Black Beard

[liagibson31]

Hello!
I have just bought my bearded dragon a couple of days ago, she absolutely loves being out her tank and cuddling on you for ages, when she has been left alone in her tank for a few hours she gets black beard and seems to be upset? does this just show that she prefers company? because she is fine when i take her out. Her tank is 4 foot by 2X2 which was recommended to me, and all her lighting is correct i think, Shes not a big fan of eating Locusts or bigger bugs, she is 7 years old and only likes eating mealworms , any kind of worms as thats what the lady before fed her, she also refuses salad, if anyone has any answers or recommendations let me know please, i’ve attached photos of her out of tank and then when she had been alone for a few hours

 

[IAmAMirage]

@liagibson31
First off, congrats on getting a beardie! I only see one photo though.
Second, one of the reasons she could be black bearding his because she is getting used to new surroundings. Just give it a couple weeks, it can take them a while to adjust. Make sure that you are offering salad every day. Even if she doesn't eat much she needs to have the opportunity. As for feeders, I would try offering dubia or discoid roaches and superworms. You can also do waxworms and hornworms as a treat. You can order all of these online and have them shipped to you at Dubia.com.

For lighting lets get @KarrieRee to help you out with that!

Please feel free to reach out on the site whenever you need help!

 

[liagibson31]

@liagibson31
First off, congrats on getting a beardie! I only see one photo though.
Second, one of the reasons she could be black bearding his because she is getting used to new surroundings. Just give it a couple weeks, it can take them a while to adjust. Make sure that you are offering salad every day. Even if she doesn't eat much she needs to have the opportunity. As for feeders, I would try offering dubia or discoid roaches and superworms. You can also do waxworms and hornworms as a treat. You can order all of these online and have them shipped to you at Dubia.com.

For lighting lets get @KarrieRee to help you out with that!

Please feel free to reach out on the site whenever you need help!

Thank you so much, i have another question, she is so sleepy and loves being on me is this normal? ill attach a photo she has been chilling like this for an hour and seems really happy. I feel bad putting her back in her inclosure, hoe long should you have them out for?

 

[ChileanTaco]

With her blackbearding in the enclosure, being sleepy, and preferring to be on you I would guess something in the enclosure is not right yet. For example, the light or the temperature, and so she prefers to go away from this, prefers warming up on you, and feels in the enclosure it's just not right for her.
We can help you here improving the enclosure for your dragon so there won't be any reason any longer to feel bad about putting her back in, but this will be a true home for her with just the right conditions. My dragon, for example, likes going back in after some time. He likely feels that the conditions in there are just better for him than "human world", so after "a visit in human world" he happily goes back in.

 

[liagibson31]

With her blackbearding in the enclosure, being sleepy, and preferring to be on you I would guess something in the enclosure is not right yet. For example, the light or the temperature, and so she prefers to go away from this, prefers warming up on you, and feels in the enclosure it's just not right for her.
We can help you here improving the enclosure for your dragon so there won't be any reason any longer to feel bad about putting her back in, but this will be a true home for her with just the right conditions. My dragon, for example, likes going back in after some time. He likely feels that the conditions in there are just better for him than "human world", so after "a visit in human world" he happily goes back in.

My room is very warm same as the inclosure

With her blackbearding in the enclosure, being sleepy, and preferring to be on you I would guess something in the enclosure is not right yet. For example, the light or the temperature, and so she prefers to go away from this, prefers warming up on you, and feels in the enclosure it's just not right for her.
We can help you here improving the enclosure for your dragon so there won't be any reason any longer to feel bad about putting her back in, but this will be a true home for her with just the right conditions. My dragon, for example, likes going back in after some time. He likely feels that the conditions in there are just better for him than "human world", so after "a visit in human world" he happily goes back in.

My room is very warm, obviously not as warm as her inclosure, i keep it between 24° and 27° degrees in her inclosure, im from the uk so im not sure if we measure heat differently! but the lighting is much more cosy as you can see in the image in my actual room, so im wondering if shes not liking how bright her lighting is in her viv? she had that lighting with her previous owner so idk! not sure if she is just a social butterfly and likes being held a lot and gets a bit sad if you put her away lol

 

[IAmAMirage]

My room is very warm same as the inclosure

My room is very warm, obviously not as warm as her inclosure, i keep it between 24° and 27° degrees in her inclosure, im from the uk so im not sure if we measure heat differently! but the lighting is much more cosy as you can see in the image in my actual room, so im wondering if shes not liking how bright her lighting is in her viv? she had that lighting with her previous owner so idk! not sure if she is just a social butterfly and likes being held a lot and gets a bit sad if you put her away lol

Your temperature- That should be fine, but I'm not sure.

Thank you so much, i have another question, she is so sleepy and loves being on me is this normal? ill attach a photo she has been chilling like this for an hour and seems really happy. I feel bad putting her back in her inclosure, hoe long should you have them out for?

As for being sleepy, she could be getting ready for brumation. My beardie LOVES being out of his enclosure. I normally let him out for a couple hours at a time. When he stops running around and sort of settles down I normally put him back in his enclosure. Hope this helps!

 

[liagibson31]

Your temperature- That should be fine, but I'm not sure.

As for being sleepy, she could be getting ready for brumation. My beardie LOVES being out of his enclosure. I normally let him out for a couple hours at a time. When he stops running around and sort of settles down I normally put him back in his enclosure. Hope this helps!

thats exactly what i did! she ran around being crazy then when she had been asleep for a while i put her back in, she was out around 2 hours all together im assuming thats ok then so i feel much better, would you be able to tell me a bit more about brumation and what to expect?

