Behaviour & Care During Juvenile Shedding - Questions

[Romicron]

Pascal seems more lethargic and less perky today and refused food this morning. He's ~9-10 weeks old.

I think he's about to shed; some of his skin is turning a lighter colour. He hasn't pooped today but did so twice yesterday.

We have been bathing him once a day as a general rule for about 10 minutes. It's not his favourite time.

Should bathing frequency be increased to 2-3x daily during the shedding process? Should I be spraying the tank more (currently every morning, feeding, bath time, and night time)? Should I be spraying him more directly? Should I be concerned about his more lethargic behaviour? HE's not holding his head up as much when basking. - don't even know if I could call it basking.

Current status:

Seems greyer / lighter than usual.

It's currently 99 where he's sitting (temp gun). The warm side probe in the photo is well out of his reach. He's directly under the UVB.

 

[SpacialCoogs]

Babies need it a little hotter, if he's directly under basking I'd bump the heat to closer to 110.

I don't think you should be looking at 2-3 baths a day, this is a normal process and they will be grumpy. If you see that there's a problem with shed then go ahead and give them a longer soak, and a toothbrush can be a nice bathing aid. My girl likes to have her face lightly brushed with it during her bath.

He's going to be shedding a lot while he grows, so this will be the norm while he's going from baby to juvie. What humidity do you keep your enclosure at? Increasing the misting will increase that and if it's already on the high side then I'd avoid it.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, as was mentioned you can bump the basking temp. up just a few degrees, 105 is fine. No need for any baths at all really, a quick spritz in the tank for a drink + to aid in shedding is all that's needed. I raised dragons from the egg for 20 yrs., I never bathed the babies. Shedding babies don't need any help, the only exception would be if you saw a problem with the toes or tail tip which would be a tight band of skin obviously constricting the area.

 

[Romicron]

He's under the UVB tube. The temperature directly under the basking lamp (more to the left) is in the high 110s. depending on how I measure it exactly. I'm assuming that if he's cold or needs more heat, he'd crawl to that side? Or should I start moving a couple of things around?

We just tried feeding him again (this time with Repti-Cal dusted crickets). Nothing. One crawled up on him and over his mouth and he ignored it. I held one in front of his face and he ignored it. He's back in the basking now, on the warm side which is up at the temperatures previously described.

 

[Cinnasticks]

He's under the UVB tube. The temperature directly under the basking lamp (more to the left) is in the high 110s. depending on how I measure it exactly. I'm assuming that if he's cold or needs more heat, he'd crawl to that side? Or should I start moving a couple of things around?

We just tried feeding him again (this time with Repti-Cal dusted crickets). Nothing. One crawled up on him and over his mouth and he ignored it. I held one in front of his face and he ignored it. He's back in the basking now, on the warm side which is up at the temperatures previously described.

How is your beardie doing today? I'm a relatively new owner, too, and I got really alarmed the first time my beardies started to shed.

It's normal for them to get REALLY lethargic before a shed and lose some appetite, but it shouldn't last more than a couple days. What are you feeding, and how frequently? Do you offer greens as well as crickets? How much did he eat on average before he got lethargic?

My beardies look as if they bleach out when they get ready to shed, and you may notice a white webbing between scales, followed by the bleaching appearance. That's normal! That's your beardie's skin getting ready to shed, drying out and peeling off the old scales. I'd keep your bathing to once a day, and maybe consider every other day. Babies are easily susceptible to stress, and every time you handle them you are technically putting stress on them--they lose their UVB light source, the temperature drops around them DRAMATICALLY (think about when you experience a 10-20 degree temp drop over a few minutes), and now they get put in a new, weird, odd environment where they might drown (the drama queens). Shedding is a stressful, uncomfortable time for them. Try to leave him alone as much as you can.

What type of UVB bulb do you have?

Does he seem grumpier and disinterested? That's normal, too. He may not eat from your hand during that time, and you might have to just leave him alone in a small area with a bunch of crickets and nowhere for them to hide. Your viv looks nice and big with lots of decorations, so he might be having trouble finding them or doesn't want to move away from the heat/light. My juveniles stayed away from the cool areas of the tank and wouldn't hunt there, so I bumped the temp up on the whole thing and they started using it regularly. I take all my decorations out of my tank when I feed, as one of my beardies is a horrible hunter (lazy) and wasn't eating enough for a while. He's gotten bigger and more confident now, and is starting to get the hang of hunting for his crickets in his viv.