I’m a newbie to reptiles and here with my new buddy Sushi! Any advice appreciated! ♥️

[theslee]

Hello, I’m so glad you came to check out my post! Please help me figure out what I’m doing wrong for Sushi. We’ve had out baby (breeder guessed Aug.2021) for almost a month now and she’s not eating. She is in a 4’x2’x2’ birch enclosure, t5 10.0 36” uvb, 150w zoomed basking bulb(can’t get halogen in CA) and 100w che. Basking with temp gun is 100-110, ambient 95 and 72. I can’t get her basking above 95 without the che. UVB is 12” from basking spot, both heat bulbs are 16” from basking. All 3 bulbs are on 7am-7pm, everything is turned off at night. At 9am I replace her water dish and offer a salad of collard, dandelion and/or arugula, topped with butternut squash or carrot (it stays all day, she rarely eats any). 12pm and 5pm dubias, mealworms or BSFL offered. I remove her water dish and food around 6. We started with crickets when we first got her, she ate them for two days then refused. Same with the dubias, I have a ton and she ate them at first but she now refuses. The past few days she will only eat mealworms. I took her to the vet a week ago. He said she was healthy. He also told me she can absorb water through her skin and that vit.d3 is water soluble and can’t overdose. I researched both after and I’m pretty sure he’s wrong. I’m concerned and overwhelmed. I am dusting feeders with calcium weekdays (a mix of with 3D and without because Repti-cal is 400,000 iu/kg *shocked face*) and Repti-Cal multivit. weekends, but she barely eats, so… I’ve been weighing her since 1/1 and she fluctuates between 25g-27g (except 1/2 & today 23g). She’s 9 inches. Been shedding on and off for 3ish weeks. Anything I’m forgetting to help determine what the problem could be?
I added two more pictures one from today, the side of her lip looks red, and her poop from today. Very watery.

 

[theslee]

3D

D3

 

[KarrieRee]

Hello, I’m so glad you came to check out my post! Please help me figure out what I’m doing wrong for Sushi. We’ve had out baby (breeder guessed Aug.2021) for almost a month now and she’s not eating. She is in a 4’x2’x2’ birch enclosure, t5 10.0 36” uvb, 150w zoomed basking bulb(can’t get halogen in CA) and 100w che. Basking with temp gun is 100-110, ambient 95 and 72. I can’t get her basking above 95 without the che. UVB is 12” from basking spot, both heat bulbs are 16” from basking. All 3 bulbs are on 7am-7pm, everything is turned off at night. At 9am I replace her water dish and offer a salad of collard, dandelion and/or arugula, topped with butternut squash or carrot (it stays all day, she rarely eats any). 12pm and 5pm dubias, mealworms or BSFL offered. I remove her water dish and food around 6. We started with crickets when we first got her, she ate them for two days then refused. Same with the dubias, I have a ton and she ate them at first but she now refuses. The past few days she will only eat mealworms. I took her to the vet a week ago. He said she was healthy. He also told me she can absorb water through her skin and that vit.d3 is water soluble and can’t overdose. I researched both after and I’m pretty sure he’s wrong. I’m concerned and overwhelmed. I am dusting feeders with calcium weekdays (a mix of with 3D and without because Repti-cal is 400,000 iu/kg *shocked face*) and Repti-Cal multivit. weekends, but she barely eats, so… I’ve been weighing her since 1/1 and she fluctuates between 25g-27g (except 1/2 & today 23g). She’s 9 inches. Been shedding on and off for 3ish weeks. Anything I’m forgetting to help determine what the problem could be?
I added two more pictures one from today, the side of her lip looks red, and her poop from today. Very watery.

Ok the distance from the uvb is what to the basking decor?It should be 12-15 inches directly above the basking decor- surface basking temps need to be 105-110 your ambient of 95 in that area is fine but you need a digital probe thermometer to get surface basking temps set the probe on the spot where he sits to bask wait 10 min or so get the temp- please No more meal worms she's hooked - offer the bsfl on top of the salads as a lure first thing in the morning- superworms 1-3 every other day or so - then feed your dubias- after the salads the bsfl are a great staple feeder- dragons do not absorb water thru their skin rinse the greens before serving- try dropping water on her nose see if she will lick or try a eye dropper -

 

[theslee]

Ok the distance from the uvb is what to the basking decor?It should be 12-15 inches directly above the basking decor- surface basking temps need to be 105-110 your ambient of 95 in that area is fine but you need a digital probe thermometer to get surface basking temps set the probe on the spot where he sits to bask wait 10 min or so get the temp- please No more meal worms she's hooked - offer the bsfl on top of the salads as a lure first thing in the morning- superworms 1-3 every other day or so - then feed your dubias- after the salads the bsfl are a great staple feeder- dragons do not absorb water thru their skin rinse the greens before serving- try dropping water on her nose see if she will lick or try a eye dropper -

