Sleeping all day long

I have a 3 month old beardie. I’ve had home for about 2 weeks & within the past two days he’s been sleeping all day long & not basking. If I wake him up, he will chase his pray & eat them. He seems perfectly normal other than sleeping. He has also been closing one eye at a time. It’s not always the same eye so it’s not an eye infection. One side of his tank is at 103 & the cool side is at 81. Any ideas?

I moved this from Website Comments to Behavior.


The surface temps seem to be in a good range. Which type of UVB light are you using? Can you post some photos of him and his setup? You can upload photos here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and post them to your thread using the XIMG button when you reply.

I've attached his tank and the place he keeps sleeping. This is where he is basically all day.

Make sure you have a reputable brand basking bulb the incorrect light can cause eye issues and they need the correct spectrum of light to see colors and for natural feeding and cognitive functions . It doesn't seem you have a uvb light by the looks of it you need a t5 ho fixture with a uvb tube bulb if not over a screen you need a t8 fixture and bulb. As far as where he is staying it seems like hes trying to get closet to the heat. I would offer a diffrenet type of driftwood he can climb upwards on the offer a better tempature gradient can always repurpose your thrive desert branch else where in the enclosure or use another driftwood to lean on it or over it.You dont really want them to eat if there not basking and regulating there body temperatures as the food can sit and rot inside their intestinal track try to set him ontop of his basking area to encourage basking and dont feed 2 hours before sleep time as they need 2 hours to get their digestion done. Sometimes they close eyes at different times so maybe not an issue but let us run over what lights and bulbs you have to make sure it isnt a problem developing

The light on top offers uvb as well as heat. It’s a zoo med brand. I don’t think he’s trying to get closer to heat as he will only go in the shady area up there & never sleeps under the light.

Heatherw21":3nv53w0a said:

The light on top offers uvb as well as heat. It’s a zoo med brand. I don’t think he’s trying to get closer to heat as he will only go in the shady area up there & never sleeps under the light.

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Yeah it most likely is getting little to no uvb unless you have one of the 60$ powersun or mercury vapor bulbs you need a tube light for uvb . What is your basking bulb called ? Not all bulbs emit uvb and even the ones that do most dont emit enough to have a singular bulb. Look how dark is is on the side without your light you need a uvb tube fixture and light. Ypu should have no light on at night when he should be sleeping if you need nignt time heat youll need a Ceramic heat bulb

I currently have a 160 watt solar glo by exo terra