RANDOM BLACK BEARD

can someone PLEASE HELP ME. Panini’s beard has been insanely dark for the past few hours and I am so worried this is so random her temps dropped VERY SLIGHTLY in her tank I don’t know if that’s what caused it I don’t know. She gets fed BSFL, collard greens, and butternut squash every morning on her salads and in the afternoon she gets 4 dubias. She’s 6 months old and her tail is shedding idk if that has something to do with it I have no idea what’s happening ive never seen her like this. she’s very alert and she was eating earlier even with the black beard her temperature is 93.7 degrees could it be that?? It’s usually between 95-100 she just took a walk around her tank and came back to her basking spot. I’m so worried that something is wrong but here beard is just dark so idk the rest of her body is normal and the end of her tail is a littleee bit dark. Is this her going thru puberty or something???

Something is causing the distress -- how old is the dragon? If she is a baby her temps should be 105-110 if she is a juvie temps should be 95-110 --- you did not mention a UVB--- what are you using for a UVB ? Brand and bulb coil or tube and where in the tank is it ? top of screen or inside the tank?
Karrie

KarrieRee":1r59wazo said:

Something is causing the distress -- how old is the dragon? If she is a baby her temps should be 105-110 if she is a juvie temps should be 95-110 --- you did not mention a UVB--- what are you using for a UVB ? Brand and bulb coil or tube and where in the tank is it ? top of screen or inside the tank?
Karrie

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She has a T5HO 10.0 UVB it sits ontop of her screen next to her basking bulb she’s 6 months old like I said so I would think that makes her a juvenile. Just today the temps lowered a bit to 93.5 I think it’s bc my house is a bit chilly bc I’m in New York so we’re about to go into fall but my room is 77 degrees so idk. I’m thinking that she may be seeing her reflection or maybe it’s bc she hasn’t pooped yet today she’s looking at herself in the reflection of the tank but she hasn’t puffed her beard or anything. I tried giving her a lil collard green leaf but she made a breathing noise that sounded like she was trying to hiss.

The screen on the tank is a fine mesh like a screen door or a wide holed screen like a dime or similar? The basking temps are being taken w/ a stick on or a digital probe thermometer?
Karrie

KarrieRee":2ktct2b6 said:

The screen on the tank is a fine mesh like a screen door or a wide holed screen like a dime or similar? The basking temps are being taken w/ a stick on or a digital probe thermometer?
Karrie

Click to expand...

I have a thermometer that has a probe stuck to the glass that came with the tank but since I found it might be inaccurate I got a digital thermometer as well, but both are in relatively the same range(I keep both in the tank). My basking temp is 93.3 with 26% humidity, the middle is 86 degrees with 35% humidity and the cool side is most likely around 70 degrees but I’m not sure ab the humidity. I just went to my room to check on her, she took a big poo and is looking better. The beard calmed down quite a bit. I feel like I might have fed her too much today. I keep the BSFL in oatmeal and they’ve been eating that, that’s the only thing I’ve really done differently the past few days. I put about 20 of them (They’re quite small) on her salad maybe that’s too much? I also skipped dusting the dubias this past week So could that have also caused this?

You need to bump her basking temp up to 105-110-- and it needs to be taken w/ the digital probe thermometer- place it on the bas
king spot for 10 minutes then get temp- the middle of the tank should be in the 90's and cool side during the day 80's- the screen on the tank is ? And the UVB? Brand and bulb coil or tube?
Karrie

KarrieRee":3fc05950 said:

You need to bump her basking temp up to 105-110-- and it needs to be taken w/ the digital probe thermometer- place it on the bas
king spot for 10 minutes then get temp- the middle of the tank should be in the 90's and cool side during the day 80's- the screen on the tank is ? And the UVB? Brand and bulb coil or tube?
Karrie

Click to expand...

The UVB is a Zoo med Reptisun T5HO 10.0 it is a tube light and the screen is like a screen door (tiny holes) do you want me to send a pic of the setup?

KarrieRee":nf73aabh said:

You need to bump her basking temp up to 105-110-- and it needs to be taken w/ the digital probe thermometer- place it on the bas
king spot for 10 minutes then get temp- the middle of the tank should be in the 90's and cool side during the day 80's- the screen on the tank is ? And the UVB? Brand and bulb coil or tube?
Karrie

Click to expand...

The UVB is a Zoo med Reptisun T5HO 10.0 it is a tube light and the screen is like a screen door (tiny holes) do you want me to send a pic of the setup?

This pic is from a few days ago

Is the UVB being obstructed by the screen or do you have it open? If it's obstructed by the screen he's not getting enough UVB- the screen is blocking 30% of the rays-- you would need to move it inside 12-15 inches directly above the basking decor
Karrie

KarrieRee":32b7l3km said:

Is the UVB being obstructed by the screen or do you have it open? If it's obstructed by the screen he's not getting enough UVB- the screen is blocking 30% of the rays-- you would need to move it inside 12-15 inches directly above the basking decor
Karrie

Click to expand...

It is being obstructed. And I don’t think I have enough height on my tank to put it inside. Is there any other way I would be able to keep the uvb from being obstructed?

Take the screen off -- how high is the tank? If its 18 inches high it would give you 3 inches for a 15" distance --- you would need to lower the basking decor - its easier to do that than mess w/ the UVB- it looks like the fixture is the same length of the tank?
Karrie