Baby bearded acting weird, some advice needed please!

[nahuelarg86]

Ok, so I decide to post here on the ER since not many people is helping me with this. I don't know if I'm over worrying, paranoid or what but here we go:

-He is like 4 or 4 1/2 months (the person whom I bought the beardie didn't know exactly). He is 8.5 inches long from tip of the tail to tip of nose. His weight is 21 grams.

-I read that babies bearded dragon usually eat like a ton 3 times a day, but mine only eats around ~10 crickets/roaches a day, 1st meal around 5, second meal around 5. These last 2 or 3 days he only want to eat just one meal of, at the most, 4 lobster roaches. He also looks kind of uninterested in the lobster too, when I give the first one of the day he goes like crazy to eat it, but then the second or third is like he realizes what it is, and eats it kinda unwillingly.

-Today I woke him up since he was overs sleeping, and today is the first time I saw him puffing his beard, and like swallowing air and making himself bloated. After a while he stopped that and deflated. BUT now he doesn't want to stay at light! He is hiding from any light source, he goes to his little hideout and stays there the whole time! Is the first time I saw him acting like this. It surprised me that when I first got him he ate kind of good, and was shedding. But since the last 2 weeks he's slowing down, kind of brumation but he's very young for that, I think.

-Yesterday I saw him scratching/rubbing his face/eyes against the carpet, that's sign of shedding correct?

Some facts:

How old is your dragon? 3 or 4 months old
How long have you had your dragon? 12 days or so
How long is your dragon? 8.5"
What is the sex of your dragon? Not sure, probably a male.
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 20 gallon tank
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? Reptile carpet
Do you use UVB lights? Yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? Mercury Vapor Bulb
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? Powersun 100w
How old is your UVB bulb? 12 days or so
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? 12"
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? The powersun only, plus an infrared light during the day to boost the temp. Turn everything off at night.
What are the basking temps? 100-110
What is the cool side temp? Around 70-75 generally
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 thermometer with probe. Acu-rite brand.
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? Right under the Powersun bulb, which is the basing area.
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? No.
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. At first, crickets, now I changed to lobster roaches.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? Generally afternoon. I tried at least 2x per day but he wont eat more then 1 sitting.
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? Yes.
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? Calcium with D3 from Fluckers everyday, Vitamins from Herptivite 2x per week.
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? Everyday so far. Sometimes 1 in the morning, sometimes 2 or 3 during the day.
Do you bath your dragon? How often? Yes. As much as I can, once per day or at least 3 or 4 times per week.
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? I mist him sometimes, not a lot because I don't want to raise the humidity.
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? No.
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? No, he's the only one.

 

[Spikey07]

Your set up sounds ok. The temperature on the cool side of the tank could do with being a little warmer, about 80 degreese.

8.5" and 21g does sound a little on the small side, I would definitely recommend getting a fecal test done to check for any parasites as this could affect his appetite.

 

[nahuelarg86]

Your set up sounds ok. The temperature on the cool side of the tank could do with being a little warmer, about 80 degreese.

8.5" and 21g does sound a little on the small side, I would definitely recommend getting a fecal test done to check for any parasites as this could affect his appetite.

Yes, I want to do a fecal, but my only problem so far is that is kind of expensive and I need to wait until I get paid. I want to do the fecal as last resource since I'm very short on money.

 

[nahuelarg86]

Update

He turned dark in color with lots of stress marks :?

 

[nahuelarg86]

Some pics of a few minutes ago:

 

[nahuelarg86]

Some pics of a few minutes ago:

Side note: I took him out and hang around with him for a little and seems like the colors came back to normal when I have him with me..

 

[pyffersnpaws]

Ok, so I decide to post here on the ER since not many people is helping me with this. I don't know if I'm over worrying, paranoid or what but here we go:

-He is like 4 or 4 1/2 months (the person whom I bought the beardie didn't know exactly). He is 8.5 inches long from tip of the tail to tip of nose. His weight is 21 grams.

-I read that babies bearded dragon usually eat like a ton 3 times a day, but mine only eats around ~10 crickets/roaches a day, 1st meal around 5, second meal around 5. These last 2 or 3 days he only want to eat just one meal of, at the most, 4 lobster roaches. He also looks kind of uninterested in the lobster too, when I give the first one of the day he goes like crazy to eat it, but then the second or third is like he realizes what it is, and eats it kinda unwillingly.

