2548.l4275

Lizzylove":1u82fw39 said:

Ok so the light is a reptisun 10.0 UVB.
>>> is it a T8 ? OR a T5ho version, if a T5ho what colour are the endcaps ?

Yes the roaches are smaller then the size between her eyes. It always shocks me how big the greens in cages in pet stores are. She eats a lot!!!! 10 to 15 roaches each time. She eats good is alert
And moves around. No sand it is an outdoor type of carpet.
I am just concerned. She is like my 3rd child!!!! Not sure in the weight don't have a scale! Should I bring her to a vet??

Click to expand...

A glass top digital kitchen scale will be perfect as long as it can weigh =/- 0.1g to +/- 0.5g .they are very cheap and most every where kitchen cooking utenils are sold.

Thank you Kingofnobbys,

It is a T05 and the ends are golden. I will go to the store today to get a scale! I will definitely get another top for the terrarium so the light is not blocked by the mesh.
We asked the breeder how to set everything up I am very mad that he didn't tell us about important things like mesh blocking the light! He even saw a pic of the set up.
Thank you from Lizzy and me for all the important info.

OP,
I was just reading this post and you shouldn't feel bad. You are doing your best to try to make sure she has everything that she needs to thrive. When I first rescued my 2 bearded dragons, they came with nothing... just a coil uvb bulb. I have slowly been adding everything I have read here and my 2 are doing fine. I have found that swapping greens, fruits, and different bugs causes issues with digestion from time to time. They seem to adapt to changes quite well too.

Good Luck!
Dan