Thank you so much for your response! Her UVB is 12" from the top of her basking spot. The UVB is housed inside and the other two heat bulbs are sitting on the screen so they're 4" above the UVB bulb. Her basking spot is two rocks and she gets a variety of temperatures, I rely on the infrared thermometer for basking surface temp. Currently the only probe is the Inkbird thermostat in the left corner connected to the che to keep ambient at 96. Are you saying I should have an additional probe thermometer sitting on the top of her basking spot? Please elaborate because I have tried a few things and I'm still unsure what is the right way. If I place that thermostat probe (metal tip) on her basking spot it reads higher than the infrared thermometer. I will stop the mealworms , I didn't offer them today but she didn't eat anything today. I will start off her day with bsfl on her salad. Superworm order didn't survive transit. Fingers crossed we get them this week. I do wash and dry my produce when I bring it home. I pull a little from the fridge, rinse it and break it up for her. She puffs up her beard and closes her eyes if I try to hand feed her. When is not eating concerning? When should I give in and offer mealworms again, or never?

 

[KarrieRee]

Thank you so much for your response! Her UVB is 12" from the top of her basking spot. The UVB is housed inside and the other two heat bulbs are sitting on the screen so they're 4" above the UVB bulb. Her basking spot is two rocks and she gets a variety of temperatures, I rely on the infrared thermometer for basking surface temp. Currently the only probe is the Inkbird thermostat in the left corner connected to the che to keep ambient at 96. Are you saying I should have an additional probe thermometer sitting on the top of her basking spot? Please elaborate because I have tried a few things and I'm still unsure what is the right way. If I place that thermostat probe (metal tip) on her basking spot it reads higher than the infrared thermometer. I will stop the mealworms , I didn't offer them today but she didn't eat anything today. I will start off her day with bsfl on her salad. Superworm order didn't survive transit. Fingers crossed we get them this week. I do wash and dry my produce when I bring it home. I pull a little from the fridge, rinse it and break it up for her. She puffs up her beard and closes her eyes if I try to hand feed her. When is not eating concerning? When should I give in and offer mealworms again, or never?

No more meal worms -- to get a accurate surface basking temp use the digital probe thermometer- 105-110-- please get another digital probe thermometer- keep it on the cool side- 80's during the day - get some bsfl these are a great staple feeder for babies feed them on top of her salads first thing in the morning- www.symtonbsf.com do not dust them- these are a good compliment to the main staple feeder- your zoo med basking bulb is the Exo Terra intense bulb? Is it a clear bright white bulb ? No daytime bulbs!

 

[theslee]

No more meal worms -- to get a accurate surface basking temp use the digital probe thermometer- 105-110-- please get another digital probe thermometer- keep it on the cool side- 80's during the day - get some bsfl these are a great staple feeder for babies feed them on top of her salads first thing in the morning- www.symtonbsf.com do not dust them- these are a good compliment to the main staple feeder- your zoo med basking bulb is the Exo Terra intense bulb? Is it a clear bright white bulb ? No daytime bulbs!

 

[theslee]

Ordering two digital probe thermometers
No meal worms. Offer bsfl
I’ll attach what I have for the basking bulb. It’s bright and hot but with both bulbs (basking and che) on full at 7 am it takes more than two hours to heat up, depending on how cold it got.

 

[KarrieRee]

Ordering two digital probe thermometers
No meal worms. Offer bsfl
I’ll attach what I have for the basking bulb. It’s bright and hot but with both bulbs (basking and che) on full at 7 am it takes more than two hours to heat up, depending on how cold it got.

Ok so before you do anything w/ the basking bulb you want a actual surface basking temp- you have options on how to increase the temp but we want the temp first then we will go from there-- is she basking on the spot she needs to be ? For how long? Is she gaping when sitting there? From the pic the rock looks like it's not under it- take the probe you have now and set it on the rock- where does she sit under the uvb?

 

[KarrieRee]

Ok so before you do anything w/ the basking bulb you want a actual surface basking temp- you have options on how to increase the temp but we want the temp first then we will go from there-- is she basking on the spot she needs to be ? For how long? Is she gaping when sitting there? From the pic the rock looks like it's not under it- take the probe you have now and set it on the rock- where does she sit under the uvb?

I am going to have ahbd look at her mouth
@AHBD

 

[theslee]

Ok so before you do anything w/ the basking bulb you want a actual surface basking temp- you have options on how to increase the temp but we want the temp first then we will go from there-- is she basking on the spot she needs to be ? For how long? Is she gaping when sitting there? From the pic the rock looks like it's not under it- take the probe you have now and set it on the rock- where does she sit under the uvb?

