Is something wrong?? Please help, new beardie owner!

[Hallerback]

Glau’s about three months old and has been doing great! Has been eating like crazy (yesterday he ate the most roaches for breakfast to date!) and is all around doing awesome. Or so I thought.

Woke up this morning to his eyes puffy and body dull. He’s got stress marks and a bit of a black beard. As a new beardie owner I’m freaking out. I spritzed him with water bc I thought maybe he was dehydrated. He’s really lethargic and didn’t eat too much this morning. An I overreacting? Should I make an appointment with the vet? He seems so sad it hurts my heart. I haven’t changed any of his set up, it seems like this just happened out the blue.

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

Usually dehydrated beardies will be very lethargic or just be somewhat wrinkly. He looks pretty normal and he could just be trying to soak in the heat. what is his temperatures and uvb bulb and what are you feeding him beside roaches?

 

[Hallerback]

Hi, thank you for responding so fast!

His temp has stayed between 95-110 since I purchased him. In August, however it’s median temp is always about 105. I use an all in one Zoo Med Powersun UV Vapor bulb, 160W. I’ve measured the distance from his highest perch to the bulb to be one foot.

I used to alternate between crickets and roaches but he quickly decided that he hated crickets. Now I feed him (along with the dusted roaches) a helping of mixed greens dusted with Nature Zone Bites for Beardies. I also usually place a little mealworm in the middle to get his attention.

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

Its probably either shed or trying to soak up some heat. Usually my female beardie is really really dull in the morning and sometimes throughout the day underneath her lamp. I'd keep an eye on him but i dont think theres much to worry about.

 

[Hallerback]

Oh phew, can’t tell you how releaved I am. I was seriously panicking! This is his third shed he’s going into in a row so he may just be grumpy. Thanks a bunch for your help!

 

[EllenD]

The only thing concerning here is the black beard, that is an indication of discomfort, pain, or stress. As already mentioned they purposely turn themselves dark (including the markings on their bellies, which are not "stress" marks at all, just part of their pattern that darkens along with the rest of their bodies) in order to absorb more heat, and brighten up when removed from under the lights and heat. But a black beard isn't a part of that process. Nor are "puffy eyes", though I don't think his eyes look puffy at all...

How big is your enclosure? And are you using a stick-on thermometer to take the temperatures, or are you using a digital probe thermometer or a temperature gun? I'm only asking because #1) The way you gave your tank temps sounds to me like you're using stick-on thermometers and not actually measuring his basking spot surface temperature, and #2) A 160 watt Powersun MVB is a very powerful bulb as far as the amount of heat it puts out, and if the 160 watt Powersun is only 12" away from his basking spot, unless it's a massive enclosure it sounds like your temps may be off and his tank may actually be much hotter than you think they are.

Those stick-on thermometers are very inaccurate, often off by 20 degrees or more, and you cannot measure his basking spot surface temperature with them, only the Hot Side Ambient temperature and the Cool Side Ambient temperature. So if that happens to be the type of thermometer you're using, and you don't have a very large enclosure, my guess is his temps are way too hot....I could be totally wrong, but in my experience, the 160 watt MVB lights are too hot for a typical 40 gallon breeder tank, and only the 100 watt version of the MVB is required...