I have a bearded dragon that is about 4-5 months old. He recently "recovered" from MBD (I've been giving him more calcium). He was fine for about 2 weeks but now he has a weird white goop stuff in his eye and he doesn't open it very often. I'm using a 2-in-1 UVB daytime and night time light and a normal house bulb for his basking light. I'm also using a reptile carpet substrate. His eye has been like this for about a week now and I don't know what's wrong. His temps are all okay but I don't know if there is anything else I'm doing wrong. He hasn't eaten for about 4 days but when he does he only eats crickets and nothing else so he might have a vitamin A deficiency I'm not sure. Can anyone help?
Bearded Dragon Eye Goop
- Thread starter bmwools
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Is he closing his eyes often? It's possible the UVB light is intense and causing irritation. Is it the compact/coil type of bulb? How far is it above his basking area?
You could try rinsing his eye out with some plain saline solution and see if that helps. If the eye goop continues to form it may be worth turning off the UVB and night light for a few days and see if that helps. If it does, I'd replace them. If the night light is emitting visible light then I'd stop using that because it can disturb sleep. If the overnight temperatures stay above about 65 in the tank then no night heat is needed. If the temps go below that I'd use a ceramic heat emitter in a dome fixture to bump the temps a little bit into the low 70s overnight. A dip in temperature overnight is natural and OK for them though.
You could try rinsing his eye out with some plain saline solution and see if that helps. If the eye goop continues to form it may be worth turning off the UVB and night light for a few days and see if that helps. If it does, I'd replace them. If the night light is emitting visible light then I'd stop using that because it can disturb sleep. If the overnight temperatures stay above about 65 in the tank then no night heat is needed. If the temps go below that I'd use a ceramic heat emitter in a dome fixture to bump the temps a little bit into the low 70s overnight. A dip in temperature overnight is natural and OK for them though.
His right eye is constantly closed but his left eye is open as it normally would be. The UVB is a tube light and is on top of the tank about 6 inches away.
I did put a warm moist q-tip on his eye and cleaned most of the goo out. He just shed his skin so I don't think it is anything to do with that. I can send some pictures that might answer some of your questions if you'd like. Thanks.
P.S how do I attach a picture? :lol:
I did put a warm moist q-tip on his eye and cleaned most of the goo out. He just shed his skin so I don't think it is anything to do with that. I can send some pictures that might answer some of your questions if you'd like. Thanks.
P.S how do I attach a picture? :lol:
OK 6'' for a T8 tube shouldn't be a problem. They don't always shed all at once so it's possible there is some stuck shed around his eye that is causing the irritation and goop. If that's the case it shouldn't turn into a big issue. I'd just keep rinsing it with the plain saline or gently rubbing it with a q-tip wet with saline to keep the eye clear. You can upload photos here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and post the photos to your thread using the XIMG button.
It does look like his eyes are bugging him. The UVB light you have is a compact. They are pretty intense visually and can sometimes cause eye irritation. I would look into replacing that bulb with a T8 ReptiSun 10.0 Tube and a reflective fixture like the 18'' Zilla Slimline. That will provide a nice wide beam of UVB at around 6'' above the basking area. If you want to provide UVB at a further distance I'd go with the T5 ReptiSun 10.0 or Arcadia 12% and a T5 fixture which would provide optimal UVB at around 12''. For now, I'd turn the UVB light off and see if that helps. If the weather is nice, try bringing him outside for some natural sunlight. The natural sunlight is very good for them and even a half hour outside should provide beneficial amounts of UV.
Toddzilla1108
Hatchling Member
Hi there, as mentioned above...
The light you posted in the picture is not a tube light, it looks to be a compact UVB bulb. The sooner you can get your hands on a UVB tube the better, I'd turn off the compact for now, and not use the colored light. (If you have any household bulbs anywhere those work for basking lights, provided they output enough heat. You'll have to play around with those)
Moving forward I'd recommend a standalone basking light + UVB tube w/a reflector
You'd want something along the lines of http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Repti...911533&sr=8-1&keywords=reptisun+10.0+uvb+bulb or http://www.amazon.com/Reptisun-10-0...911533&sr=8-5&keywords=reptisun+10.0+uvb+bulb
In terms of Reptisun UVB tubes, the 10.0's are the ones you want (as opposed to a 5.0).
There is the 10.0 T8 bulb, which is lower UVB output than its counterpart, the 10.0 High Output (HO) T5. The T5 and T8 will tell you which kind of fixture you need to use with it.
T8's are typically mounted inside the tank, under the screen for optimal UVB exposure while the T5's are normally too strong at an 'inside the tank' distance and are kept above the screen (Every situation is different, though).
I also see that you have a black light (for night time I'm assuming). This black light will also cause eye problems, and will disturb the sleep of your dragon at night. Since I don't see any other bulbs, do you have a basking lamp as well?
