Hiding a lot?

[njustine]

The temp in his cage is still correct, and nothing has changed that I have noticed. However, lately Etch has been going inside of his shelter a lot. He never used to go in there at all. He is 7 months old now...could this be a sign of anything being wrong?

 

[peera]

Is he going in his hide to sleep? It could be a sign he's trying to brumate. Nothing to worry about, but don't let him do it after he eats, he needs to bask to digest. There's an excellent article on brumation to be found under the care sheet link at the top of the forum.

 

[NegativeCreep]

I don't think that he is old enough for brumation...
How is his attitude, before this. Does he enjoy being around you? Does he like watching what is going on around him? How often do you handle him?

He could just be a 'cranky teenager'.. often times, they can go through an attitude adjustment around that age (from what I've heard, anyways!). Just to be sure, what are his temps? What kind of UVB are you using?

 

[njustine]

We take him out quite a bit...in fact it started after we took him out one day and he ran around on the carpet. He got mad at us when we picked him up and put him back in and hid under there...ever since then he has been going in there quite often.

His temps are always around 100 or 105.

He has an MVB bulb.

His lighting and temps are the same they always have been. He still comes out and basks quite often.

He has only been poopin every couple days, but he doesnt seem impacted or anything. Maybe I should give him a little olive oil on his greens just to make sure?

 

[NegativeCreep]

It's probably not much to worry about.. He may just be mad for putting him back in his viv. What does he eat, every other day might be normal since he is getting older. I know adult dragons can have that pattern. Does everything seem to be digested well?

 

[njustine]

The only thing that didnt seem to be digesting well was red peppers...he had little chunks of red. Since then I have been giving him less peppers and he seems to be doing ok.

Usually it is every other day, however sometimes it is every 3rd or 4th day.He still chases his crickets and eats well, although he has slowed down his eating a little bit.

 

[diamc]

What type of thermometer are you using to check the temps? Also, what brand and wattage of MVB are you using and what is the distance of it to the basking spot?

 

[njustine]

I am using a digital probe, and it is roughly 7-10 inches away..I am not at home right now so I cant accurately measure it. It is a solarglo MVB bulb from Exo-Terra. It is the 125 watt one, which wasnt hot enough so I actually put another bulb beside i to up the heat a little (just a normal basking bulb).

When it dies out I was planning on getting the 160 watt one so I wouldnt need the extra bulb.

It is a large tank (75 gallons) so it takes a lot to heat.

 

[diamc]

The MVB's are very strong so the distance of the 125 watt to your beardie should be a minimum of 12" away from him when he is basking so you might want to double check the distance. The ultra violet rays from all MVB's can be quite intense, so that may have something to do with him hiding a lot.

Good that you are using digitals with probes. Just to make sure, when you check the reading are you laying the probe so that it is resting on the basking surface then waiting about 45 min for the temp to stop rising before getting the final reading?

 

[njustine]

Yes I leave the probe for quite a while before checking...usually I put it there before going grocery shopping or something then check it when I get home ?

I want to get a temp gun eventually.

I will double check the distance when I get home.

I am going to give him a drop of olive oil just to be safe...can I just put it on a superworm for him?

 

[diamc]

Ok, good, just wanted to double check about the timeframe with the digital probe. Once in a while, I come across an owner that thinks the reading is a good one after only about 10 min, so I always like to make doubly sure. :wink:

Temp guns are good, in fact, I have 2 of those and 2 digitals with probes and I like to make comparisons once in a while.

Yes, you can put a drop of vegetable oil on the super or even on his nose. Let us know how it goes.

 

[njustine]

Cool, thanks for all the help I will make sure to let you know how it goes.

 

[diamc]

:wink:

 

[Judah'sHuman]

just to add: even though you have a larger tank, unless it is a very tall tank the 125 MVB is fine. The 160 wat are very very large tall terrariums. It is prolly best to just stick with the set up you have even though you need to use an additional basking lamp, most of us do anyways. 160 watts is way to much UVB output for an average heigth of tank.

 

[njustine]

Thank you for the info on the MVB light..I will keep the one I have then.

Well, today I gave him a bath and massaged his tummy a bit. Then I gave him a superworm with some olive oil on it...and sure enough less than 10 minutes later he poo'd! A really gross one but it looked healthy.

Thanks for the help everyone.