Dragon not basking, spending all day in hides

[SkyfangRauss]

so a few months ago, i got Agni a turtle shell as a basking spot/hide.

when i first put it in, he spent so much time in the hide, he developed MBD. i caught it super early, removed the hide, and he recovered just fine. had vet visits and everything to make sure

for the past few weeks, he's been spending ALL his time on the cool side of his tank. when he goes near the basking area at all,its on the very outer edge of the lamps lighting area, where it onyl gets up around 85. the basking area itself is a rough ceramic rock that gets up to 105-110

i've tried putting him on the rock, and he moves away within a few minutes, right back to the cool side.

he's eating about half his salad (collard greens this week), and between 4-6 super worms in the evening.

i have an arcadia 12% tube, a 6500k daylight tube, and a 6500k LED on the cool side (produces almost no heat, but plenty of bright light). his basking lamp is a 90w par38 halogen.
tank size is 36x18x18. i have the arcadia in a light housing above the screen mesh on the top of the tank, but i was told by the guy at lightyourreptiles that this was fine for an arcadia 12%

he always has stress mark and practically refuses to bask. he brightens up when i feed him his worms, but within half an hour goes back to stress marks

he had a parasite check a few months ago, and it was clean, and has had no contact with parasite sources in the meantime. he turned 1 last month

is somethign wrong with him, or is this just adult moodiness

 

[erikadickson]

I've had the same problem!! Milo spends most of his time on the cool side and whenever I set him back under the basking light he moves within a few minutes. His colors have been dark and he has stress marks. When I take him out of the cage he brightens up and seems fine. I hope someone knows what it means!

 

[jgodman1011]

this is interesting to read, mine hardly ever sits in his basking spot either, he is still on the warm side of his tank but at the bottom of his tree, should I be worried??

 

[erikadickson]

Forgot to add that mine is 7 months old. I'm glad I'm not the only one who has a beardie that does this!!

 

[jgodman1011]

i'm hoping Sheldon stops this! he is still hiding in the warmer spot in his tank but he wont bask. I did get a better temperature gauge and his spot was too warm but I fixed it.

I don't undersand what you guys mean when you say stress marks, can you explain?
thanks

 

[SkyfangRauss]

stress marks are the chain link fence looking dark marks on thier bellies

 

[jgodman1011]

OMG he has them!! why?? how do I get rid of them??

are his colors too dark?

 

[SkyfangRauss]

beardie colors can be wildly different between individuals, even those from the same litter.

when he's out of the tank, they usually darken up to help them absorb heat, especially from a human body

and his stress marks look very faint. that's a good sign. they can get them for a variety of reasons, not just stress.

my guy has them right now, but its been about half an hour since his lights went off, and he's cooling down and sleeping, and he's starting to shed parts of his face.

if that's as dark as his are, i wouldnt worry. he seems pretty content, if a little overweight, but that could just be the picture angle. my eyesight isnt very good. if he's at least in the warm side, he may be getting all the heat he feels he needs.

i've been looking around, and it seems that adults generally either bask in the morning, then spend the day lazing around, or stay in a temperate zone in thier tanks to maintain what they deem a comfortable body heat level. guess i shouldnt worry too much. he has been basking a few times this week, so i guess he does what he needs to do to get himself comfortable

 

[jgodman1011]

The boy loves his dubias. Should I give him less? I don't want him being fat or getting sick. He is 19" long and I got him in march. He gets dandelion greens and kale and dubias. But he loves them lol. I didn't give him an today. Just greens. How many should an adult beardie get?? Thanks.