Tl;dr:
1) I would recommend getting a tube UVB bulb as linked above, as well as a separate basking bulb (Can use a white non-colored household bulb, I wouldn't recommend colored bulbs)
2) I wouldn't recommend using a night light, if your temps drop below 65ish at night, get a Ceramic heat emitter (and make sure you're using a dome that can handle it)
The light you posted in the picture is not a tube light, it looks to be a compact UVB bulb. The sooner you can get your hands on a UVB tube the better, I'd turn off the compact for now, and not use the colored light. (If you have any household bulbs anywhere those work for basking lights, provided they output enough heat. You'll have to play around with those)
Moving forward I'd recommend a standalone basking light + UVB tube w/a reflector
You'd want something along the lines of http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-Repti...911533&sr=8-1&keywords=reptisun+10.0+uvb+bulb or http://www.amazon.com/Reptisun-10-0...911533&sr=8-5&keywords=reptisun+10.0+uvb+bulb
In terms of Reptisun UVB tubes, the 10.0's are the ones you want (as opposed to a 5.0).
There is the 10.0 T8 bulb, which is lower UVB output than its counterpart, the 10.0 High Output (HO) T5. The T5 and T8 will tell you which kind of fixture you need to use with it.
T8's are typically mounted inside the tank, under the screen for optimal UVB exposure while the T5's are normally too strong at an 'inside the tank' distance and are kept above the screen (Every situation is different, though).
I also see that you have a black light (for night time I'm assuming). This black light will also cause eye problems, and will disturb the sleep of your dragon at night. Since I don't see any other bulbs, do you have a basking lamp as well?
Tl;dr:
1) I would recommend getting a tube UVB bulb as linked above, as well as a separate basking bulb (Can use a white non-colored household bulb, I wouldn't recommend colored bulbs)
2) I wouldn't recommend using a night light, if your temps drop below 65ish at night, get a Ceramic heat emitter (and make sure you're using a dome that can handle it)
I do have a basking light and that is a normal white household bulb. I'm gonna try turning the UVBs off and see if it helps. The local pet store where I got him recommended the day and night light fixture so we got that. Also since this is my first beardie I had a lot of questions. The people at the pet store never told to me to dust the crickets and my beardie ended up twitching and having almost like mini seizure episodes and I found out that those are sings of MBD. He has now recoverd after taking him to an expert but is now having problems with his eye. With what is happening to my lizard I am a little bit annoyed with the people at the pet store. Anyway thanks for the help, I'll make sure to keep this updated with any issues or recovery.
Most of us share your frustration with pet stores. They are often misinformed about proper care for bearded dragons and provide information that isn't correct and can even be harmful. Try with the UVB light off for a bit and see if that helps then I'd upgrade the lighting. If you want help with specifics please let me know and I'll be glad to help sort it all out for you. I know lighting can be confusing at first.
As for the basking light, a household bulb is OK if it's producing adequate temperatures but that may not be the case. I like using a PAR38 halogen flood light for my basking light because it puts out a good amount of heat, has a wide beam, and is nice and bright. The goal is to produce a basking area (about the size of your dragon or a little larger) at around 100-105 or so with areas around that in the 90s and a cool side temperature of about 75-80. This gradient allows him to move around and self regulate to get what he needs at any given part of the day. It's important to have accurate readings so I suggest having a digital thermometer with a probe for each side of the tank, or use a IR temp gun which can take instant surface temperature readings around the enclosure. The temp guns are available on Amazon for around $15. The temperature can be adjusted by using different wattage bulbs or by raising/lowering the basking light or a combination of both. It takes some tweaking at first but doesn't need much after it's all dialed in.
As for the basking light, a household bulb is OK if it's producing adequate temperatures but that may not be the case. I like using a PAR38 halogen flood light for my basking light because it puts out a good amount of heat, has a wide beam, and is nice and bright. The goal is to produce a basking area (about the size of your dragon or a little larger) at around 100-105 or so with areas around that in the 90s and a cool side temperature of about 75-80. This gradient allows him to move around and self regulate to get what he needs at any given part of the day. It's important to have accurate readings so I suggest having a digital thermometer with a probe for each side of the tank, or use a IR temp gun which can take instant surface temperature readings around the enclosure. The temp guns are available on Amazon for around $15. The temperature can be adjusted by using different wattage bulbs or by raising/lowering the basking light or a combination of both. It takes some tweaking at first but doesn't need much after it's all dialed in.
It's not uncommon for the little guys to ignore veges so I wouldn't worry about that too much. He should want lots of bugs most of the time though. If he isn't feeling well or if he's shedding it can affect appetite. In this case I think if the UVB exposure/lighting/temps are off then he may be feeling pretty bad which has him off of his appetite. Heat and lighting have a direct effect on their digestion and overall health so I'd try to get that sorted quickly and then see how he responds.
You're quite welcome. Please keep me posted and let me know if you have any further questions.
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