Stress??

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Hi, I've noticed that my bearded dragon is always dark. He is light when he is outside but in my room hes very dark. Recently he stopped eating and I think the the two might be connected. Hes still very active but hes been bobbing his head a lot. Could he be scared of something in my room? Any advice is helpful, thank you.
 

ComicBookMama

Sub-Adult Member
froggyfrogo":2ge75rsw said:
Hi, I've noticed that my bearded dragon is always dark. He is light when he is outside but in my room hes very dark. Recently he stopped eating and I think the the two might be connected. Hes still very active but hes been bobbing his head a lot. Could he be scared of something in my room? Any advice is helpful, thank you.

Could you go over your setup - size of hab, what brand and strength of lighting you're using, etc? That would help us figure out what might be causing the stress. When you say "when he is outside" do you mean outside under natural sunlight, or just out of his tank in another area of the house? Head bobbing is perfectly natural, and may not be a sign of stress per se - dragons bob for many reasons, and some bob at pretty much anything!
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Head bobbing is a mating ritual --- and it usually happens towards spring but can also be done anytime as well -- mine has been doing the head bobbing thing more so this year --- hes 3-- stress marks can he see himself? Temps in the tank could be too hot for him --- that would cause stress marks along w/ improper UVB --- NO coils -- lots of things to rule out
 

froggyfrogo

Member
Original Poster
Thanks for the replys, His tank is made from an old cabinet equivalent to around 60 gallons. He has a reptisun 10.0 strip uvb and an 120 watt flukers heat light with a dimmer. His basking spot has temps from 100-115. Humidity stays around 20% during the day and is usually around 40-50% at night. He doesn't really have stress marks its more like his whole body is just darker. He gets lighter When outside in natural light and sometimes when he's sleeping. His tank is on the floor so I leave the door open pretty much all day (Since he's very active) unless I cant watch him. He did eat two superworms yesterday-kind of a long story but we were outside and I found a huge isopod and two my surprise he went after it so I tricked him by putting a worm in his mouth when he went for it. Could he just be sick of supers? He's not eating his greens either but he's always been picky. But that wouldn't explain why he's always dark while inside but it could help with one problem.
 

froggyfrogo

Member
Original Poster
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He's dark like this all the time, he usually gets brighter outside like in the pictures (in the pictures it looks like its just the lighting making him lighter but he does get lighter outside) but he's still usually dark outside. all beardys are different obviously but he looks duller then others with the same morph-Hypo translucent. Translucent bearded dragons usually have darker beards naturally but his beard is completely covered while they are usually darker at the bottom, and I've seen his beard less dark. (also sorry my finger is in one of the pictures lol)
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
How old is the UVB? And it looks like distance is good - it is in the tank? No obstruction over bulb--- no cover on the fixture?
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Ok that could be why - the T 8 I recommend need to be changed out a month prior to - get it changed out and see if the black beard goes away-- the distance is 6-8 inches? Does your fixture have a reflector--
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Really? Ok so how have his poops been? Normal- firm dark and moist? Urate- white formed and moist? Really stinky?
 

froggyfrogo

Member
Original Poster
He hasn't really been eating. I took him to the vet about a week ago they said to try raising his temps and see if that helps, it didn't but they tube fed him and his poop looked normal after that. When he ate 2 or 3 bugs the other day it was runny but I assume that's because he didn't eat much but I was giving him water. The urate looked mostly normal but there was yellow. I've been dripping water onto his nose because he's not been getting water from his greens and he licks it off but after a while he opens his mouth and moves his head and tongue around, not in an angry way more like if he ate something gross I'm not sure why he does that (I think he might just want me to stop but it seems kind of weird) or if its relevant.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
The yellow is it on the edges of the urate? Are you feeding any supplements? calcium vitamins etc? I was asking about the poops cuz I thought maybe parasites? It probably wouldnt hurt to take a fecal into the vet and have it tested - just to rule it out-- do not let them do an enema --- take the sample into them ---Do you have him by a window so he can see birds any other animals in the house?
 
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