Help!!! Please

[Campus25]

Hi everybody, first and foremost I am a first time bearded dragon owner and I’ve had Torch for about a year now. So far he’s been doing very well with everything but as of late (probably the last month or so) he’s been very lazy. I recently bought him a new hide (it’s a big rock that has a cut out for a cave) and all he ever does is sleep inside of it out of the basking light. He’s never really been this lazy and I’m having a hard time getting him to eat any kind of vegetables what so ever all he ever wants is crickets. I don’t know if I’m doing something wrong if there’s anything I can change. I have two different bulbs for my heat lamp the lower one keeps his tank at around 90 on the warm side and 80 on the cool side. The other one keeps the warm side at about 100 or 105 and the cool side around 85 or 90. Is just worried that he sleeps all day in the shade of the cave that I recently put in there and never really basks in the heat unless I physically take him out and put him there. Any advice please help

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

It could be the colder weather. Around this time beardies and most other reptiles go into burmation.
However do you think you can post a picture of his setup just incase its something else, though i doubt it.


You can post pictures by uploading them to https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and then selecting them by hitting the "IXMG" tab.

 

[Campus25]

This is the setup I have

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

Okay 3 things wrong with the setup at the moment, the substrate should be changed to something more natural like tile, or shelf liner or paper towels. Which resembles the type of surface the ground is where they live. They dont live in sand dunes at all so having sand in their enclosure causes a number of bad things like an outbreak of bad bacteria, sometimes it can cause eye problems, bad joints, basically sand (and most other particle substrates) is like living in a litter box to them.

The way your monitoring the temps should be used with a digital probe thermometer or a temp gun as the stick on ones dont work and you need to know the basking temp not the air temp. As for the lights you need a proper uvb tube light. I reccomend getting the reptisun t5 HO 10.0 it may increase his activity and hopefully will help him not get mbd. I assume its nighttime so the heat lamp and uvb compact/coil bulb is off. Also the reason you need a tube light is because compact/coil bulbs are very weak and cant go through screen very well, compact bulbs need to be set up a certain way and coil bulbs can cause eye damage.

 

[Terry15]

If you have sand in his enclosure, you need to get rid of it ASAP. It could be he's not eating because he may be impacted. This time of year some go into brumation. I have never really let Mystic sleep for weeks or months. Now he's sleeping a few days straight.

 

[PodunkKhaleesi]

I was going to suggest brumation as the cause until I saw that picture of his setup...now there’s a possibility that the husbandry may be the direct cause of his lethargy.
1. Ditch the sand. Loose substrates can be ingested accidentally when a beardie goes to chomp an insect or simply because beardies love to lick everything. Lethargy is a common symptom of impaction, and I really hope impaction isn’t the issue here. Regardless, replace the sand ASAP with newspaper, paper towels, reptile carpet, or tile.
2. He needs a proper UV light. Coil bulbs are ineffective at best, and can cause severe eye problems at worst. You need a tube light that can span a good portion of the enclosure. Pick up a Reptisun 10.0 or an Arcadia tube. There will be tempting, cheaper tube options at the pet store but resist the urge to go with the store brand. Reptisun and Arcadia tubes are beyond compare when it comes to strength and effectiveness. You may want to read the lighting/what to buy guides on this site, as they’ll provide greater detail on why these specific tube fixtures are so important. UV light (or lack thereof) has a direct correlation with energy and appetite.
3. The only accurate way to take a basking site temperature to make sure it’s in the correct range is with a digital thermometer. If you haven’t been using one you’ll need to buy one ASAP. Zoomed makes one that’s widely available.
Even if your beardie’s recent sluggishness winds up being related to brumation, you still need to address these husbandry issues for the lizard’s wellbeing and long-term health.

 

[Campus25]

Thanks for all the input. I’ll definitley get the tank needs addressed ASAP and ensure he’s well taken care of. I believe it may be the brumation setting in based on what you guys are saying. I’ve has him on the ground walnut shell substrate but he’s never had any pooping issues or anything like that before but I’ll definitley switch that out. As far as brumation goes how should I address his feeding??? I normally take everything out of his tank before feeding him so crickets don’t hide and get left in there. Do I continue the same routine?? I don’t want him to eat and then not go in the light to digest. Any ideas?