-Today I woke him up since he was overs sleeping, and today is the first time I saw him puffing his beard, and like swallowing air and making himself bloated. After a while he stopped that and deflated. BUT now he doesn't want to stay at light! He is hiding from any light source, he goes to his little hideout and stays there the whole time! Is the first time I saw him acting like this. It surprised me that when I first got him he ate kind of good, and was shedding. But since the last 2 weeks he's slowing down, kind of brumation but he's very young for that, I think.

-Yesterday I saw him scratching/rubbing his face/eyes against the carpet, that's sign of shedding correct?

Some facts:

How old is your dragon? 3 or 4 months old
How long have you had your dragon? 12 days or so
How long is your dragon? 8.5"
What is the sex of your dragon? Not sure, probably a male.
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 20 gallon tank
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? Reptile carpet
Do you use UVB lights? Yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? Mercury Vapor Bulb would change this, the best bulb is the reptisun 10.0 or the arcadia d3 12%, both are linear tube
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? Powersun 100wsee above, also at bottom of post I added some more info
How old is your UVB bulb? 12 days or so
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? 12"
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? The powersun only, plus an infrared light during the day to boost the temp. Turn everything off at night.if you switch to the above mentioned bulb, you'll need a basking light, also the infrared light can come out... they do better in bright white light, if you need to raise the temps then use a che
What are the basking temps? 100-110
What is the cool side temp? Around 70-75 generally
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 thermometer with probe. Acu-rite brand.
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? Right under the Powersun bulb, which is the basing area.
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? No.
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. At first, crickets, now I changed to lobster roaches.make sure they are only as large as the space between his eyes, anything larger could cause impaction
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? Generally afternoon. I tried at least 2x per day but he wont eat more then 1 sitting.continue to offer 2x, and make sure to offer a salad during the day, he'll eventually start eating
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? Yes.
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? Calcium with D3 from Fluckers everyday, Vitamins from Herptivite 2x per week.
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? Everyday so far. Sometimes 1 in the morning, sometimes 2 or 3 during the day.
Do you bath your dragon? How often? Yes. As much as I can, once per day or at least 3 or 4 times per week.
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? I mist him sometimes, not a lot because I don't want to raise the humidity.
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? No.
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? No, he's the only one.

I copied this from Tracie (drache613)
Honestly, right now, most of the mercury vapor bulbs are not very good right now, in the US. Most do not emit very high UVB light & degrade very quickly. I can't really recommend any right now, that have the proper UVB:UVI ratio.
There are still cases of problems with the Powersun, recently. The T-rex degrades very quickly & has low UVB output.

Also, he could be getting ready to shed, my guys have a tendency when shedding to chill out some... but the light if it's not correct could be causing some eye issues and that might be the reason he's staying out of the light right now...If you have the means I would change them... you can find the bulbs I recommended at http://www.lightyourreptiles.com and the reptisun at petmountain.com. Best of luck

 

[pyffersnpaws]

Hi I found this link regarding the mercury vapor bulb... thought if you wanted you could take a look for more info on it. viewtopic.php?f=45&t=105421

 

[nahuelarg86]

Hi I found this link regarding the mercury vapor bulb... thought if you wanted you could take a look for more info on it. viewtopic.php?f=45&t=105421

Thanks for your answer. The problem is that right know I don't have the means to purchase another light and its fixture, the money I had I invested in the current equipment I have...
The posts on the powersun are from 2009, maybe the powersun isn't bad anymore?

 

[pyffersnpaws]

I would pm Tracie.... Drache613, the author of that post... she'll know... she's also one of the persons who if you are having medical issues the person to contact...I had thought we were using the reptisun, and in fact it was the reptiglo... one of my guys started to kind of do exactly as your is.. hiding.. not opening eyes as much... as soon as I switched it was night n day. you can get the fixture at walmart under $15, and if you order from the websites I listed you should be able to pick up a bulb for about $25. keep me updated... wishing your little guy the best of luck in feeling better soon.

 

[nahuelarg86]

I would pm Tracie.... Drache613, the author of that post... she'll know... she's also one of the persons who if you are having medical issues the person to contact...I had thought we were using the reptisun, and in fact it was the reptiglo... one of my guys started to kind of do exactly as your is.. hiding.. not opening eyes as much... as soon as I switched it was night n day. you can get the fixture at walmart under $15, and if you order from the websites I listed you should be able to pick up a bulb for about $25. keep me updated... wishing your little guy the best of luck in feeling better soon.

