Baby Beardie Stress Marks

[shuubee]

I'm sure this has been mentioned all over the forums before but I'm a little concerned. I got my little beardie on Sunday, and a part of me believes she is younger than the breeder told me (they are 5in long, suppose to be 6wks old). Anyways, her belly and chin are very dark with stress marks and she isn't eating very much--the only bug I haven't tried are crickets, but I am picking some up today. She is in a 20gl fish tank (24in x 12in x 18in) and I have her tank set up so she can get close enough to the basking light and UVB bulb (it's a coil that I am also switching out today as I've read they can be bad for their eyes, but she doesn't seem to look at it). There are a few hiding places and fake plants, as well as a hammock that I've put so she can climb it or hide underneath it if needed so that way she has somewhere to go when she wants to destress. She is pooping, but I'm still worried.
She also does not like to be handled and crouches away from touching so I'm trying to be more docile and just hang my hand around her so she gets use to me.
I'm also buying a probe thermometer today, however the tank is usually (according to the dials) around 90F and the hammock area is around 105-110F.

Would you guys suggest it's any of the problems I'm fixing tonight, or could it be that I'm just not giving her enough time Please let me know

 

[CooperDragon]

She looks pretty alert so may just be settling in which can take some time. I feel that the term stress marks is misleading. The dark colors and patterns are common when they bask so they can absorb light/heat more efficiently. It can also indicate mood but it is quite common with young dragons and does not often seem to indicate a problem so I wouldn't worry about it much.

Your tank setup looks nice. Which coil UVB light do you have in place at the moment? My concern with some of them is that they aren't powerful enough to be effective which is why I don't often recommend them aside from the more powerful 26w versions. If you switch out, I'd pick up a Zilla Desert 50 which comes with a fixture w/reflector and bulb. They are a pretty good fit for a 20g tank. Just remove the clear plastic from in front of the bulb as that will intercept all of the UVB. The optimal range for those lights is at about 6'' from the bulb so I'd ensure the top of the log gets within 6-8''.

Having accurate temperature readings will be a big help as well. I suggest two digital thermometers so you can put a probe on the basking spot (zip ties work well to hold them) and one on the cool side which will give you an easy way to monitor the gradient. An IR temp gun will work well too if you'd rather just spot check surface temps.

Aside from that, just keep offering food and let her dictate when she's ready to eat. The more variety you can offer the better.

 

[shuubee]

Thank you so much for the quick reply--the term is very unsettling as I thought she was extremely uncomfortable and wasn't sure what to do Thank you for clearing that up though.

I'm using an All Living Things 13w coil bulb but I definitely think I will go buy the tube bulb once I'm finished work--I'll see if they sell the one you suggested at my local pet store. I'd rather her comfy and safe than get a possible eye issue anyways. It should come close enough to the log, so I'm not too worried about that. I'll pick up two of the probe thermometers as well and hope my tank temperature is optimal for her.

Thank you again and I'll update if any changes happen

 

[CooperDragon]

Yeah the 13w isn't powerful enough to be useful for a dragon. At the very least look for a 26w UVB200 bulb made by exo-terra. That provides similar output to the T8 Tube I mentioned earlier but the distribution isn't quite as wide.

 

[shuubee]

So I adjusted things in my viv for her, and her temperatures read well for her cool side (80-80F)/basking area (105-112f). I did not change the UVB bulb yet as my store only sells coils?? So I will need to order the one you suggested online.

Otherwise I tried crickets with her and moved her tank closer to me so she could see me more. She's now eating.. decently, and gave me a couple arm waves the other day

Thank you for the help! She keeps running around the tank then peeking at me over her log so cute

 

[CooperDragon]

Temp range sounds good and she looks happy =). The UVB200 I mentioned is a coil bulb. The other one is a T8 tube in a fixture. You should be able to get either online pretty easily.