Help! Very Aggressive Beardie!

[hollowed454]

my whole apartment has central heat and air and we run the air just about all day every day and it's about 70 degrees in here.

Not real sure if I'm reading this right but ok I have the probe attached to the rock. Currently (gauging temperature again now) the "out" reading is at 88 degrees and the "in" reading is at 105. Is that was I want? Or would it be better to put the light on opposite sides and see if the readings reverse?

Ok I'll move to the kitchen sink and try what you suggested and see how he reacts to it. I just get worried with the way he reacts he's going to decide to quit breathing or something while he's in it since he was puffed up so huge in the sink previously I couldn't tell.

 

[diamc]

and also currently the way my set up is I have the rock in one area for basking and a bamboo tree and his rock are in the heated area. Would it be better if I moved his water rock to the middle of the area or into the basking side altogether?

Sorry, but I'm not exactly sure what you're asking here. Do you mean that you have 2 rocks, 1 rock & bamboo tree are on the basking side now & the water rock is in the middle? Do you have the UVB and basking bulb alongside each other? Do you have any type of heat or light on the cool side of the tank? Would it be possible to post a picture of the setup as it is now?

 

[beardie osk]

Great advice given............. he may have flattened out to get all the heat from the sink since you drained the water away. I hold my boys under the top part of their chest, supporting their head, just before they poop, they wiggle and act as though they want to get out, and sure enough they do their duty.
The face cloth is a great support for them to hold on to, if your not going to hold him but he sounds like a pampered baby, we can all relate!

FYI: I've learned to know my boys are breathing even when it appears they are not, :? still is scaring, though.

 

[diamc]

We keep posting at the exact same time. Ok, so having central air & it being 70 all the time, it would affect the tank temp then. When you checked the temps, did you have the thermometer part sitting inside the tank right on the cool side of the tank and the probe end stuck on his basking rock?

It is normal for them to puff up while in the bath water. Did he have a jet black beard while in the water? I'll wait for your response before I post again.

 

[hollowed454]

and also currently the way my set up is I have the rock in one area for basking and a bamboo tree and his rock are in the heated area. Would it be better if I moved his water rock to the middle of the area or into the basking side altogether?

Sorry, but I'm not exactly sure what you're asking here. Do you mean that you have 2 rocks, 1 rock & bamboo tree are on the basking side now & the water rock is in the middle? Do you have the UVB and basking bulb alongside each other? Do you have any type of heat or light on the cool side of the tank? Would it be possible to post a picture of the setup as it is now?

sorry I'll explain it a little bit better. I have one rock for basking. then his other is a plastic bowl with a rock pattern on it and then I have this bamboo type tree for him to climb. Currently I have the basking rock in one section and the tree and water are on the other side of the tank. I wasn't sure if it was a good idea to have the water one the hot end or not other than it evaporates quicker

 

[hollowed454]

Great advice given............. he may have flattened out to get all the heat from the sink since you drained the water away. I hold my boys under the top part of their chest, supporting their head, just before they poop, they wiggle and act as though they want to get out, and sure enough they do their duty.
The face cloth is a great support for them to hold on to, if your not going to hold him but he sounds like a pampered baby, we can all relate!

FYI: I've learned to know my boys are breathing even when it appears they are not, :? still is scaring, though.

all the advice given has been very good! I currently have him sitting in the sink and having something to stand on has seemingly made him a bit more at ease. He's not real fond of it though. Once again I started him with just his butt sitting in the water and he was perfectly okay with that so I gently set him down in the water and at first he hated it. He ran head first into the side of the sink. Now he's just sitting there calmly taking big breathes. I'm consistently going back and forth to check on him while I type here and check his temperature in the tank.

 

[hollowed454]

We keep posting at the exact same time. Ok, so having central air & it being 70 all the time, it would affect the tank temp then. When you checked the temps, did you have the thermometer part sitting inside the tank right on the cool side of the tank and the probe end stuck on his basking rock?

It is normal for them to puff up while in the bath water. Did he have a jet black beard while in the water? I'll wait for your response before I post again.

yes I did. I restuck the probe again a little more firmly this time on the basking rock. the handheld portion is completly on the opposite side of the tank. Right now I am getting around the same reading once again but the "in" reading is at 118 degrees at the moment. Which it doesn't seem to quite yet. I'm letting it sit exactly 45min-1 hour before I decide the temperature


no his beard was still mostly white. I just went and checked on him in the sink and he actually appears to be asleep!

 

[diamc]

Thanks for clarifying. In the basking area where you have your basking bulb and should have the UVB, you want the correct distance to the basking bulb according to the 100 to 108 temp. You also need to keep in mind that you want the basking area to have the correct distance to the UVB, which should be 6 to 8 inches. This way, your beardie gets both benefits from the different bulbs at once. If the basking rock gets him to the correct temp distance & UVB distance, then that is where you want the basking rock, but if the bamboo tree gets him to those correct distances, then you'll want to use the bamboo tree there.

If you put the water bowl under the bulbs, the water will evaporate quickly and may cause the humidity to rise too much, which you don't want. Hope this helps.

 

[diamc]

Oh, he's asleep in his bath, he must have enjoyed it then. If his beard had turned real dark, it would have shown that he didn't like it. (I'm sure you knew that.) That's a very good sign that the beard didn't darken & that he relaxed enough to fall asleep. Did he get a drink while he was in there? If not and he is awake, try putting drops of water on his nose with your fingers to see if he'll lick it off. I have to warn you though, since they sleep so soundly, make sure his head doesn't go under the water because it is possible for them to drown.

Ok, so the "in" reading is 118? And you have no heating at all on that side over the thermometer part?
What is the "out" reading so far?

 

[hollowed454]

Oh, he's asleep in his bath, he must have enjoyed it then. If his beard had turned real dark, it would have shown that he didn't like it. (I'm sure you knew that.) That's a very good sign that the beard didn't darken & that he relaxed enough to fall asleep. Did he get a drink while he was in there? If not and he is awake, try putting drops of water on his nose with your fingers to see if he'll lick it off. I have to warn you though, since they sleep so soundly, make sure his head doesn't go under the water because it is possible for them to drown.

Ok, so the "in" reading is 118? And you have no heating at all on that side over the thermometer part?
What is the "out" reading so far?

to the best of my knowledge he didn't drink anything. I did do that though and dipped my finger in the water to see if he wanted anything and he just kind of stared at it that was about it. I've been consistently going in to check on him and make sure his water is warm. he's just asleep in there all flattened out with his head kind of propped at a slight angle on the side of the sink so it's not in the water.

Well the temperature reading seems to be done. Going to give it another 15 min though. Right now the "in " reading is at 112 and the "out" reading is at 82 degrees. Just to make sure which part are you calling the thermometer part?

 

[diamc]

You've really got me confused with those readings. Just to make sure I'm understanding right, the thermometer part (not the probe end) is sitting on the side of the tank where there is no heat or light at all, right?

 

[hollowed454]

You've really got me confused with those readings. Just to make sure I'm understanding right, the thermometer part (not the probe end) is sitting on the side of the tank where there is no heat or light at all, right?

sorry. yes that's the way it's set up. What should the "in" and "out" readings be at? That way I can make adjustments and try to change up lighting positions and figure out if maybe I need to put a more wattage bulb in there. Although I would think the bulb is strong enough

 

[diamc]

That seems really strange that the temp on what's supposed to be the cool side of the tank is hotter than the basking area where the probe end is. Is the thermometer part sitting right on the floor of the tank?

 

[hollowed454]

no it's not he knocked it around some when he was attacking it. I'll move it back to exactly on the floor and get another reading on it. He's so content in the sink he won't mind. If you want I can take a picture of the tank so you can better see the way it's set up

 

[diamc]

I can just picture you running back & forth, check the temp, checking the bathing beardie. :mrgreen: I've done that before.

I'm afraid that you will have to get another reading. The cool side where the thermometer part should be sitting, with no lights at all over the thermometer should have a reading of 75 to 85 with 80 being ideal and that should be the "in" reading. The basking area where the probe end is stuck to the basking rock and where the basking bulb & UVB are, should have a reading of 100 to about 108 and that should be the "out" reading.

Are you surprised at how much he's enjoying his bath? 8) When you mentioned how he was soaking up the water in his dish in his tank, it really sounded to me like he wanted a thorough soaking. Guess he did. :lol: