Elijah is slowing down

[Elijahsmom]

My beardie Elijah's motivation has gotten ALOT slower that last couple of days. Here is some general info about his keeping quarters:
40 gal breeder with 175watt bulb (his cage is in the basement and it gets cold!) for basking, temps stay about 100 to 110 degrees, cool side stays at about 80 degrees
10.0 flourescent repti sun UVA/UVB bulb
I got the new tank for him about a week ago and moved him in. Lately though he has been slowing down, when I had him in the smaller tank he was always active or atleast awake in his basking area. Now he seems to sleep later in the day and goes to bed earlier at night. This morning for example I had to make him move to the warm side of his tank (which he did when I put my hand in there and he puffed his beard at me). His poops have been good, solid, and daily and he is eating well, still loves his crickets and eats those with a gusto. I feel him baby food squash about daily and he gets collard or mustard greens daily. I try to keep his lights on for 12 to 14 hours a day but like I said this last week he has been slowing down. I had a hard time at first getting the temps right in his cage (it kept getting a little cold and then we had a "warm snap" and then his temps were getting too hot ) The repti sun light that is on his tank now is from his smaller tank. Should I get a second one to add to the first? It's 12inches but I have it situated close to his basking area so that if he is basking or in the middle of the tank he gets the light from it. He was not old enough to brumate this year (I don't think he is a year old yet, he is probably a good 15 inches long). I have to admit after reading around on these websites I found out that the sticky thermometers are not good for an accurate temp. measurment so I plan to order the ones with the probes on them this week from an online store as most of the petstores I use don't carry them.
Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[fresnowitte]

Hi sorry to hear the little guy isn't feeling up to par.

My first concern would be the temps...without the probe type where you can place the probe directly on the basking spot...or a instantaneous/infrared temp gun you can not get an actual basking temp which is highly important. Without proper temps... a beardie if not warm enough can not digest food properly and may even stop eating due to this. Also to low of night time temps often results in a URI so be careful. To high of temps will cause your beardie to over heat leaving them only wanting to lie flat usually at the cool end. Then if he's getting cooler than 65* at night time that will leave him open for a URI which is much like pneumonia to us but much more devastating to a beardie because it can be fatal if not addressed asap. Not trying to scare you just want you to know in case you didn't.

Second concern is the Reptisun UVB, it's best if it reaches as close to the length of the viv as possible. Also don't forget that they need to be able to get within 6" to 8" of the reptisun. Oh and need to be replaced every 6 months whether they still turn on or not.

Now it could also just be relocation stress due to new change to environment. However I would suggest making sure those temps are right just in case. :wink:

Oh and a 175watt sounds to large to me for basking bulb in a 40 breeder. I have a couple of 40gal set up with a reptisun and a Phillips halogen 50 to 60watt flood bulb to get the proper basking temps with my house temps being about 70* give or take 5*.

 

[Elijahsmom]

Thanks for the input. Yeah I read that I have to get better thermometers, I'm going to order them online today and hopefully they get here soon. My UVB bulb I got on 10/31/09 (marked it with a sticker so I know when to change it) So I need to get a longer one and make it so he can get right under it? OK. Sounds like I need to take a trip to the pet store today. Yeah everything else about him is good, he eats well and his poops have been great. But I do need to make these aggustments. Thanks again for your help.

 

[fresnowitte]

I'm not sure where you are from but if US and have a Walmart nearby they have one called the Accurite/Acu rite :?: I believe :?: and several members use that one. I have the instantaneous/no contact temp gun due to mainly accuracy and the fact that I have 10 plus vivs running all the time so it was a cheaper way out for me not having to buy one for every viv. Again not sure where you are located but if there's a Harbor Freight Tools near you they have a nice little pocket model for $9.99 I have experience with that one too an it works well especially for the price.
http://search.harborfreight.com/cpisearch/web/search.do?keyword=cen-tech+thermometer&Submit=Go

As for your Reptisun it's probably cheapest to order from here... http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-fluorescent-bulbs/504983/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-uvb-bulb.html
I find them to be about 1/3 the cost than our local pet stores if we can even find it. :roll:

Yep get his UVB changed and make sure he can get within 6" to 8" of it along with getting a theremometer that you can get accurate readings on so you can get the right temps and you should be good. :wink:

 

[Elijahsmom]

YAY! I found everything I needed at Petsmart. I've gotten thermometers with probes, I have a reading of 101.3 on the basking side with a 100 watt bulb and a reading of 78.3 on the cool side but I do have to keep a 75 watt bulb over there to keep it that way or the temp. falls to 71 or so. He has already perked up. I got him one of those lizard hammocks so he can get about 6" away from his UVB lamp and I bought a 24" UVB lamp but I bought the wrong holder for it and it doesn't fit! I'll have to make a trip back tomorrow. But it looks like his temps were all wrong. Thanks so much for the input!!!

 

[fresnowitte]

He has already perked up

:mrgreen:

Yay! That's great news.

 

[Elijahsmom]

Thank you! Yeah now he is a little overactive with hormones kicking in!!! :lol: