Absolute irritated dragon

[IBLopez33]

Lately i can't seem to make the little guy happy or atleast not so stressed out. He's about 3 1/2 months old, he has a UVB reptisun 10.0 UVB coil bulb (diamond blue colored light) and a 150W basking bulb that he can get up to about 5 inches close to. His cool side of the tank is 80 degrees F and basking side about 95-100 degrees F. He has always been on a mealworm diet with calcium powder on them, his appitite is great and never seems malnurished or hungry he also has a water bowl in there with him as well. Now that thats out of the way, his behavior seems so hyper and anrgy and stressed. Whenever i come home and am in my room where he can see me he's happy and full of colour and roaming but once i leave or i turn my BEDROOM LIGHT off he gets angry and tries climbing the sides of the tank which are glass and then he breaks out in stress marks that are very dark. He'll then climb on this plastic bar across the tank which is for air flow (for those of those who don't know look up exo terra tank 24 inch and you'll understand) anyway even though most of you are probably saying he probably wants to be held because he's happy when i'm around, i would disagree because anytime i stick my hand in there no matter how slow or careful, he opens his mouth and puffs his beard just like a defensive dragon would act. I have no idea why hes like this, if its age, his habitat, i don'( know just need some help.

 

[LouP]

May sound stupid but do you talk to him. Mine calms down when I speak and lets me pick him up. I swear he's actually listening to me sometimes and if I say crickets he gets all excited. Very strange lol.

LouP

 

[kingofnobbys]

I'm darned sure all my lizards all listen very attentively to me when I talk to them. Their body language is a give away.

A lot more going on between their ears than most give them credit for.

 

[kingofnobbys]

You absolutely need to ween him of the mealworms only diet. Extremely bad feeder insect choice especially for such a young beardie , you are risking liver disease and serious impaction if you continue giving him only mealworms ( essentially they are treats only for beardies older than 12 months old ).

If he'll only take worms, try him on small and medium silkworms.
He should be on two (minimum !!) live insect meals per day.

Essentially the best insects to feed him are :
phoenix worms (BSF maggots)
silkworms
crickets or roaches ... gutload and dusted with Calcium powder.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Lately i can't seem to make the little guy happy or atleast not so stressed out. He's about 3 1/2 months old, he has a UVB reptisun 10.0 UVB coil bulb (diamond blue colored light) and a 150W basking bulb that he can get up to about 5 inches close to.<<<< 5 inches away from a 150W basking bulb is EXTREMELY DANGEROUS as he WILL BE eventually start reaching up and touching it and trying to climb onto it , the globe needs to out reach and preferably in a cage.
His cool side of the tank is 80 degrees F and basking side about 95-100 degrees F. He has always been on a mealworm diet with calcium powder on them, his appitite is great and never seems malnurished or hungry he also has a water bowl in there with him as well. Now that thats out of the way, his behavior seems so hyper and anrgy and stressed. Whenever i come home and am in my room where he can see me he's happy and full of colour and roaming but once i leave or i turn my BEDROOM LIGHT off he gets angry and tries climbing the sides of the tank which are glass and then he breaks out in stress marks that are very dark. <<<< he is telling you he wants more attention and he's not ready to go to sleep. He'll then climb on this plastic bar across the tank which is for air flow (for those of those who don't know look up exo terra tank 24 inch and you'll understand) anyway even though most of you are probably saying he probably wants to be held because he's happy when i'm around, i would disagree because anytime i stick my hand in there no matter how slow or careful, he opens his mouth and puffs his beard just like a defensive dragon would act. I have no idea why hes like this, if its age, his habitat, i don'( know just need some help.

You need to work on trust building with him , I find hand feeding some the insects each day works wonders in building a good strong trusting bond with lizards.

He is defensive of his tank, it's his territory, he'll eventually calm down and learn to trust you.

 

[JessPets]

You NEED a new UV light!!! The coil ones are horrible for their eyes, and can eventually lead to permeant damage! You need either the ReptiSun 10.0 TUBE or an Arcadia. And, as others said, stop feeding mealworms. They can cause impaction with can be life threatening.

 

[IBLopez33]

He can get within 5 inches of his basking light (meaning thats the highest he can get) theres a long log under it so where he feels comfortable he can move from. To correct myself on my UVB bulb its not a coil like i thought, heres a link to the one i have --> https://www.chewy.com/zoo-med-reptisun-100-uvb-compact/dp/126581?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=f&utm_content=Zoo%20Med&utm_term=&gclid=COS8maeX9NACFQZLDQodioQHyA&gclsrc=aw.ds .... next thing is yes i talk softly to him as i introduce myself to him everytime when i would like to pick him up. Today he seemed happier, he did open his mouth once to me but i instead took some collard green and offered it to him, didn't have much interest but after that i was able to touch him with little to no scurry or fret. Currently i have his tank open and im sitting here just interacting with him. I really want a bond with him but i'm new at owning a beardie. I'm going to switch his food from the meal worms all the time to the other varity of insects that everyone has listed mixed with more veggies. If anyone can give me more tips on bonding with him that would be much appriciated too!

 

[JessPets]

That is still the wrong bulb. Coils and compacts (which is what you have) can damage their eyes

 

[IBLopez33]

heres how he looks if anyone wanted to see his condition

 

[NewMomLyn]

This would be a better choice for UVB lighting: https://www.chewy.com/zoo-med-reptisun-100-uvb-fluorescent/dp/126591
The T8 style would be inside the tank, the T5 Style could be on top, outside the tank.

 

[kingofnobbys]

That is still the wrong bulb. Coils and compacts (which is what you have) can damage their eyes

I think the issue with some coil compact style UV globes has been largely resolved by the better manufacturers (but is probably still a risk with encheapo chinese clones and knockoffs that are usually sold as "shop" brand -IMO these are definitely best avoided and are also a false economy as they tend to have much shorter lives).
I have been using 26W and 13W UVB200s for my beardies for over 4 years , no problems AT ALL.


Bonding - never chase him in his tank , all he'll see a looming monster and a 5 headed monster chasing him , and it will only reinforce his fear of you.
Bonding - hand feed some of his insects to him each morning along with lots of petting while he's on your tummy or chest and talking reassuringly to him in a quiet voice. Make it a daily ritual and routine. Works wonders I find.

 

[JessPets]

That is still the wrong bulb. Coils and compacts (which is what you have) can damage their eyes

I think the issue with some coil compact style UV globes has been largely resolved by the better manufacturers (but is probably still a risk with encheapo chinese clones and knockoffs that are usually sold as "shop" brand -IMO these are definitely best avoided and are also a false economy as they tend to have much shorter lives).
I have been using 26W and 13W UVB200s for my beardies for over 4 years , no problems AT ALL.


Bonding - never chase him in his tank , all he'll see a looming monster and a 5 headed monster chasing him , and it will only reinforce his fear of you.
Bonding - hand feed some of his insects to him each morning along with lots of petting while he's on your tummy or chest and talking reassuringly to him in a quiet voice. Make it a daily ritual and routine. Works wonders I find.

But they still only give one direct spot of UV. UV is suppose to span 1/2-3/4 of the cage. Coils and compacts don't do that.