Black beard and stomach twitching

[Beansbanana]

Hi guys, my bearded dragon this morning has a black beard and his stomach is twitching. I’m not sure what could be wrong with him. He has an Arcadia bulb. I did switch that out about two weeks ago, do you think it could be a bad bulb? His temperature and UVB are correct I got help on here. I feel like sometimes rarely he does this before he poops and I’m hoping that that’s all that it is.

 

[KarrieRee]

Hi guys, my bearded dragon this morning has a black beard and his stomach is twitching. I’m not sure what could be wrong with him. He has an Arcadia bulb. I did switch that out about two weeks ago, do you think it could be a bad bulb? His temperature and UVB are correct I got help on here. I feel like sometimes rarely he does this before he poops and I’m hoping that that’s all that it is.

What has he eaten? Please post a pic of the tank and him and his lighting this will help - when was the last time he pooped

 

[Beansbanana]

Yesterday he ate collards, kale, and some dubia.

 

[Beansbanana]

Yesterday he ate collards, kale, and some dubia.

He usually poops about once a week and it was probably about a week ago that he last pooped

 

[Beansbanana]

He usually poops about once a week and it was probably about a week ago that he last pooped

What has he eaten? Please post a pic of the tank and him and his lighting this will help - when was the last time he pooped

He is two years old and he’s been seeming like he feels great until this morning. The only other thing I can think of is, I did feed him a little bit bigger dubia than I usually do yesterday, but it definitely was not bigger than the space between his eyes. I feel like the stomach twitching is him trying to move the food down His digestive tract

 

[KarrieRee]

He is two years old and he’s been seeming like he feels great until this morning. The only other thing I can think of is, I did feed him a little bit bigger dubia than I usually do yesterday, but it definitely was not bigger than the space between his eyes. I feel like the stomach twitching is him trying to move the food down His digestive tract

They all get twitchs --- that is normal -- I see only a digital thermometer which tells me that is ambient temp- are you using any other type of gauges for temps? What is the distance for the UVB to the basking decor? I would get two digital probe thermometers for the tank - one for your surface basking and one for the cool side of the tank -- hes in distress or pain w/ the black beard going on

 

[Beansbanana]

I was like I just checked with the digital probe thermometer and the hottest basking point is 96 and it goes down from there to the cool side which is 83. The UVB is 16 inches from the top of the basking logs. It is an Arcadia I think 12% prot5

 

[Beansbanana]

His beard seems like it’s getting lighter so I’m hoping he’ll feel better. I might just wait till this afternoon to see what he’s like a nice try. Just feeding him some salad

 

[KarrieRee]

I was like I just checked with the digital probe thermometer and the hottest basking point is 96 and it goes down from there to the cool side which is 83. The UVB is 16 inches from the top of the basking logs. It is an Arcadia I think 12% prot5

Too far please drop the UVB to around 13 inches --- temps seen ok - drop the UVB and see what that does w/ the black bearding- we will start there -

 

[Beansbanana]

Too far please drop the UVB to around 13 inches --- temps seen ok - drop the UVB and see what that does w/ the black bearding- we will start there -

OK I will try that but I thought I just double checked and it’s actually 15 inches from the top of the basking log. I thought that for that bulb that distance was fine but you don’t think it’s close enough.

 

[Beansbanana]

OK I will try that but I thought I just double checked and it’s actually 15 inches from the top of the basking log. I thought that for that bulb that distance was fine but you don’t think it’s close enough.

Because when he like, sits up, you know his head is a lot closer than 15 inches to the bulb like it’s probably at that point like 13 or 12 inches from the bold when he’s like sitting on it I’m just double checking with you before I change it

 

[KarrieRee]

Because when he like, sits up, you know his head is a lot closer than 15 inches to the bulb like it’s probably at that point like 13 or 12 inches from the bold when he’s like sitting on it I’m just double checking with you before I change it

The distance from the top of the platform is 16"? Dropping it to around 13 is not going to hurt him - try that distance watch his behavior and how long he basks under it for-

 

[Beansbanana]

The distance from the top of the platform is 16"? Dropping it to around 13 is not going to hurt him - try that distance watch his behavior and how long he basks under it for-

OK I’m gonna try that. Thank you so much for your help!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

I concur, the slight twitching on his tummy could be a slight impaction perhaps or low calcium
reserves. What are his basking temperatures currently?
Try moving the UVB a little closer to help him get stronger UVB exposure. You could increase his
calcium intake one more day weekly for awhile in case he needs a boost.

Tracie

 

[Beansbanana]

Hello,

I concur, the slight twitching on his tummy could be a slight impaction perhaps or low calcium
reserves. What are his basking temperatures currently?
Try moving the UVB a little closer to help him get stronger UVB exposure. You could increase his
calcium intake one more day weekly for awhile in case he needs a boost.

Tracie

He had a really big poop later that day. I moved his light to 13 inches. He seems fine now. I am going to add an extra day of calcium also. Thanks so much for your help!