 

[ChileanTaco]

Which kind of light are you using?
Generally, a bearded dragon needs bright light, and not so much what we consider as "cozy". However, it could be that the light in the enclosure is bright but just not the right kind.
So for this it would be great if you could tell us which lamps you are using so we could check and if necessary help you adjusting this.

i keep it between 24° and 27° degrees in her inclosure

How and where do you measure this? At the basking spot (= under the basking lamp) the temperature should be higher. (Btw.: I'm also using degrees Celsius, but otherwise it can be easily converted online from Celsius to Fahrenheit or back )
Good temperatures are approx. 38 - 42 °C near the basking spot ("hot end") and away from that 22 - 26 °C ("cool end").

 

[AHBD]

Hi there ! You have a sweet looking chunky girl there, sounds like she's very chill and you'll get attached really quick to her. Can you post pictures of the entire enclosure ? Your temps. [ for basking ] are way too low, it's imperative to get it up to about 38-40 C. so do that ASAP. The highest temp. you mentioned is the lowest it should be on the cool end. With her temps. so low she could even develop an R.I or start going in to brumation.

Also she will benefit from a diet, she's quite overweight. Cut way back on the insects and to get to to eat greens it's good to with hold all bugs for at least 2 weeks. It sounds tough but will be good for her in the long run.

 

[liagibson31]

Which kind of light are you using?
Generally, a bearded dragon needs bright light, and not so much what we consider as "cozy". However, it could be that the light in the enclosure is bright but just not the right kind.
So for this it would be great if you could tell us which lamps you are using so we could check and if necessary help you adjusting this.

How and where do you measure this? At the basking spot (= under the basking lamp) the temperature should be higher. (Btw.: I'm also using degrees Celsius, but otherwise it can be easily converted online from Celsius to Fahrenheit or back )
Good temperatures are approx. 38 - 42 °C near the basking spot ("hot end") and away from that 22 - 26 °C ("cool end").

Hiya, im unsure on what brand all the lights ect are as shes my first dragon and i bought her off a lady that was wanting to re home, she said the uvb light was bought new 2 months ago is all i know really, and i didnt realise it was supposed to be that hot! i had just been told to keep it about 25i feel awful now but at least i know, she has deformed bones, her spine is bent due to the first owner didn’t look after her correctly, but the lady i got her off told me she only fed her worms which are obviously more of a treat! so im going to try her on different food

 

[KarrieRee]

Hiya, im unsure on what brand all the lights ect are as shes my first dragon and i bought her off a lady that was wanting to re home, she said the uvb light was bought new 2 months ago is all i know really, and i didnt realise it was supposed to be that hot! i had just been told to keep it about 25i feel awful now but at least i know, she has deformed bones, her spine is bent due to the first owner didn’t look after her correctly, but the lady i got her off told me she only fed her worms which are obviously more of a treat! so im going to try her on different food

Please get her surface basking temps on par - 95-100 F taken w/ a digital probe thermometer- uvb needs to be a long tube fixture- are you in the states? Incorrect uvb and curved back soundsike mbd- I can post links for uvb's

 

[liagibson31]

Please get her surface basking temps on par - 95-100 F taken w/ a digital probe thermometer- uvb needs to be a long tube fixture- are you in the states? Incorrect uvb and curved back soundsike mbd- I can post links for uvb's

hello i have a digital probe and nust ordered another so i can have one at each side of her vivarium, i am in the Uk not the states unfortunately, I will get it up to a higher temp tomorrow now i know thankyou, What temp do you recommend at night time? and do you just reccomend having the ceramic light i think its called on at night

 

[ChileanTaco]

Hiya, im unsure on what brand all the lights ect are as shes my first dragon and i bought her off a lady that was wanting to re home, she said the uvb light was bought new 2 months ago is all i know really, and i didnt realise it was supposed to be that hot! i had just been told to keep it about 25i feel awful now but at least i know, she has deformed bones, her spine is bent due to the first owner didn’t look after her correctly, but the lady i got her off told me she only fed her worms which are obviously more of a treat! so im going to try her on different food

Okay, then the lights came with her?
Could you just take a photo of the lamps, so that the bulbs are visible?
What you need for your dragon is a basking lamp (looks usually like a light bulb, and in case you can still get normal light bulbs, not the LED ones, you can even use that) and one for UVB. The UVB one must be a long tube, and not a coil. If it is a coil, or no UVB at all, that's what has caused your dragon's spine deformity. With the wrong light, the Calcium metabolism doesn't work.

For night time there is no heating required, as far as you maintain somewhat "normal" room temperatures.

 

[KarrieRee]

hello i have a digital probe and nust ordered another so i can have one at each side of her vivarium, i am in the Uk not the states unfortunately, I will get it up to a higher temp tomorrow now i know thankyou, What temp do you recommend at night time? and do you just reccomend having the ceramic light i think its called on at night

65-75 F at night-- no light w / a ceramic heat emitter --

Arcadia Pro T5 UVB Kit - Desert 12%

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[liagibson31]

Okay, then the lights came with her?
Could you just take a photo of the lamps, so that the bulbs are visible?
What you need for your dragon is a basking lamp (looks usually like a light bulb, and in case you can still get normal light bulbs, not the LED ones, you can even use that) and one for UVB. The UVB one must be a long tube, and not a coil. If it is a coil, or no UVB at all, that's what has caused your dragon's spine deformity. With the wrong light, the Calcium metabolism doesn't work.

For night time there is no heating required, as far as you maintain somewhat "normal" room temperatures.

this is what lighting she ask, although the uvb light has actually just stopped working so if you have any other recommendations let me know please,