Beardie tapping foot rapidly - is it a problem?

[nmcnick]

Hello.

Recently, my Beardie came out of brumation. Besides him being a bit wrinkly and having to give him hornworms and showers to rehydrate him, he's been doing fine. However, today he seems like his foot is bothering him.

I know it can be a sign of MBD so ill put all that info at the bottom.

First, let me say there was dried feces stuck on this foot that i didnt notice until he was shaking it. I went ahead and cleaned it off, but he continued shaking it. I don't know if i got all of it off, but surely most of it. Whats the best way to clean feces off if its dried on them? I dont think most soaps are a good idea for a scaled animal.

Repti-glo 10.0 UVB Tube Lamp
Powersun 100 watt uvb mercury vapor bulb
Dusted phoenix worms with calcium with d3 every 3d feed

If further infornation is needed, don't hesitate to ask.

 

[CooperDragon]

Do you see signs of shed around the foot? Perhaps a shed is coming on and bugging him. When I need to do a bit of extra cleaning I give my guy a soak in a warm bath with some dr bronner's baby mild soap. It's pretty mild stuff that won't be harmful if ingested by accident and it helps make the soaks more effective. I'd nix the repti-glo. Based on the test results I've read, they aren't all that great. The PowerSun is OK though. How far above the basking area do you have it mounted? At proper distance it should be putting out enough UVB to allow for D3 synthesis so I'd use a plain calcium supplement rather than one with additional D3. I use Repashy Supercal NoD and it works pretty well.

 

[nmcnick]

Hmm i cant see any shed.. Not sure..

Should i replace the uvb tube with something else then or just ditch it alltogether?

And alright, i was wondering about d3 usage. I see many mixed opinions so i always have a tough time deciding. Ill switch that up.

The cage is 4'x38"x38", and there is a socket maybe 6" deep for the light to rest in, so its maybe 28" off the log. Ill measure the distance down to an exact when i get home. The basking spot is around 95 degrees.

He hasnt tapped it today though so i'm not entirely sure what the deal was/is. I'll try the soap you mentioned.

 

[CooperDragon]

I'd replace it with a more consistent brand like a ZooMed ReptiSun 10.0. If it's a T8, it will need to be mounted about 6-8'' above the basking surface to provide much usable UVB. They provide shade levels beyond that and aren't much use beyond 12'' or so.

As for the Powersun, the 100w has an optimal UVB output at 8-12'' below the bulb, so I'd make sure the highest point of the basking area is up in that range. You can have a gradient down from there, but I'd provide a basking area in that higher UVB area for best results.

A basking area of 95 is OK for the general area but you'll want some spots that get up to 100-105 or so, large enough for him to evenly bask in.