Help! Is it Puberty? Is he Unhealthy? Lazy? Picky?

[TCP8282]

I’m the proud Grandma of a (est 1 year old, male..Maybe) Bearded Dragon named Puck. In the last few months we have been a little worried about Puck, at 1st he only wanted to be on the cool side of his tank he would even move the Paper towels to be directly on the glass under the black hide (seen in pics) and he would get really cold and wouldn’t want to come out of his hide all day. We realized that the basking side of the tank was too hot for him now that he is older so we changed out the bulb from a Red Heat Bulb (which was on 24/7) to a regular incandescent white bulb which is now turned off at night. We live in Colorado so on the far left of the tank you see a small dome which has a heat emitter in it for night time so he doesn't get too cold since we don't have the heat lamp on at night any more (usually keeps the area under it at around 75-80 degrees) I also moved the Repti 10.0 UVB inside the tank which was on top of the tank until recently. Puck seems to like the new bulb and new Basking spot that was added about a week or so ago, however he still ends up going under it a tearing up the paper towels to lay on the bottom against the glass. Also puck basically refuses to eat veges and fruits except for once in a while he will eat some Collard greens (Only if it’s by its self), He eats Dubai roaches each morning, sometimes 15-20, sometimes 3..all depends on his mood I guess. The days he eats less he usually hasn't pooped in a day or 2 so I think he is kind of "full". I just want to make sure we are doing what’s right for him, he such an awesome Dragon. He gets a bath once a week or so, recently it seems to stress him out a bit so we have been making them a little less and not as long (Maybe 5 minutes or until he poops).
If anyone has any suggestions or want’s to share any knowledge with me, that would be Awesome. I’m sharing so pics, so if you see that I have things set up wrong or can make improvements please let me know.

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[SarahBancroft]

Hi! What size tank do you have? It’s good you got rid of the red light, those are bad for dragons and can do permanent damage to their eyes. What watt heat bulb and emitter are you using? Unless your house gets cooler than 65 you shouldn’t need any additional heat at night, cooling down to that temp is actually good for them. I’m guessing maybe you don’t have enough of a heat gradient and maybe he’s still too hot. Also, moving your uvb inside was a great move, how far is it from him?

 

[TCP8282]

Thanks for the reply!!! I believe it's a 55gal. 48x13x18. The UVB is 6-8" away from him. I have a 43w bulb for heating which makes it around 95-100 at the basking area. The cool side is 72-80. We live in Colorado so the temp can get a bit chilly and then flip to hot in anhours time. LOL Our house isn't the best for keeping heat or cold. At night his tank gets to 68-70 without the heat emitter, which I actually place next to the Heat lamp Dome when it's on at night, so the cool side is still cool. The pic is deceiving..sorry about that. Does he look Ok?? I'm new to all of this.

 

[SarahBancroft]

So all of that sounds pretty good, and your dragon actually looks really good. He may just be wanting to brumate. If he’s a year old and it’s been getting colder where you are that could be it. Everything else sound good, 55 gal is prob a bare minute at I would keep a full size dragon in so if you have the opportunity to upgrade to a 4x2x2 at some point I would try and go for something bigger. Another thing is they typically slow down on bugs around a year and should be getting more like 80% veg and 20% bugs. I think you mentioned in the first post but I can’t remember..does he eat his veggies? If not I would try and get him to eat a little more...maybe try some bee pollen to entice him.

 

[SarahBancroft]

Meant bare *minimum not minute lol whoops

 

[TCP8282]

I hope to get him a bigger tank someday. Unfortunately right now.. the human living space is pretty small too. The veges are an issue. He doesn't like them or is maybe to full on roaches or just stubborn. Bee pollen is something we havent tried. Also he refuses to go after food, he wants to be hand fed.

 

[SarahBancroft]

Totally get it on the tank upgrade situation. He looked good in the pictures so it doesn’t seem to be a problem. You could try some bee pollen, and if he will only take food being hand fed I’d keep it up even though it isn’t always convenient. It’s better than not eating. For hand feeding veggies try bigger pieces..they seem to like big pieces of greens better, mine will only take big pieces of collards from my hand, if I try a smaller piece she won’t take it. They also don’t eat as much as they get older so he may just be filled up from the bugs and not want anything else. What does he weigh? He didn’t look too thin at all in the pics. Dubias are healthy so if you’re feeding those and he’s liking them I’d keep that up, they are more healthy than a lot of other feeders..maybe try holding out til a littler later in the morning for those though. Try just putting veggies or collards first for an hour or so...if he isn’t going for it after awhile then I’d give the bugs but maybe if he’s hungry enough he will go for the veg. I spray my veggies really good, too and I notice mine going to them when she’s thirsty rather than to her water bowl. All in all though I think you’re doing just fine with him.

 

[TCP8282]

I believe when we were at the vet 2 weeks ago, he was 1.2lbs....but I could be wrong, so would have to look at the paper work they gave us. I was a little worried about the uvb light being too close since it's a 10.0 but I'm not sure how 2 mount it higher. The tank lid does have very large square mesh so it may be ok to have it on the top of the tank lid If I need to raise it up some. Also, I had tried to put a hammock in his tank a while back, it seemed to stress him out really bad, is that common?

 

[KarrieRee]

Any new decor will stress them out - something strange --- its normal-- Your UVB is a T 5 or a T 8? If its a T 5 8-10 inches on top of screen is good - if its a T 8 it would need to go into the tank w/ a distance of 6-8 inches from basking decor directly over head
Karrie

 

[TCP8282]

It's a T5 10.0, so I should move it back to the top of the tank? I worry he wont be close enough even with the basking log. Is it ok if the basking light is where it is currently with the UVB set next to it on top of the tank(It has 2 inches at the end of the fixture before the bulb Starts) The basking spot wont have full UVB, that's why I moved it originally so that he gets both at the same time. Does that matter?

 

[KarrieRee]

Its optimal to have them together but sometimes it doesnt work out that way -- I would get a piece of decor under it approx 8-10 inches --
Karrie

 

[SarahBancroft]

Yes if you have the t5 it will be fine on top, and I noticed you had wide mesh so that’s definitely fine. Can the uvb set close enough so he’s getting part of it while basking? It would be ideal to get both at the same time but as long as it overlaps a bit you should be good.

 

[TCP8282]

It does over lap but very very little. Is it bad to keep it in the tank? Will it hurt him?

 

[TCP8282]

This is how he has been all day. He doesnt look happy at all.

 

[SarahBancroft]

Yeah I’d take it out unless you can raise it up any farther or maybe lower his basking spot. The t5 is strong. You could also switch to the t8 but that would involve a new bulb and fixture but that is a less intense bulb and more for the space you have where as people typically use the t5 in larger tanks or above mesh.