Thanks, I pm'd her

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

There are still some isolated reports of some having issues with the 100 watt Powersuns, but the 160 watts seem to be ok. I would be happy to test your light to determine for sure if it is the light. I would hate for him to have horrible effects from the light. When he is under the light is he closing his eyes a lot?
If he is starting to hide from the light, that is a strong indicator that something could be wrong with the light because that is not a normal reaction to a good light.
If you do decide to go with the Reptisun 10 tube or the Arcadia D3 12% tube bulbs, you can get them from http://www.lightyourreptiles.com and Todd is great, too.
Where did you buy your Powersun from? Online or at a pet store & how old is it?

Did you figure out if he was shedding on his eye areas?

Tracie

 

[nahuelarg86]

Hello,

There are still some isolated reports of some having issues with the 100 watt Powersuns, but the 160 watts seem to be ok. I would be happy to test your light to determine for sure if it is the light. I would hate for him to have horrible effects from the light. When he is under the light is he closing his eyes a lot?
If he is starting to hide from the light, that is a strong indicator that something could be wrong with the light because that is not a normal reaction to a good light.
If you do decide to go with the Reptisun 10 tube or the Arcadia D3 12% tube bulbs, you can get them from http://www.lightyourreptiles.com and Todd is great, too.
Where did you buy your Powersun from? Online or at a pet store & how old is it?

Did you figure out if he was shedding on his eye areas?

Tracie

Thanks for answering!

So he seems like he doesn't want to wake up, right now I had to take him out from the cool corner since it's already 1:00 pm and he was very cold. But here is the thing, when he goes out of the light he doesn't close his eyes, he just lays down in sleeping position with his eyes open, as if hes being lazy to wake up or something like that. Another thing I noticed today is that when I went to pick him up from his corner, as I was trying to hold him, he began to like puff in and out the beard. And here is the thing, the right side of his neck (my right) looks a little swollen, in fact the whole neck looks swollen but like a little more in the right side (bellow are the pics)
He doesn't hide from the light always, right now after I picked him up he is there, just sitting under the light, looking a little grumpy (darker) generally when he sleeps his colors are lighter, more normal.
I bought the Powersun from Petmountain like 2 or 3 weeks ago.
I didn't notice any shedding yet, but I'm giving baths every day in case that is the problem, but so far nothing. 2 or 3 days ago he was rubbing his face to he carpet, though.
My problem is that I want to make sure if it's a medical problem or just a light problem. Mostly because if its a medical problem, I'll bring it to the vet which is expensive already for my, or if its the light I can change it too, but doing both is a lot of money that we don't have right now...

Here are the pics of the neck:

 

[nahuelarg86]

Here is a video from him today. He has been a little more active than the last 2 days. He ate a few more crickets too. I don't know what else to show you guys for you to give me a hand...

Note 1: You have to excuse my poor set up decorations, etc. I'm not in the best economical situation right now.

Note 2: Notice the poop under the log, good size and formed. It was picked up right after.

http://vimeo.com/34576770


Thanks!

 

[pyffersnpaws]

here is my opinion... Tracie feel free to correct me... don't mind a bit as you have always helped me when I needed some guidance
1) he needs either the reptisun or the arcadia bulb..(I had the reptiglo, didn't realize it for a few until talking with my husband that we needed to mark on the calendar of when we needed to change the bulb and in that conversation he said we had a reptiglo, One of my guys was doing things very similar to yours... kind of hiding... hanging on the cool side of the viv...not very active. I talked with Tracie, and I changed his bulb to the Arcadia. Since we have put this in, he has been more active... basking a ton, and just being well happy)
2) It looks like you have the uvb bulb on the top of the screen in his setup, it really needs to be inside, the screen or the cover will block out the uvb so he is getting virtually none. You can use the command hooks and attach the fixture to the inside of the viv, just make sure there is nothing between the bulb and the cover
3) He is going to need some type of platform something to get to within about 6-8" of the light.

He is a gorgeous beardie, and noone on here is here to judge anyone, we just want to offer our insights to help make your little one happy and healthy.