Strange beardie behaviour?very active, not eating

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Hiya everyone,
I am terribly new to this site but I've joined because I'm concerned about my beardie.

She's the first ever beardie I've owned but I've managed for 2 years so far with her so hopefully I'm getting there. Sorry if this post is long.

I got her from a reptile only store in leeds (i live in the uk) who sold me basically all of her stuff except for her viv which i bought online. it's a 48x24x24 Inch black Vivarium basically around 4ft so hopefully a decent size.
I use large woodchips as a substrate because it was recommended to me at the time and though i was tempted by tile from the research it was basically sold to me because of the whole digging thing. To this day she hasn't had any problems so far with the chips, they're big enough for her to spit out if she does accidently grab one. I'm reluctant to swap substrate because she loves her digging and i really don't want to go to sand.

Anyway, she used to be fed crickets but she stopped eating them so i went to hoppers which she's normally quite happy with but lately I'm lucky to get her to eat one.
She hates anything green other than rocket, we don't get mustard greens here. She does like the odd blueberry as a treat but thats about it. She will not eat anything with powder on it but I've had a stage where she has eaten coated hoppers but she has since stopped.

Since moving homes recently her tempreture has not been what I want it to be but I have been struggling with the hot side being too hot and the cold side being too cold, if i want the cold side a little hotter to meet temp readings the hot side gets too hot and I'm not sure how to fix that.

She's been very very active to the point that she constantly asking to come out of the viv and literally has spent most of her time climbing things, finding little spots under my wardrobe and her viv stand to nestle down to which point i pick her up to put her back in her viv to warm her up again.

the little that she has been eating she has been pooping and there is no yellow in white that ive seen.

the last temp i took the hottest side read 110 but ive since put the temp down a bit and waiting for another reading.

Sorry if this post is long but I am concerned about her and there are so many different opinions that ive read that I get quite stressed out if that makes sense.

Conclusion just in case:
very active, doesnt want to be in viv, not eating and hates powder normally but has been eating powdered hoppers before hand, hates greens, 2 years old, in a 4ft black viv with beechchi substrate, last basking temp was 110 but i have reduced temp, currently waiting for new temp
 

destiny1998

Extreme Poster
Photo Comp Winner
Hi. It sounds like she might be gravid. Also hormones can come into play also. I have a female that is doing the same thing. Around this time last year she laid eggs and was acting the same way. Good luck!
 

Shidohari

Hatchling Member
I use repticarpet across the whole bottom and then a 16x16 piece of uncoated ceramic tile in the food section of my enclosure (the cool side). The tile makes it so much easier to serve their salad and bugs daily. I clean it with a wet paper towel after feeding the daily BSFL before I put the water dish back in and serve the daily salad (currently a mix of turnip greens and curly mustard greens) which I powder with the appropriate supplement for that day.

Repticarpet keeps the tile from scratching the glass bottom, also makes the tile easier to remove.
 

MistyTwist

Member
Original Poster
heya thanks for getting back to me @Matang613
yeah thats what i've been doing, just been offering her dusted hoppers everyday and she eats one sometimes and then becomes disinterested.

she seems to have calmed down a bit, only wanted to come out once today when i walked into the room and after doing a bit of roaming about she was fine to go back in after i changed the temps.
They've gone down to 80 in the cool down area, 100 in basking area but when the basking bulb isnt on it drops down to 80. overnight the temp is 70.

As for the equipment i have, i have timer set to everything because of my weird work hours and I was told its best to keep a regular routine. I have a habistat dimming thermostat, 150w arcadia solar basking spotlight (UVA) since the other brand kept dying out and once even shattered in the tank.
Arcadia D3+ 12% UVB T5 39w

I am thinking of changing her to tiles, gonna look into this weekend and go shopping for them since the beechchips need replacing so good time as any to swap it over. gonna be so uhappy with me but oh well!

As for the fleece how do you set it up, do you keep it laid flat or just as a nice little pile in the hides?

@Shidohari
i wish i could find some of those greens but some reason the british do not like them ahaha, might defo try the carpet underneath the tiles though!
 
Not completely related to your original post, but I am also from the UK. For greens I use spring greens which are the English equivalent of collard greens. You can get them from any supermarket. Might not solve the eating issue, but they are a good staple and you can eat them too! :D

I also have that thermostat and struggled with the temperatures. What I have learned to do is move the probe somewhere in the middle of the hot and cold end and set it to roughly the mid temperature of the viv. So for example my probe is half way between her heat bulb and the other end of the tank and I have it set at 28.4 degrees celcius. This then puts her basking area at about 40 degrees and her cold end at about 26. Remember if need be your hot end can be a little bit cooler and you can raise the basking area to make that the right temperature. Once you get it sorted it's great but it did take me several hours of moving it once cm one way or the other and waiting for the temperatures to settle.

Hope things have settled a bit, as others have said could be hormones as well. I only got my girl just over a month ago and she's settled a lot from the move, but is still very hyper and I think she's possibly getting ready to lay eggs.
 
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What is a quick way to warm up a cold beardie? His heating element went out overnight and now he's very cold.
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Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

Things to do:
Buy calcium powder
Material to raise surface for basking spot
Scenery decals for back of tank

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