Beardie keeps closing eyes...

[Peterpan842]

Hey guys,

I am a new member here and I am somewhat worried about my dragon. I got him last week, all is good but he closes either one eye or both when he is basking. I have done some research and i understand it could be from the UVB bulb.

I am currently using the reptisun terrarium hood with the 5.0 blub it comes with. The basking light is a normal 100w from the pet store. My beardie is currently in a 20 gallon so I thought the 5.0 would be sufficient!

Should I be worried?
-Mike

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. Yep those uvb lights do bug their eyes. I'd replace it with a reptisun 10.0 T5 that will put off the proper amount of uvb and hopefully his eyes will get better soon.

 

[Peterpan842]

Hi. Yep those uvb lights do bug their eyes. I'd replace it with a reptisun 10.0 T5 that will put off the proper amount of uvb and hopefully his eyes will get better soon.

Hi, is there a reason why these lights bother their eyes compared to the 10.0? I thought it was just a difference in strength

 

[destiny1998]

Is the uvb a coil or compact? The 5.0 does not give off the proper amount of uvb unless its a reptisun T5 18 inch uvb. Those coil/compacts start out too strong then after a while they barely give off any uvb. Also the mesh screen blocks a lot of the uvb rays of the bulb. If you get a t5 then you can put that on top of the screen and he'll still get a proper amount of uvb.

 

[Peterpan842]

Is the uvb a coil or compact? The 5.0 does not give off the proper amount of uvb unless its a reptisun T5 18 inch uvb. Those coil/compacts start out too strong then after a while they barely give off any uvb. Also the mesh screen blocks a lot of the uvb rays of the bulb. If you get a t5 then you can put that on top of the screen and he'll still get a proper amount of uvb.

It is not a compact coil. It is the tube UVB. The exact name of the bulb im using is reptisun T5 5.0 HO it is 24 inches.

 

[destiny1998]

My bad. He might be to close. Could be bothering his eyes. If you have a reflector I'd raise it up and the basking light can also be too close and bother his eyes.

 

[Peterpan842]

Hey guys,

Quick update!

-I just purchased the reptisun 10.0 T5 HO bulb and it looks like its working great!

- As for the eye closing, I think it is him shedding because he just buldged his eyes and his tail is and back legs are mid shed.

Thanks for your help!