New Beardie owner with health concerns

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Hi Everyone! New Beardie owner and first time posting. We got Rexie back in September, so she (we think) is about 6-7 months old. I started to get concerned about 2 weeks ago when she slowed down her eating, she wasn't very active and stopped pooping. After reading through a lot of these posts, it seems as though she was going through brumation. But I was still concerned because she did not poop at all for almost two weeks even though she would eat a little every day. Her diet consists of greens, crickets and a few super worms. I've tried every fruit recommended for Beardies but she refuses to eat them. I continued to bath her hoping it would help. I gave her another bath last night and massaged her belly. It must have worked cause she pooped today. And bigit's big, like a human turd. My son was home at the time so all I have is a picture. Yes I know I shouldn't use crushed shell for her substrate. But I didn't know at the time. I do have a new, bigger tank for her but didn't want to move her just yet till I knew she was okay. And her new tank has tile, not loose substrate. I just want to know if this is normal behavior and poop. My son said there wasn't any shell in her poop either, it's just black.
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CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
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If she was backed up, the larger than normal poop is to be expected. She may have been dehyrated or perhaps her lighting/temps aren't quite right which is causing some digestion issues. I'd go ahead and move her to the larger tank though. I prefer giving them more space as soon as possible so if it's ready to go, I'd use it. I can also review the setup if you'd like. Details about the lighting you have in place, distances, and surface temperatures are helpful.
 

BeardieRexinEffect

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Original Poster
The new tank is 75 gal. So any help with lighting and temps would be great. I have an old house with gas heat and vents on every wall. So her tank is right near a vent if that makes a difference. I usually keep the house temp between 68-70 deg. Her lighting now is an exo-terra all in one 150 watt. She also has a heat mat under the tank, same side as the lamp. I wont be using the mat in her new tank. I have a new banking half log and drift wood in her new tank. And just her food and water dish. I would like to put a few live plants in there as well.
 

CooperDragon

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Staff member
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With a larger tank, I'd use a halogen flood light for basking. If you have a mesh top you can set it on an adjustable stand and raise/lower it to adjust temps. They are also dimmable which is nice. I highly recommend using a T5 UVB light. A 22'' (24'' fixture) should do the trick. It should sit about 12'' above the main basking area for best results. Adjust the basking light so you get surface temps about 100-105 on the main basking area with areas around it in the 90s and a gradient down to about 75-80 or so on the cool side. It may take some trial and error to get this right but once you have it down, it should be fairly consistent aside from seasonal changes that affect the house temps.
 

BeardieRexinEffect

New member
Original Poster
Thank you for all that information. It's really helpful. Since my last reply, she seems to be back to "normal" I think I may have been giving her too many vitamins. And I've been bathing her more. She's more active and seems happier.
 

BeardieRexinEffect

New member
Original Poster
New tank is set up, no more sand. I switched to tiles. I just want to make sure I'm clear on the lighting. The Solar glo is what I have 150w. It came with her 20 gal set up. The T5 is what I need to add to her tank along with the Solar glo? I ordered it off Amazon and will be here tomorrow.
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Again I appreciate all the help.
 

Aaradimian

Juvie Member
Hi,

Yes, beardies need both UV and a white basking lamp, and what you show there should be good as long as proper distances are maintained for both. I've found that regular 75W incandescent flood light bulbs are about right for basking spots. Higher than that & I've had trouble with bulb distance vs. temp at the basking spot (too high). Also, those basking bulbs are expensive & burn out way too fast IMO. You'll want to get a dimmer for your basking light and an IR temp gun, which can be gotten online or at a Home Depot, etc. This will allow you to more easily fine tune the temperature to "just right" for your beardie.

Regarding UV, the main consideration is to not have anything between the light & the dragon: no screens, no plastic covers over the bulb, and so on. Usually, you can cut small slits in the wire mesh top that comes with aquariums and mount your UV underneath it using zip ties or similar. As far as the appropriate distance, that will depend on the bulb. I'm not sure what the max. is for the one you showed, but I have it just out of reach of my beardie shining down on his basking log. In a 50 gal tank, I believe the T5 with reflector is strong enough to give adequate UV at the bottom of the tank, but more experienced posters may be able to weigh in on that. I hope its the case because that's how mine is set up!
 
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