Cold Corner *HELP*

[Kaelwizard]

Hi, my bearded dragon is a juvenile who is suffering from bad dehydration. I am currently getting him as much water as I can and bathing him. Recently, however, (by recently I mean the last few months) he has stayed in the coldest part of his enclosure- the Cold Corner as I call it. He just sits there all day, seemingly not bothered by how cold it is. I don't know what to do. His basking spot is about 95-100 degrees F. Whenever I move him to it he runs back to the corner. He has a Reptisun T5 tube bulb for UVB. (that is what it's called right? I forgot).

 

[Claudiusx]

Can you post a picture up of your setup?

How have you determined that he is dehydrated? And how old is he?

95-100 is kind of low for a juvie. What are you measuring your temps with?

If you could post a pic of him and the enclosure that would be great.

-Brandon

 

[Kaelwizard]

I also have him on a fatty diet so that he will grow, but he is almost a year old and hasn't been growing. He is 12" and I have him in a 40 gallon. PLEASE HELP!

 

[Claudiusx]

A fatty diet won't help him grow, it will only lead to fat stores and potentially organ issues later in life.

A healthy diet, and proper husbandry is what causes dragons to grow.
What does his daily diet look like?

-Brandon

 

[Kaelwizard]

Can you post a picture up of your setup?

How have you determined that he is dehydrated? And how old is he?

95-100 is kind of low for a juvie. What are you measuring your temps with?

If you could post a pic of him and the enclosure that would be great.

-Brandon

I will soon. It is a little dirty as he throws his dandelion greens around though. I took him to the vet and they said he was dehydrated. I will give him lots of water after this post. I have some kind of temp gun scanner thing. He has a 150 watt basking bulb I think. The temp does reach over a 100 sometimes.

 

[Kaelwizard]

A fatty diet won't help him grow, it will only lead to fat stores and potentially organ issues later in life.

A healthy diet, and proper husbandry is what causes dragons to grow.
What does his daily diet look like?

-Brandon

Calcium dusted crickets but he usually only will accept superworms which I hate feeding to him because they aren't very good for him. He also LOVES dandelion greens. I got him last September btw.

 

[Kaelwizard]

I'm really sorry but my camera is dead.

 

[Claudiusx]

That's ok then I'll just ask for some more details.

Is your t5 mounted inside the tank or onto of a mesh screen?
How far is the t5 from the basking surface?
How far is it from the floor?

What is your basking surface made out of? Eg wood, driftwood, brick, rock, granite, etc.
Please be specific as the material makes a huge difference to your temperature gun, so we want to make sure its measuring it accurately.
Alternatively, if you have a digital with probe end you could place there to confirm the temps, that would work too.

So hes almost a year old now?

How much food does he normal eat per day?
How often is he pooing?
He should be much bigger than 12 inches at a year old. So it leads me to suspect lighting, temps, or diet isnt proper.

Sorry lots of questions, but the more we know, the better we can help you.

-Brandon

 

[KarrieRee]

It will help better w/ pics so post as soon as you can --------------something is off w/ him acting the way he is------------ lighting is in question at this point
Karrie

 

[Kaelwizard]

The T5 is outside on the mesh. My mom doesn't know how to mount it so she doesn't want to... The basking spot is wood. The T5 is long so it goes across most of the lid so the light shines down across most of the enclosure.

 

[Claudiusx]

It's fine ontop of the mesh as long as it's at a proper distance, which is why I asked for distances.

If you could please answer all of my questions I could help better. Without knowing more details none of us can be of much help to you.

-Brandon

 

[Kaelwizard]

He usually will only eat one or two superworms if he will eat at all. He doesn’t poop a lot. I can’t get the measurements of the light distance right now. If it helps the enclosure is 18” tall.

 

[KarrieRee]

I do believe the UVB is too far away -- it should be 10-11 inches for a T 5 and its 18 inches? So that in itself is gonna be a problem-- I would inlist in some help w/ a male friend and get this mounted inside the tank
command Velcro fasteners- picture hanging wire – plastic zip ties
https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Nylon-Cable-Tie-Ties-Black-2-5-3-5-4-8-7-6-9-X-100-150-200-300-370-530mm-UV-Good/332871964184?hash=item4d80b71618:m:m40KOkegiGiJeePUguhY5cQ&var=541991102297

the basking temps should be 95-105 for an adult --- 105-110 for a baby--- how are you taking those temps w/ a infrared heat gun? stick ons? or digital probe?
This lighting is crucial to the behavior of your dragon along w/ digestion and his over all health--
Karrie

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

How is your dragon doing today?
I agree, the UVB light is most likely not the correct distance from him. It is really important
too double check the distances to ensure he is getting adequate UVB lighting.
Since you have a T5, that is good, but it will only stretch so far to have the higher quality of
UVB & strength.

Tracie

 

[Kaelwizard]

The problem is the wood for his basking spot is smooth so he can't climb high on it until he is older. I have his basking spot on the lowest part of his wood which is roughly 3 inches above the bottom of the enclosure. The basking light is also a UVB bulb too. It is the Exo Terra SolarGlo or whatever I think.