 

[theslee]

Ok so before you do anything w/ the basking bulb you want a actual surface basking temp- you have options on how to increase the temp but we want the temp first then we will go from there-- is she basking on the spot she needs to be ? For how long? Is she gaping when sitting there? From the pic the rock looks like it's not under it- take the probe you have now and set it on the rock- where does she sit under

She spends 99% of her day in the green circle. The yellow strip is where I believe her uvb is directly under and the red dot is directly below her basking bulb. She spends, I’d say, 100% of the morning 7-11am on the highest part of the rock. Once it warms up she moves lower but rarely leaves the rocks at all. I saw her gape a little today. She’s in a separate bedroom. I put a baby monitor in the top of her enclosure to check on her without disturbing her. I’m pretty sure she can still tell when I turn it on. Her gaping also looks like puffing her beard and letting it escape her lips. She really likes to do this often. I can’t always tell what she’s doing.

 

[theslee]

She spends 99% of her day in the green circle. The yellow strip is where I believe her uvb is directly under and the red dot is directly below her basking bulb. She spends, I’d say, 100% of the morning 7-11am on the highest part of the rock. Once it warms up she moves lower but rarely leaves the rocks at all. I saw her gape a little today. She’s in a separate bedroom. I put a baby monitor in the top of her enclosure to check on her without disturbing her. I’m pretty sure she can still tell when I turn it on. Her gaping also looks like puffing her beard and letting it escape her lips. She really likes to do this often. I can’t always tell what she’s doing.

This is a better illustration of where her uvb is. All the bulbs are clustered to where the two heat bulbs on top barely overlap the uvb. The uvb is hung on a piece of wood and if I move it forward I have to move all the bulbs or somehow angle the two heat bulbs so they’re not directed to the top of the wood piece.

 

[KarrieRee]

This is a better illustration of where her uvb is. All the bulbs are clustered to where the two heat bulbs on top barely overlap the uvb. The uvb is hung on a piece of wood and if I move it forward I have to move all the bulbs or somehow angle the two heat bulbs so they’re not directed to the top of the wood piece.

So shes gaping that is good - get some temps all around the area shes in -- she is getting what she needs so I would not change anything -- please post some better pics of her mouth -- I dont think its your lighting causing the not eating issue but for the bulbs to be taking 2 hrs to heat up is not right -- I was having a issue w/ mine doing the same thing here the last month or so or longer anyway my dome blew out but it was really old like years so first the bulb went then the dome and the bulb was not that old so dome was replaced and now it heats up really fast -- how old is your dome and what brand is it -- I replaced mine w/ a Thrive not sure how good it is but we are going to find out -- has she eaten anything today- w/ the CHE on your tank should not take that long to heat ---- how many basking bulbs do you have now? I would change out the bulb could be a dud --- test those bulbs and see if the heating gets faster w/ the other one- another thing is your tank on the floor? Or is it in a cold room? That will cause tanks to heat longer --

 

[theslee]

So shes gaping that is good - get some temps all around the area shes in -- she is getting what she needs so I would not change anything -- please post some better pics of her mouth -- I dont think its your lighting causing the not eating issue but for the bulbs to be taking 2 hrs to heat up is not right -- I was having a issue w/ mine doing the same thing here the last month or so or longer anyway my dome blew out but it was really old like years so first the bulb went then the dome and the bulb was not that old so dome was replaced and now it heats up really fast -- how old is your dome and what brand is it -- I replaced mine w/ a Thrive not sure how good it is but we are going to find out -- has she eaten anything today- w/ the CHE on your tank should not take that long to heat ---- how many basking bulbs do you have now? I would change out the bulb could be a dud --- test those bulbs and see if the heating gets faster w/ the other one- another thing is your tank on the floor? Or is it in a cold room? That will cause tanks to heat longer --

I just changed out her basking bulb for a brand new one and removed the dimmer I had attached. The dome with the basking is new in Dec., it's a Tekizoo 8.5" deep light dome. It's just after 7:30 here so she hasn't eaten yet. I do usually turn off all heat and lights at night but last night her che was left on until 2am. It only got down to 69 at the lowest and only for a short time. I do live in a drafty, old house. Her room is actually one of the warmest but her lows are usually around 65. The tank is on a plastic table.

 

[theslee]

I just changed out her basking bulb for a brand new one and removed the dimmer I had attached. The dome with the basking is new in Dec., it's a Tekizoo 8.5" deep light dome. It's just after 7:30 here so she hasn't eaten yet. I do usually turn off all heat and lights at night but last night her che was left on until 2am. It only got down to 69 at the lowest and only for a short time. I do live in a drafty, old house. Her room is actually one of the warmest but her lows are usually around 65. The tank is on a plastic table.

This is the best picture I have from yesterday. I will take more pictures of her mouth today when I take her her breakfast and weigh her.