Head vibrating

Merlin4

Member
Beardie name(s)
Merlin
Hi, I’ve had Merlin for two years this October (2022) and about a month ago I noticed a very slight head shaking almost like a vibration from him. It’s only noticeable if you are looking at him for a little bit and it’s not very often at all. So I looked it up replaced his 2 in 1 aracdia mercury vapour D3 lamp with UVA and UVB 80W for a separate Arcadia Pro T5 14% UVB with a reflector that’s 24W and a Repti Basking spot lamp 100W. He has also had calcium dusted dubia roaches 3x a week with once a week of multi-vitamin dusted dubia roaches ever since I’ve had him. However after nearly 6 weeks of this new lighting set up I’ve noticed he’s still doing it. So I switched his calcium to calcium with D3, he’s been on that 2 weeks now and still I noticed he’s kept on doing it. I’m not sure whether it’ll just take him more time to recover from it or there’s still something wrong. Juts looking for a little advice before forking out for an exotic vet
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Hi, I’ve had Merlin for two years this October (2022) and about a month ago I noticed a very slight head shaking almost like a vibration from him. It’s only noticeable if you are looking at him for a little bit and it’s not very often at all. So I looked it up replaced his 2 in 1 aracdia mercury vapour D3 lamp with UVA and UVB 80W for a separate Arcadia Pro T5 14% UVB with a reflector that’s 24W and a Repti Basking spot lamp 100W. He has also had calcium dusted dubia roaches 3x a week with once a week of multi-vitamin dusted dubia roaches ever since I’ve had him. However after nearly 6 weeks of this new lighting set up I’ve noticed he’s still doing it. So I switched his calcium to calcium with D3, he’s been on that 2 weeks now and still I noticed he’s kept on doing it. I’m not sure whether it’ll just take him more time to recover from it or there’s still something wrong. Juts looking for a little advice before forking out for an exotic vet
Where is the 14% bulb? How tall is the tank? These bulbs are very strong and all uvb bulbs have certain placement and distance
 

Merlin4

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Merlin
His tank is about 18 inches tall and the bulb is attached inside the tank to the more to the left
image.jpg
image.jpg
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
His tank is about 18 inches tall and the bulb is attached inside the tank to the more to the left View attachment 71371 View attachment 71370
How far is the spot from the UVB? 14% bulbs require a distance of 17-18 inches --- please post a video of him doing the head vibration thing --- you can record on your phone or record on youtube and post the link -- we need to have our vet tech mod on here weigh in on this issue - also post a pic of the whole tank please -- the more info the better they can figure out what is causing it -- I am gonna throw this out there but most all in one MVB's do not emit enough UVB and he may have been lacking enough UVB w/ just the one bulb you had and now is showing signs of MBD--- going to have Drache613 look at your post and AHBD
@Drache613
@AHBD
 

Merlin4

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Merlin
How far is the spot from the UVB? 14% bulbs require a distance of 17-18 inches --- please post a video of him doing the head vibration thing --- you can record on your phone or record on youtube and post the link -- we need to have our vet tech mod on here weigh in on this issue - also post a pic of the whole tank please -- the more info the better they can figure out what is causing it -- I am gonna throw this out there but most all in one MVB's do not emit enough UVB and he may have been lacking enough UVB w/ just the one bulb you had and now is showing signs of MBD--- going to have Drache613 look at your post and AHBD
@Drache613
@AHBD
Do you mean how far from the basking bulb the UVB is? This is his current set up.
2B56658E-6973-47AF-918B-D6D91DA7BCF7.jpeg
3E973090-CB3F-4399-89E8-AD4CF9EBB81F.jpeg
 

Merlin4

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Merlin
It’s really hard to video his head shake since he does it so infrequently but I’ll try
 

Merlin4

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Merlin
The distance for your UVB should be from the top of basking decor piece 17-18 inches ---
Oh okay, would this be causing his head shaking issue? Currently in the process of getting a slightly bigger viv, so it would be taller. It’s currently 11 inches away from his basking decor
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Oh okay, would this be causing his head shaking issue? Currently in the process of getting a slightly bigger viv, so it would be taller. It’s currently 11 inches away from his basking decor
Yes it could be its way too close for a 14% bulb-- is there a screen on the tank?
I need Tracie to look at the post
@Drache613
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
On the top of the tank? No. It’s a wood top.
Ok because I was going to have you move it to the top of the screen --- to cut some of the UVB rays down - so on that note I would advise you get a 12% bulb - I think you might be over UVBing him-- those bulbs are too strong -- w/ a 12% bulb distance would be 12-15 inches - for inside the tank -
 

Merlin4

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Merlin
Ok because I was going to have you move it to the top of the screen --- to cut some of the UVB rays down - so on that note I would advise you get a 12% bulb - I think you might be over UVBing him-- those bulbs are too strong -- w/ a 12% bulb distance would be 12-15 inches - for inside the tank -
Okay would you advise carrying on with the calcium with D3 or put him back onto the calcium without D3?
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Okay would you advise carrying on with the calcium with D3 or put him back onto the calcium without D3?
Do D3 once a week - insects are being fed 2-3 times per week? the other times w/ out D3- is he eating salads good? Tracie can elaborate more on the supplements --- I have flagged her again --
 

KarmaMoon

Member
Beardie name(s)
Nova
I second it is most likely to much UVB. this can cause them to produce to much calcium causing issues.
with changing your arcadia bulb to the lower it should help a bit, if it keeps up, I think the reptisun T5 10.0 is just a tad less UVB. If you have the $ get a solar meter to check the uvb at the basking spot.

You can also lower the basking spot giving them less UVB.

in my Zen Habitat 4'x16"x2' I have the reptisun T5 10.0, on top of my screen and with basking spot 8" away, my baby gets between a 3-7.2 in zone 3. and i think 7.4 is suggested as the max. Without the screen filtering out some of the uvb I would be afraid of how much uvb she got.
 

Merlin4

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Merlin
Do D3 once a week - insects are being fed 2-3 times per week? the other times w/ out D3- is he eating salads good? Tracie can elaborate more on the supplements --- I have flagged her again --
At the movement he gets calcium with D3 on insects 3 times a week then a multi-vit once a week on insects. He’s a decent eater of salads a bit picky sometimes but he eats well. He usually has staples of butternut squash and spring greens then whatever I’ve got in to build up the rest of his salad.
 

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