5 Month old Beardie hides in cave a lot

[Connie-Riley]

Hello, I really hope to find some help here.
We got a Bearded Dragon mid of August and we love her. We live in Florida and we keep our house it very cold. We took her to the vet for an exam and they found some parasites. We treated them with medication. All was fine, we love her. Lots of fun!
Recently it came to my attention that she's tired early. Like around 5.30 pm or so. Her light goes on at 6:30 and we feed her at 7:20. I have automatic plug timers and they were set to switch off the light at 8.30.
So I changed it to switch off at 6.30 pm. Then I realized that she starts sitting in her cave more often. Before she was basking a lot. But not anymore. She sits inside the cave and looks out. Until she hides her face and maybe sleeps.
We take her out a lot and let her run but she is still so little that we dont want her to get lost under the sofa.
She has a great appetite and eats 4 mid size Discoid roaches and 20 - 30 BSFL. All dusted with Calcium. I was at the vet bc I was very worried. He found some pin worms and we got medication but he said as long as she's eating and pooping all is fine. He mentioned maybe its a change in behavior.
I also realized that compared to the suggestions online our tank is a little cooler. Her basking spot was always around 95 and the cool side around 80. So I went to get a stronger basking lamp and installed it. But no change so far.
Then I thought maybe she's stressed. My daughter (10) takes her outside sometimes and we did take her when we are going somewhere for an hour or so. She seemed to enjoy it. Especially the car rides.
I heard from my friend who has an older Beard that they nap during the day. Ours never did that so Im thinking maybe she starts that now but my concern is that she does not get up later either. For Burmation she's to young. I really cant find out what is wrong if something is wrong. Should I just leave her alone?
The cave btw was on the hot side. I changed it to the cool side and she still sits in it. So I dont think its the temperature. I also changed her tank to the window where she can now see the whole room and we are in the room a lot. But that also did not change anything.
We have a T5 10.0 Lamp inside the tank and the vet measured the UVB level and said its perfect.
I will also post the inside of the tank. a good advice is very much appreciated. I had cats before and really want to do everything right with her.

 

[ChileanTaco]

I can, of course, not say 100 % what is going on.
But yes, bearded dragons are not basking all day long, they hide after a while as they have to regulate their temperature and not just "get as hot as possible". When they are younger, they like it hotter and bask more, so this might be a reason.
Any stress marks visible normally? I see some in the picture.

 

[Connie-Riley]

Yes, when she is in the cave she is dark and when she’s out of the tank or on the basking spot she’s not

 

[Connie-Riley]

I can, of course, not say 100 % what is going on.
But yes, bearded dragons are not basking all day long, they hide after a while as they have to regulate their temperature and not just "get as hot as possible". When they are younger, they like it hotter and bask more, so this might be a reason.
Any stress marks visible normally? I see some in the picture.

My gut feeling tells me she is stressed. The wired thing is that everything is fine in the morning and she starts hiding around noon. And we have her since 2 month and it just started a week ago or so. And she never has a black beard or anything

 

[KarrieRee]

My gut feeling tells me she is stressed. The wired thing is that everything is fine in the morning and she starts hiding around noon. And we have her since 2 month and it just started a week ago or so. And she never has a black beard or anything

What is the distance from UVB to basking decor? From the closest to the farthest-- surface basking temps are being taken w / a digital probe thermometer? I see stick ons only

 

[Connie-Riley]

What is the distance from UVB to basking decor? From the closest to the farthest-- surface basking temps are being taken w / a digital probe thermometer? I see stick ons only

That brings me to an idea! We bought a new branch at an reptile expo two weeks ago. With this one the closest to the heat lamp is 2 in and the place where she sits on is about 6 inch far under the lamp. The old branch was way smaller and she was approximately 8 to 10 inches under the lamp. The temperature was around 95 at the stick on thermometer. I purchased a digital one and it came just today. Bc the stick on showed only 95 I bought a new bulb with 150 watt before we had 100 watt. Can it probably be that she gets burned after a certain amount of time and that’s why she hides the rest of the day?

 

[Connie-Riley]

What is the distance from UVB to basking decor? From the closest to the farthest-- surface basking temps are being taken w / a digital probe thermometer? I see stick ons only

You asked for the distance to the uvb, that might be even closer bc it’s mounted inside the tank

 

[KarrieRee]

That brings me to an idea! We bought a new branch at an reptile expo two weeks ago. With this one the closest to the heat lamp is 2 in and the place where she sits on is about 6 inch far under the lamp. The old branch was way smaller and she was approximately 8 to 10 inches under the lamp. The temperature was around 95 at the stick on thermometer. I purchased a digital one and it came just today. Bc the stick on showed only 95 I bought a new bulb with 150 watt before we had 100 watt. Can it probably be that she gets burned after a certain amount of time and that’s why she hides the rest of the day?

Yes you dont want distance closer than 6 " from basking and the UVB should be 12-15 inches directly above the basking decor- digital probe thermometers are the most accurate

 

[Connie-Riley]

Yes you dont want distance closer than 6 " from basking and the UVB should be 12-15 inches directly above the basking decor- digital probe thermometers are the most accurate

Can they get burned to close?

 

[KarrieRee]

Can they get burned to close?

Yes distance for basking bulb 6" + - you want the surface basking temps 105-110 for a 5 month old at 6 months it will drop to 95-100-- digital probe thermometer please

 

[Connie-Riley]

Yes distance for basking bulb 6" + - you want the surface basking temps 105-110 for a 5 month old at 6 months it will drop to 95-100-- digital probe thermometer please

Omg! I change it right away!

 

[Connie-Riley]

I tested it out now with the digital laser thermometer. The basking spot is 125 at the surface where she sits normally! The coolest spot is 90! I might burned her the whole time.

 

[KarrieRee]

I tested it out now with the digital laser thermometer. The basking spot is 125 at the surface where she sits normally! The coolest spot is 90! I might burned her the whole time.

If that thermometer is correct it is way too hot-- please get a digital probe thermometer -- cool side needs to be 80ish 90 is too hot --