acting strage with reptisun 10.0

[jakeh2009]

have had dino a lil less than two weeks now, found this site shortly after getting him and it said reptisun 10.0 is the best tube uvb out there so i purchased one. he didnt have any uvb up until 3 days ago and he was acting normal before i put the bulb in there, he was very alert and running around, and was eating probably 20-30 crickets a day with about half or 3/4 being dusted with vitamins w/ D3. since i have put the light in there hes not been acting the same, is this normal for a few days or should i be worried? like this morning after i turned his light on he went underneath his basking log and was kind of hiding, have never seen him do that. so i put him directly under the light which is probably 8 inches from his log and lounged under it for a while, well i came back in to feed him a little bit later and he kind of seemed scared, he was backing away onto the side of his log like he was trying to hid from me. his temps are good, the cool side is around 85 degrees, and i put the probe on the lowest spot of his basking area and it read 105.8 degrees, so the high spot is probably no more than 109-110.

his food intake has seemed to diminish too. im lucky to get him to eat 5-6 crickets at a time now, he is still eating baby food but not very much maybe the amount of 2 pennies stacked on top of each other. he has still been pooping normal but today it looked kind of hard and i could make out some parts of the crickets like they werent totally digested. I don't know if im just over reacting or what but since i have put the light in he seems different, any ideas? i have been giving him baths daily because id dont drink from his water dish, want to make sure hes hydrated. he is still very alert but just not active like he was before, and i can see that he is growing and his belly is getting bigger... well thank you for taking the time to read this, hopefully hes just adjusting to the new light but i figured i would come and ask if this behavior is normal.

 

[beardlover]

Are you taking your temps with a digital with probes? If you fill out the following questions it will give the members a better idea of how your whole viv set up looks and it might spark an idea or two as why the sudden change in his attitude. It could just be getting used to the new lights and the new home but you never know...

How old is your dragon?
How long is your dragon?
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
Do you use UVB lights?
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
How old is your UVB bulb?
How close can your dragon get to the UVB?
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage?
What are the basking temps?
What is the cool side temp?
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?
Do you bath your dragon? How often?
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?

 

[jakeh2009]

How old is your dragon?
not sure 3-4 months
How long is your dragon?
about 7-9 inchs
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?
55 gallon with lid
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
ceramic tiles
Do you use UVB lights?
yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
tube
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
reptisun 10.0
How old is your UVB bulb?
3 days
How close can your dragon get to the UVB?
8-10 inches
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage?
zilla 150 watt day white
What are the basking temps?
105-110
What is the cool side temp?
78-85
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
digital with a probe
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?
the spot where he lays mostly when basking
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?
no
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.
mustard-collard greens, parsley, butternut squash, carrots for veggies, also has green bean and peas in baby food, and then crickets for live and he as had a coulpe of meal worms since ive had him maybe 6 total
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
put veggies in twice aday even tho he hardly touches them, and i give him crickets usualy twice a day about 10 am and 6-7 pm, as many as he will in a 10 mins at a time, then i give him baby food a few times throughout the day
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
have before with collard greens and strawberries
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
zoo meds reptivite with d3 every day on the crickets and zilla calcium supplement spray hardly cuz he dont eat many veggies yet
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?
yea been atleast 2 times a day since i bought him and sometimes 3
Do you bath your dragon?
try to every day but if not then every other day
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?
yea at most twice a day but not every day
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?
nope all alone

 

[beardlover]

Well your viv specs sound good...my advice is to just keep a close eye on his attitude, eating and his bowel movements.
Sounds like the light might be just be throwing him off but the reptisun us good bulb so I wouldn't be overly concerned about it causing harm to him. Sometimes young beardies get scared over seemingly nothing...

 

[jakeh2009]

alright thank you, well im pretty sure he is fine, i think he may have been a little blocked up when i came to his tank just a little bit ago he had a huge poo that was fresh, maybe thats why he was acting goofy i dont know, he did eat quite a few crickets today which hasnt happened in a while so hopefully if he was blocked up he is clear now, i gave him a few drops of veg oil yesterday just in case, cuz when i first got him i had him on sand so maybe he ate some of that. ill keeep a good watch on him tho, thanks once again

 

[beardlover]

Glad to hear things are working out it's amazing how a bowel movement can improve a mood haha

 

[Gaius Marius]

Hope things are going better. My beardie had trouble adjusting to his new basking lamp combinations too. Eventually, we found out that he needed to have lower temps. and not too powerful a bulb. It sounds like your beardie is afraid of being cooked. Socrates did that before and we eventually found just the right combination for him. He basks when he wants to and retreats inside his long when he feels warm enough. If things don't improve, consider lowering your bulb wattage. My beardie's highest temps are about 95 and he likes it that way. When we had a higher temp, Socrates went a little crazy too and the vet said to lower the temps. It worked. Also, have you taken your beardie to a vet? He should definitely have a fecal as soon as possible to make sure that he is healthy otherwise. Good luck!

 

[jakeh2009]

just an update, he still isnt moving around that much but he seems very good, finally got him to eat a good amount of crickets yesterday. for some reason he has this one log that he likes to stay on no matter where i put it in the tank is this normal, when we first got him he would run all over the tank like a madman, but now its just the one log, and if i pick him up and move him somewhere else he will eventually go back to his log but only does this when we leave the room like he will be punished if he moves when im watching lol, strange lil guy.

 

[annieoakley123]

I also changed my uv to a megaray mvb. my last one was crap and i had it for a month. he was doing pretty good then i moved him in the new enclosure with the light and just seemed to be taking things a little easier. beardies dont like change, but they will adjust after a few days and be back to their normal selves. keep an eye out for stuff and try to keep things that you control as rutine as possible. they really get into that rutine thing....i came home 10 mins after lights out and there was was, pissed in his sleeping position waiting. heheh. Im sure your baby will be ok. but keep an eye out just in case...

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Bump

 

[chadwick757]

Mine did the same thing when i got the 10.0 Acted odd for a while then was fine. They get stressed when you change things and some research I did on the web indicates that they can actually see the UV from the light. This may be freaking him out a little but he should be fine just like mojo was.