Dragon is recovering, but concerned about her coloring.

[TayTay]

I was finally able to get the reptisun 10.0 bulb saturday night. Just in the few days since then she's done a complete turn-around. She's eating, way more alert and active, lethargy and vision problems completely gone. Totally interested in the comings and goings of the room, except when she's just being lazy and basking! Now my concern is that when I got her 5 weeks ago, and even the whole time she was sick, all of her marking were bright oranges, yellows and reds. Now she's darkened up a ton! Where her stomach used to be light gray with white spots, it's now closer to black. And on her back where it used to be yellow-red it's now mostly different shades of brown stripes. Her basking site averages 102 degrees, and the cool side 75. Is this something I should worry about, like her emotional well being, or maybe even something medical?

 

[TayTay]

These are photos showing the previous coloring of her back and stomach.

And these show the current state of her coloring.

 

[sunsetsandsmiles]

Dark coloring usually means stressed or sick. I see several stress marks everywhere indicating your beardie is highly stressed. It may be relocation stress or it could be the enclosure. how far away is the asking spot? does your beardie drink water? and eat greens, fruits and veggies? a big amount of hydration comes from their veggies make sure to soak veggies for 20-30 mins before feeding and always offer in the am within the first couple hours of waking up! your beardie is beautiful though if you tell me more about your enclosure I can try and help more. What's the humidity also?

 

[TayTay]

I don't have a humidity gauge, I live in utah which is a desert state and humidity shouldn't be a problem. I have been bathing her every day, well my gf has, I work all day and see her just after lights on and just before lights out. She's just a baby and I have her in a 10 gallon tank, I have a 150 gallon but it had a wooden back and was used by another owner before I purchased it, so I need to replace the back before putting her in there to avoid the risk of any parasites or bacteria that may have taken up residence. And no that tank is NOT stored in the same room as my beardy.

Here is a pic of her current setup.

As you can see on the right, her basking spot is multi-tiered, allowing her to reach several different heights and distances from the bulb, without coming into contact with it. as for stress, the first month I had her I was using a Zilla desert series coil UVB bulb (upon the ***** pet shop recommendations) as a result she was very lethargic, loss of appetite, vision problems, weight loss, the works. She now appears to be on the mend, other than this coloring issue. I was afraid it was due to stress but am not sure of the cause.

 

[TayTay]

Oh and I realize the thermometer in the background is inaccurate, I am actually now using a digital probe thermometer and temping different locations throughout the day to make sure they maintain a stable and healthy temperature. Just saying :wink: