Hi everyone! I’m new to the forum and still pretty new to owning a dragon. I need some help. I’ve done lots of research and tried different products and tried different ways of setting up the tank and I’m just at a loss here. I did just fill out the account info on the products/setup I’m currently using. I feel like my dragon doesn’t bask enough and doesn’t eat enough and doesn’t drink enough. I thought my dragon was male but now I’m seriously thinking he is a SHE. I have to physically put her on the basking spot or she won’t bask. And even when I put her on the spot she only basks for a little while and then goes back into hiding again. She is always hiding. I have to physically put her on her food dish or she won’t eat. Same with drinking. She goes crazy for live Dubia roaches and freeze dried mealworms, but is mostly uninterested in ANY other food I put out. Only small nibbles here and there (when I physically put her on her dish). Greens, veggies, fruits, dry pellets, moist pellets. I’ve tried tons of different things pretty much to no avail. She passes bowel movements (when she eats enough to) just fine. Stools look normal. She looks healthy (I think). She’s growing. When she walks/moves around she’s not stiff or limping or any other visibly questionable movements. I use calcium powder every time on her live Dubia roaches. She eats 15-20 live dubia roaches in one sitting about 2 times a week. Hottest basking surface temp is about 113. Then it’s a gradient down to the cool side that is 80 at its lowest. At night the tank can get to 60-65 due to a portable air condition unit and a fan I have in my bedroom. I have 2 lamps on for 12 hours and off for 12 hours. One lamp is a PowerSun Mercury vapor bulb 160watt and the other is a zoo med repti basking bulb 150 watt. I’ve also moved physical locations of the tank around a bit because of my other pets being near her and thinking maybe they stress her out? (I have an aquatic turtle/fish tank, and 2 parakeets and 2 axolotls in a different tank - i MIGHT be a little obsessed with animals! Haha!) I will attach pictures. The plants in her tank are all fake silky plants. I just don’t know if I’m doing something wrong or if I’m expecting too much activity from her or what. It’s honestly like if I didn’t pick her up and move her about to food/water and basking she would just stay hidden and laying, in and out of sleep, in this one spot. The lady I got her from was pretty clueless as to her age. She told me she was 6 months old but she was CLEARLY mistaken because my dragon was way too tiny to be that old. Like maybe 5-6 inches nose to tail. So I’m guessing, by her growth rate and measurements she’s currently probably about 9 months? Or just under a year? She’s about 15 inches long currently. I’m so worried about her and just don’t know what to do and really want to do this right. Please help! Thanks in advance.
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