9 Month Old Hiding ON/OFF All Day

[RamenNoodleBDs]

Looking for some opinions on one of my 9 month olds. Within the last couple of weeks he has starting not coming out to bask in the mornings. I have been bringing him out of his hide 1-2 hours after lights come on and putting him in his basking area. He will bask for awhile and then go back to hiding. Sometimes he will put himself to bed hours before lights go off. His appetite has decreased but he still will eat a small amount of whatever I offer that day plus a little salad (waxworms, silkworms, dubia, hornworms).
We did a fecal last week that came back normal. He lives in a 4x2x2 with a 6% Arcadia bulb in a 22” fixture mounted inside (11” away) that overlaps his basking spot at the center. I measure his UVB with a Solarmeter and he sits at a 3.6 which should be perfect. We use 150w basking bulb on a dimmer and measure his spots with a temperature gun. He seemed previously to like to bask at 101-103.
I’m so confused as to what could be going on with him. Our other bearded dragon with the same age and setup is thriving with these conditions so I’m concerned with this sudden change in our other.
I doubt it’s brumation. We live in AZ where it’s still over 100 degrees most days and we haven’t changed the temperature inside the house.
Please let me know if you have any thoughts or if he is just being a moody teenager. TIA!

 

[KarrieRee]

I would change the UVB bulb out to a 12% bulb - its more adequate for the dragon and the size of the tank - that bulb is equivalent a T 8 not strong enough you want a T 5 of which that would be a 12% bulb -- and the distance is too far --- distance for the 6% bulb needs to be 6-8 inches --- please make that adjustment and see if his behavior changes -- also the basking temp I would get it down to 95-100 as they get older dragons do not like real hot --- try those things first and see what he does - hes not getting enough UVB as it sits right now which is going to effect that eating -- and make sure your getting the basking temp w/ a digital probe thermometer --- place the probe on the spot where he basks leave for 10 min or so get the temp

 

[RamenNoodleBDs]

Respectfully it took us months of trying the 6, 12 and 14% and a solarmeter to get our UVB on point. I worked with Dr. Frances Baines reptile lighting Facebook group that helped create the standard for the solarmeter and our vet to get it right. It’s not a matter of guessing if he’s getting enough UVB. I test it and he is. He was thriving that way with it for 6 months until recently eating and acting perfectly normal. We have another dragon exact same setup that is thriving. It’s not our UVB.
I’ll def try lowering the temperature and see if that helps, thank you for the suggestion.

 

[KarrieRee]

How old is the bulb? If its 6 months old I would change it---

 

[CooperDragon]

Since you're measuring the output with a Solarmeter 6.5, I'd rely on those readings. 3.6UVI in the main basking area should be plenty. The surface temps seem OK too, and if he is responding well and basking at those temps, I'd keep them as-is.

The behavior is consistent with what I see when my guy starts a brumation cycle. I've seen brumation happen at all time of the year, even mid summer when it's hot out. Do you keep a log of his weight? I usually advise keeping a log so that you can follow the trend over time. If his weight is remaining stable, then his decreased appetite and activity slowdown should just correspond to slowing his metabolism. In these cases, it's just a matter of waiting it out. Keep taking occasional weight measurements, offer some water and a small snack on days when he is alert etc.

If he is losing significant weight while showing this behavior, then there may be an underlying health condition at play. If that's the case, since the environment seems to be good and fecal check was normal, I'd consider another exam and possibly bloodwork to check if his systems are functioning as expected.

 

[RamenNoodleBDs]

Since you're measuring the output with a Solarmeter 6.5, I'd rely on those readings. 3.6UVI in the main basking area should be plenty. The surface temps seem OK too, and if he is responding well and basking at those temps, I'd keep them as-is.

The behavior is consistent with what I see when my guy starts a brumation cycle. I've seen brumation happen at all time of the year, even mid summer when it's hot out. Do you keep a log of his weight? I usually advise keeping a log so that you can follow the trend over time. If his weight is remaining stable, then his decreased appetite and activity slowdown should just correspond to slowing his metabolism. In these cases, it's just a matter of waiting it out. Keep taking occasional weight measurements, offer some water and a small snack on days when he is alert etc.

If he is losing significant weight while showing this behavior, then there may be an underlying health condition at play. If that's the case, since the environment seems to be good and fecal check was normal, I'd consider another exam and possibly bloodwork to check if his systems are functioning as expected.

Thank you so much. I’ll def start weighing him again, I used to weigh him just to be sure he was growing when he was younger but had gotten away from it.
We do use the 6.5 solarmeter. If I use the 10.0 at his basking distance he would end up sitting at a 6 which is high and it completely freaked him out once when we tried it for a bit so that’s why we do the 6% which I was assured is perfectly acceptable at his distance and measurement. I actually adjusted it a bit today overthinking it so he could sit at about a 4.0 now if basking normally.
If I see any worrisome changes we will def take him in.