Baby beardie has dark stress marks?

[katelynnj072011]

I've recently adopted a baby bearded dragon about 2 weeks ago. He's been doing great! I'd say he's roughly about 2 months old, hes about 8-9 inches from head to tail. He eats crickets and mini meal worms in his salad that has Kale, green peppers & broccoli in it. I dust his salad with a pinch of Calcium w/ d3 daily & give him a multi-vitamin supplement once a week. His cage is a 40 gallon that's divided in half so he can hunt easier. He has a 100 watt basking bulb that ranges between 95-108 depending on the day/time & He has a reptisun 5.0 (we are switching to 10.0- petsmart was out of these the day we got him ) . So far, he has shedded his head about a week ago & im noticing his tail is dull & looks waxy like its about to shed as well. My issue is, yesterday & today, he has been showing rather dark stress marks on his chin and tummy. I'll try to post photos later. He doesn't look lethargic , and is still eating (although yesterday he wasn't eating as much has he normally does, but something is better than nothing I guess) He is pooping daily also, so I don't believe its impaction or anything. The marks just appeared out of no where, I've noticed on days, he will sometimes have some light stress marks, but these are pretty dark. Are these related to him shedding? Or what are some other reasons a baby beardie would show stress marks? I understand that it is normal from them to show some light markings, but these are darker than what I'm used to seeing. Also, ive heard that a florescent bulb will lose it's "rays" when it is placed ontop of wire mesh? is this true? and if so could it contribute to him being dark? Thanks in advance I'm a new beardie owner and I am just a little bit weary of everything after petco sold me an already sick beardie that ended up passing away

 

[MsCarter]

Your set up and basking temp sounds great. As far as I know there should be no issue placing your bulbs on top of the screen. As long as your basking light is bright and keeps his basking temp around 105-110, warm side 80-90, and cool side around 75-80, it's fine. And the reptisun T5 tube bulbs were designed to penetrate mesh wire and are actually recommended for those with a screen top, so no worries there either.

I would like to point out that kale and broccoli should not be used as daily staples. I would probably cut broccoli out all together. More healthy options are collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, and dandelion leaf greens. And just about any type of squash can be added for variety. Also, mealworms increase the risk of impaction. Better choices in staple feeder insects for your baby are; dubia roaches, crickets, black solider fly larvae, and silkworms.

Despite their name "stress" marks do not necessarily mean your dragon is stressed. While a shed can certainly be a stressful time for a dragon, and this could be the reason for the darker marks you are seeing, babies usually display stress marks often. My beardie kept them 24/7 as a baby and nearly all of the babies I have seen have them as well. It's usually something they grow out of. Since your temps sound good and your baby is eating well and pooping regularly than I would not be too worried. These are most likely just his "baby marks"

 

[Rankins]

Agreed
If its a little dark it sometimes doesn't mean much. Sometimes when they get a little cool the color can change. Natural sunlight can also make colors more vivid.
Screen lids can disrupt some of the UV rays...but not much.