beardie not really eating....maybe about to shed??

[HUMBOLDTGUY]

so hes eating back to normal....still not pooping on his own though....just got home and bought a digital thermometer and its reading way high....its says 115....so ive got the thermostat set to turn off at 105 to kill the heat emiter....do i need to raise his light too??

Hi, good to *hear* from you.

Glad to hear your dragon is eating. I'm beginning to wonder if you're dragon simply "prefers" pooping while bathing, as some surely do. :wink: However, being that your basking temps were running high, this could explain things, as he needed that extra hydration to go. Now that you've got them to more recommended levels, perhaps he will be able to work things out a bit.

As to the light, are you referring to the ReptiSun tube, or the basking light? You are using a CHE as well, in addition to your basking light? Am I getting that right? Or is the CHE his only source of heat? If it's the latter, you need to change some things. Beardies need their daytime heat to come in the form of bright white light, the UVA is important for health, and also (very important) for guarding their eyes from the UVB, which even under a quality lamp such as the ReptiSun, can be harsh. The basking light can be a pet store type, or a regular household incandescent, flood of spot. The wattage will vary as to tank size, and you may need experiment there (and also with the height of the light) until it gives you proper temps (again, 105-110, 85-90 and 80 gradient). Ideally, beardie can get to within 6-8 inches of the UVB, and the basking, being upwards in a dome fixture (usually) would be higher up. Also, you want your UVB tube and basking light to line up at the basking end of the tank as follows:

__________tube
0 basking light

...so that beardie has benefit of both lights while basking.

What is the size of your tank?

Thanks,
Em

the repti sun is a 36 inch tube light....i do use a ceramic heat emmiter but it turns on at night when his lights are out....for his basking light we have a 150 watt zoo med uva bulb.....his house is 75 gallons....heres a pic....think tomorrow ill figure out how to raise his heat lamp

 

[Embee]

the repti sun is a 36 inch tube light....i do use a ceramic heat emmiter but it turns on at night when his lights are out....for his basking light we have a 150 watt zoo med uva bulb.....his house is 75 gallons....heres a pic....think tomorrow ill figure out how to raise his heat lamp

Ok, I am fully understanding now, thanks for the pic!

I use a lamp stand to raise our bulb (a MVB). It's helpful, but I know many find their own ways of doing it, less expensively. Another idea would be to change the wattage of our basking bulb, perhaps to 125w? That may help is rigging it up is a pain.

Also, I know some mount their UVB tubes inside the enclosure so beardie can get to within 6-8 inches for strong UVB emissions.

Just my two cents for whatever it's worth. :dontknow:

The best,
Em

 

[HUMBOLDTGUY]

what about a small fan mounted on top.....cant for the life of me figure out how to raise the light....and i tried my hundred watt and its just not warm enough

 

[Embee]

what about a small fan mounted on top.....cant for the life of me figure out how to raise the light....and i tried my hundred watt and its just not warm enough

Hm, I'm not sure what a fan would do... it sounds like it might be a challenging way to work with temps, and I know our beardie doesn't like breezes, but that could vary from dragon to dragon I suppose.

Is there such a thing as a 125w bulb? I thought there was, but maybe not, now that I think of it. Here is a link to a stand that might help: http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-light-fixtures/510303/zoo-med-repti-lamp-stand-for-reptiles.html It goes to three feet so I think it would work for a 75 gallon. We use it on our 40 breeder and only need to be up a couple feet and it's been pretty nice, actually.

Hope you're able to find a workable solution!

The best,
Em