Could my beardie be going into brumation

[vickson420]

Looks like you have gotten some great advice here. At his age and the season brumation is highly unlikely. It sounds like he may not be getting proper lighting and calcium. The reptisun is a great bulb but if its 10 inches away and your not dusting then chances are good that he is not synthesizing enough D3. I also agree about the therm and for the few bucks I think it is better to be safe rather then sorry. I think if you make those corrections he may perk right up for you.

 

[jmain]

Its hard to say how often he bask because (below is the tank) but on the left side I'm using a 75 watt bulb because the its so far from the tank and then on the right side I'm using a 50 watt bulb since its closer and it gets heated up easier. But some times I will find him on top of the back wall on either side so he can get pretty close to the bulbs..... On a side note I hardly find him ever basking with his mouth open and he is hardly ever the dark color when they are stressed. Some times he will get the dark lines on his belly and he will be a darker brown color but for the most part he is usually the orange color.


How often do I need to be dusting either the crickets or the greens though?

 

[fresnowitte]

Okay found the link. :wink: My first thoughts are that the temps are off. Many types of thermometer can be off, plus or minus several degrees. Hubby is an HVAC-R technician of 20+ years so temps, humidities, and pressures are well understood. However the Walmart one that Diane posted happens to have a good review though I've not personally used one. I had tried several other brands only to find none of them were accurate either. Ended up with an infrared temp gun before discovering the Walmart one. However it's easy to test a probe thermometer to see if it's reading right by placing the probe into a glass full of ice water after the condensation has built up on the outer part of the glass it should read 32* plus or minus a degree. The same can be done with a no contact or infrared thermometer/gun. The free standing type, dials, and tape strips can not be tested for accuracy in this way.

Forgive me for a minute while I try to troubleshoot this....

On his hot side I got a reptisun 10.0 and it is about a foot away from him. I will post a picture of the tank here below. The bulb is right around 6 months old so I probably do need to change it out.

There you go there is the first place to start.

First you need to replace your Reptisun as they become weaker as approaching the 6 months it's very common to see the effects in a beardies behavior and appetite.

Secondly you really have to figure out a way that his basking spot can be at 6 to 8 inches any futher than that is not beneficial...they must have a specific level of UVB being sundwelling reptiles at further distances they can not receive it. When they do not get enough UVB or are not at the correct temp range they often will not eat well as it's harder for them to digest...so may appear as picky or semi brumation. And when using a screen if the mesh isn't large it's already blocking some of the UVB so you can't afford more distance.

You should be dusting with Calcium w/D3 4 or 5 days a week and multi/herptivite 2 days a week one feeding per day.

It's not that he doesn't have energy in his tank it just seemed like he used to move from spot to spot more often if that makes any sense

This is not uncommon for a beardie to become lazier as they mature.

 

[jmain]

I have all ready changed the reptisun bulb I did that about a week ago.


Also like I said for the most part his basking spot is on that balcony but some times he does get on top of the wall which puts him maybe 2 inces away max

 

[fresnowitte]

Would it be possible to slide the UVB forward just a bit so that it's more over the basking spot so that when he's on the back wall he wouldn't be as close to the Reptisun?

 

[jmain]

The reptisun is in the front of the tank so he never really gets close to it directly but like he can get his head to where it is touching the screen so he is pretty high up there .


He just ate 10 dusted crickets

 

[fresnowitte]

I'm sorry I'm confused...Exactly how close to the Reptisun can he get? In one post you said it's about 1 foot away then you said that he can get within a 2 inches. What if you were to shorten the wall so that he can not get as close as 2 inches but it would be 6 to 8 inches from the basking spot? Sorry if I'm being a pain but the UVB distance and temps are 2 of the most important items in having the correct husbandry for your beardie to thrive. Exactly which wall the back or side wall is he within 2 inches?

If you could post a better pic of just the basking spot up to the lighting set up it would help my confusion some. Possibly even one of where he sits when he's the closest. I mean if the Reptisun is at the front of the viv and there's not a wall there then how does he get within 2 inches of it?(unless it's the wall at the side??? It's really hard to tell by the pic's you posted but exactly how far is the top of the basking spot to the Reptisun? Plus if you don't mind my asking what is the length of your enclosure and the length of your UVB tube? If he's climbing on the side wall then slide the fixture over some so that it's positioned over the basking spot and stretches farther in the other direction toward the cool end not so close the the side wall in the basking area? Does that make any sense?

That's great news that he ate 10 buggies for you today.

 

[jmain]

Ok here is a picture of just the wall so you can see what the wall looks like a little better. His basking spot is on the right side "the balcony" but he can actually climb on all of the back side. Also on the far left side above the ramp he will crawl on to the top of that some times. I didn't mean he gets within 2 inches of the reptisun im sorry I meant he can get within 2 inches of the basking light when he climbs onto the top of the wall. Tell me if the 2nd picture helps you to see the stuff better.

Does this help so you can see it?

Here is a picture of him laying on the balcony... He can also crawl onto the notch but hardly does it.

