black beard/dark spotted belly

[jsnow08]

about the last couple of days my bearded dragon sydney has been really dark colored with a spotted belly when i get home from work and sometimes has a super black beard, but whenever i put her in the bath, the dark goes away and she looks normal. any suggestions as to what's up?

thanks
-jerry

 

[EzzieM]

How old is your beardie? How long have you had her?
A lot of times, when they're young (less often when they're older, but not "uncommon") if their body temp is low, the stress marks and the black beard come out. (likely because darker colors absorb more heat.)

My suggestion would be to check the temps in your viv. Basking side should be around 100-110, cool side 80... I'd also check to make sure that your beardie can get close enough to the heat

If this is the issue, my guess for the marks going away after a bath would be that your beardie was able to absorb enough heat from the bath water to not need the boost

there are a number of issues that it could be, but that one is the simplest.


it could also be the bulbs you're using in your viv.

What lights do you use? (Basking, uva, uvb: brands please!)
if they're the coil bulbs, it could be that the bulbs you're using are irritating her eyes. (there are TONS of ussies with compact and coil bulbs.)

those are the two most common issues that I've seen


I hope this helps!
Let us know if you have any more questions

 

[jsnow08]

i use reptisun 10.0 (long light, not coil) and my basking lamp is 150 watts. the temps about 103 degrees in the basking area and around 80 on the cool side

 

[EzzieM]

your lamps seem right... My guess would be that she's just absorbing more heat
maybe move her basking (thing) a little closer to the heat lamp

or maybe she just missed you.

I wouldn't worry unless she's bearded and stressed ALL the time (24/7)
if that's the case, my advice would be to take her to a vet