Had my rescue Beardie since January this year. He was ‘donated’ to me as his previous owners had lost interest some years ago & finally got to the stage where he was almost skeletal & has a bit of MBD/arthritis.
I took him on as I couldn’t bear the thought of him being neglected - you may remember me posting about him way back in January. He’s around 10 years old. Small for an adult male. Came to me in a glass tank around 2ft by 1ft. With a heat mat & old UVB coil type lamp.
He’s now in a 4 x 2ft viv. Arcadia UVB strip light T5 12%. 75w basking lamp. His temps are 38 in basking. 28 hot end. 20/21 cool end. Eats well, has put on masses of weight. Shed for the first time in years a couple of months ago. Has baths regularly, in the beginning with added ReptoBoost to get him healthy. Poo normal. Was checked by a vet when I first took him on. Vet was happy that with a bit of TLC, he would be a happy dragon again.
My question is this - some days, he’s absolutely frantic in his tank. So active that I’m scared he’s going to do himself an injury (having questionable MBD issues/arthritis). He literally throws himself off his logs & hammock. Glass surfs like he’s being chased by monsters. Other days, he’s as chill as chill can be. I feel that this is not normal. Do you agree?
He basks quite happily & heats up beautifully, then off he goes on his frantic mission. I take him out the tank & can barely hold him as he’s jumping around so much.
I let him run around the house but he often just goes to the patio window & starts glass surfing there.
He has a run in the garden & gets out when the temperature outside allows.
I hate seeing him so frantic :-(. And he must be stressing himself out. Other days he basks all day & doesn’t move a muscle.
I wonder sometimes, could he be too warm? Having never been kept in a proper Viv before? With inadequate heat & light? He doesn’t go to the cool end very often unless it’s nighttime & he’s ready for sleeping. I just can’t understand it. The reason I wonder about the heat is because I’ve tried periodically turning his heat lamp off - just to try. I know this cools him down so he will naturally be less active, but he just seems happier when it’s not as hot. Has any body more experienced got any suggestions?
I took him on as I couldn’t bear the thought of him being neglected - you may remember me posting about him way back in January. He’s around 10 years old. Small for an adult male. Came to me in a glass tank around 2ft by 1ft. With a heat mat & old UVB coil type lamp.
He’s now in a 4 x 2ft viv. Arcadia UVB strip light T5 12%. 75w basking lamp. His temps are 38 in basking. 28 hot end. 20/21 cool end. Eats well, has put on masses of weight. Shed for the first time in years a couple of months ago. Has baths regularly, in the beginning with added ReptoBoost to get him healthy. Poo normal. Was checked by a vet when I first took him on. Vet was happy that with a bit of TLC, he would be a happy dragon again.
My question is this - some days, he’s absolutely frantic in his tank. So active that I’m scared he’s going to do himself an injury (having questionable MBD issues/arthritis). He literally throws himself off his logs & hammock. Glass surfs like he’s being chased by monsters. Other days, he’s as chill as chill can be. I feel that this is not normal. Do you agree?
He basks quite happily & heats up beautifully, then off he goes on his frantic mission. I take him out the tank & can barely hold him as he’s jumping around so much.
I let him run around the house but he often just goes to the patio window & starts glass surfing there.
He has a run in the garden & gets out when the temperature outside allows.
I hate seeing him so frantic :-(. And he must be stressing himself out. Other days he basks all day & doesn’t move a muscle.
I wonder sometimes, could he be too warm? Having never been kept in a proper Viv before? With inadequate heat & light? He doesn’t go to the cool end very often unless it’s nighttime & he’s ready for sleeping. I just can’t understand it. The reason I wonder about the heat is because I’ve tried periodically turning his heat lamp off - just to try. I know this cools him down so he will naturally be less active, but he just seems happier when it’s not as hot. Has any body more experienced got any suggestions?