 

[fresnowitte]

Thank actually that helped clear up my confusion quite a bit.
Except I still can't tell how long the reptisun is ...does it stretch nearly the entire length of the enclosure?
The Reptisun should be as close to the length of the enclosure as possible.

Let me make sure I've got this right. :wink:
Okay so the Reptisun is at the front and the basking bulbs at the back correct?
An it's not the Reptisun that she can get the closest to but the basking bulbs correct?
I'm thinking that your concerned about the distance from the basking bulb that she can get not the Reptisun correct?
Have you tried taking the temp of the highest spot closest to the basking bulb that she can get to see just how hot it gets? If it's not to hot then it's okay if she can get that close temp dictates the distance of the basking bulbs not output.

Also as beardie mature their appetites make a change they will no longer eat several feeding per day as they did when they were small. They should begin to eat more salad and less live bug feedings per day.
Could this be the change that you are seeing?

BTW...I like the wall did you make it yourself?

 

[jmain]

Sorry I forgot to mention about the length of the bulb I have 2 that are 18 inches. The other one is a Slimeline Desert Fixture includes desert 50 uvb bulb


Correct the reptisun is at the front and the basking lights are at back facing down. And yes he can get close to the basking bulbs.
Correct my concern is can he get to hot by getting that close? I haven't done the highest spot no that is a good idea.


Thats the change that I was thinking he was going through but he went from eating 45 crickets a day and salad every other day to pretty much just hardly eating any crickets and hardly and salad and now he is back to eating anywhere from 4-20 crickets a day and then eats salad just who knows when. Like I said Saturday he only at 4 crickets but ate a lot of his salad. Sunday he ate 20 crickets and maybe took 2-3 bites of his greens. Then today has ate 10 crickets and no salad yet. I will offer crickets and salad again around 3 since he ate around 9 this morning


Yes I made the wall it has 50 lbs of grout and 50 lbs of aquarium gravel. A lot of people were worried about him eating the rocks as they fell off but I have never seen him even notice one. At first I would vaccum the tank about every other day if a lot of them fell off but now that the rock is about 4-6 I don't remember when I did it. But the rocks hardly ever fall off anymore. I did that so it would help trim his nails along with I have slate in the bottom.

 

[fresnowitte]

The other one is a Slimeline Desert Fixture includes desert 50 uvb bulb

I'm not sure if those bulbs have been recently revised so they aren't actually endangering the health of your beardie. Also I'd personally just use a longer Reptisun. :wink: I'll go see what I can dig up I do know that awhile back there was alot of talk about that bulb causing issues. As a matter of fact :!: Crickest lost their beardie Ash I believe contributing factor in death was that bulb...Off to look real quick...yep here's where I read it. viewtopic.php?f=34&t=114123&start=0


For now here is an article about UVB that you may find helpful...however if you are like me you may need to read over parts of it a few times to comprehend. :lol:
viewtopic.php?f=34&t=124637&start=0
Also this link will provide lots of information on different brands and types of UVB's charting/graphs included that are recommend or not recommended for different types of reptiles.
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/


Yeah just measure the temp up on the wall if it's to hot then tweak the basking bulbs around by changing level or positions until you have the temps right.

 

[jmain]

See I made a forum about that bulb and no one had said anything bad about it. I have actually been using it since nov/december and he hasn't been acting weird but it is actually almost time for it to change also.

So you think he is just changing eating habbits?

 

[fresnowitte]

I actually seen that thread when I was trying to find the one that Crickest had posted in. Sorry that you were not informed then.

I think it's a combination of both she's maturing and the Desert 50.

See with the different bulbs that are inadequate for sundwelling reptiles they will affect different beardies and reptiles differently as for how long it takes for them to start showing signs of being affected. Sometimes it can be months before you see anything and then like poor Crickest, Ash, and I think one of their other beardies as well it was quick. And as they mature their appetites change as they no longer feel as if they need to put on gurth quickly to be safe from preditors. So being she's of pretty good size I'd say she's about at that stage so when you replace the Desert you may not see much difference in her appetite at first but her behavior should change almost instantly. However she's never gonna be as active as she was when she was little. Your zoom zoom is growing up. :wink:

 

[jmain]

The thing is though he only goes onto the left side some times I think he goes to cool down but have no proof of it. But he is over there a lot less time except for when he puts himself to bed. But even if I get that bulb replaced he is over a foot away from that bulb on that side so what type of bulb do I need over there?

 

[fresnowitte]

The reptisun should stretch the length so that they are getting some sort of UVB in all areas of the viv so they have a radiant of levels...the basking spot is the only spot that needs to be within 6 to 8 inches this is for digestion and general health. Bogus bulbs wave lengths are still being emitted from the Desert 50 whether she's directly under it or not. However being that it's a foot or so away from her is most likely your saving grace because if she'd have been any closer she'd show more signs of being affected by it's wavelengths. If you feel you need more light on that side even if you were to replace UVB's with longer Reptisun just add a low wattage bulb on that side.