Brumating? Eggs? Overweight?

Shotty.Sub

Member
Beardie name(s)
Fiona
TLDR

Hi, our female beardie has been slowing down eating a bit and starting to spend more time in her hide. It's our first beardie so was wondering if we could get some guidance on her behavior. She's not showing abnormal stress lines, any mucus, and poop looks normal (more details below). We live in Florida. Wondering if she could be getting ready for brumation, laying eggs, or a bit overweight? If we let her out of the cage she'll run around quite a bit. So, doesn't seem like she can't move. I've typed out all her info below and included some pictures.

Additional Info

Size
-About 16 inches long, 16oz in weight, recently weight 17.8oz but hadn't pooped in a week

Vet Visit
-Recently had parasites, did 3 doses, 3 days, at the beginning of the month for two months

Tank
-120 Gallon Tank

Lighting
-Lights are on 8am to 8pm
-Two “Two T5 ReptiSun 10.0 UVB, 24 Inch, 17 Watt. No Screen. 8-14 inches from basking spots
-150 Watt Heat Lamp Bulb

Temperature (Fahrenheit) & Humidity
-Varies slightly, but usually 98-103 on the basking spot and 78-81 on the far cool side of the tank. Using a IR thermometer, but also keep a general ambient thermometer on that is around 80-85 most days.
-Humidity stays around 35% though at night it sometimes goes up to 40ish

Hygiene
-Bathing once every 1x a week, unless shed needs assistance

Diet&Poop
-4-6 crickets, 6x a week. Collards every day. Blueberries and hornworms as treats.
-Calcium 4-5x a week, Multivitamin with D3 1x a week
-Feeding crickets in large separate container for exercise and sanitation.
-Previous owner was feeding gut load super worms, collards, and occasional blue berries.
-Poops 1x a week, good firm brown poop. Urate is a tad hard, but liquid is in the poop.

Enrichment
-We let her out to run around on the floor a few times a week

We're incredibly grateful for all the support here, we're finishing up her tank set up then going to share some pictures. We love her very much.
 

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KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
TLDR

Hi, our female beardie has been slowing down eating a bit and starting to spend more time in her hide. It's our first beardie so was wondering if we could get some guidance on her behavior. She's not showing abnormal stress lines, any mucus, and poop looks normal (more details below). We live in Florida. Wondering if she could be getting ready for brumation, laying eggs, or a bit overweight? If we let her out of the cage she'll run around quite a bit. So, doesn't seem like she can't move. I've typed out all her info below and included some pictures.

Additional Info

Size
-About 16 inches long, 16oz in weight, recently weight 17.8oz but hadn't pooped in a week

Vet Visit
-Recently had parasites, did 3 doses, 3 days, at the beginning of the month for two months

Tank
-120 Gallon Tank

Lighting
-Lights are on 8am to 8pm
-Two “Two T5 ReptiSun 10.0 UVB, 24 Inch, 17 Watt. No Screen. 8-14 inches from basking spots
-150 Watt Heat Lamp Bulb

Temperature (Fahrenheit) & Humidity
-Varies slightly, but usually 98-103 on the basking spot and 78-81 on the far cool side of the tank. Using a IR thermometer, but also keep a general ambient thermometer on that is around 80-85 most days.
-Humidity stays around 35% though at night it sometimes goes up to 40ish

Hygiene
-Bathing once every 1x a week, unless shed needs assistance

Diet&Poop
-4-6 crickets, 6x a week. Collards every day. Blueberries and hornworms as treats.
-Calcium 4-5x a week, Multivitamin with D3 1x a week
-Feeding crickets in large separate container for exercise and sanitation.
-Previous owner was feeding gut load super worms, collards, and occasional blue berries.
-Poops 1x a week, good firm brown poop. Urate is a tad hard, but liquid is in the poop.

Enrichment
-We let her out to run around on the floor a few times a week

We're incredibly grateful for all the support here, we're finishing up her tank set up then going to share some pictures. We love her very much.
Not brumating and doesnt sound like shes gravid-- I am thinking its fall and the eating is slowing because of that-- I would take one of the UVB's down or off - she doesnt need two of them --- the screen on the tank is a fine mesh or a wide hole type? this is going to determine placement for the UVB --- it will cut down 30% of the rays w/ a fine mesh-- the basking decor piece needs to be directly under 12-15 inches IF ITS INSIDE the tank --- on top of screen it should be 8-10 directly under --- but it must be a WIDE HOLE type for proper rays -- she could be hiding from the UVB -- they need to be able to sit in the tank w/ out having to hide from the rays- please make the adjustments and see what she does -- but I am thinking its more of the weather related --
 

Shotty.Sub

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Fiona
Hi! So, I keep one light off usually. The other is 8-10 inches from the top of her basking spot. However she's often times not staying up there very long and entering her hide. Should I be concerned about the lack of UV light she's getting?
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Hi! So, I keep one light off usually. The other is 8-10 inches from the top of her basking spot. However she's often times not staying up there very long and entering her hide. Should I be concerned about the lack of UV light she's getting?
The info said no screen - is there a screen in between the uvb and her? Is not then the 8-10 inches is too close- that's why she's not under it for very long bulb is too strong-
 

Shotty.Sub

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Fiona
The info said no screen - is there a screen in between the uvb and her? Is not then the 8-10 inches is too close- that's why she's not under it for very long bulb is too strong-
Hi, there is no screen between her and the UV light and it's about 10 inches away from her basking spot. Should I change the bulb?
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Hi, there is no screen between her and the UV light and it's about 10 inches away from her basking spot. Should I change the bulb?
Only change the bulb if its close to a year old --- increase the distance 12-15 inches --- use a different basking decor piece if you haft to -- see what the distance is from the rock you have in the middle of the tank --- place it directly under the UVB --
 

Shotty.Sub

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Fiona
Only change the bulb if its close to a year old --- increase the distance 12-15 inches --- use a different basking decor piece if you haft to -- see what the distance is from the rock you have in the middle of the tank --- place it directly under the UVB --
Hi, sorry for the slow reply.

So, the basking spot is layered, so she has a range of 12 inches to about 20 inches away from the light, I've noticed she tends to bask longer if we set her on the bottom of the rock instead. The ground still gets a little over 95 degrees. Does that all sound sufficient?

We also have her in the dining room (for about 2 months now) as we're remodeling my office. So, I wonder if she's hiding from all the commotion. Vacuums, cooking, dogs, etc.

We're gonna take her to the vet today to get a check up, just in case too :)
 

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