Is something wrong with my beardie?

[SpikeandLazlo]

I have two beardies who are close to 18 months old. For the past month, the shyer beardie has been hiding under one of the trees all day and doesn't really come out. She (I'm guessing here) seems to prefer worms and will eat them if I poke them under the tree. On the rare occasions she comes out, my other beardie is very domineering but never attacks the other. Eventually I put a plastic barrier to divide the habitat in two. This seemed to work at first, but then my shy beardie kept trying to reunite with the other one. I finally removed the barrier, but she's back to acting sad and hiding. Any advice?

 

[Ofthelime]

How big was the enclosure that you divided? If one beardie is acting dominant you should separate them. She may have been trying to get back due to being cramped. What other info can you provide about lighting, diet, vitamins, and brands?

 

[SpikeandLazlo]

The enclosure is 36 inches by 18 inches. There is one 150W basking lamp and a 26 W desert UVB light. The UVB light sits in the middle with the night light and basking lamp on either side. During the day the temperature averages 93 degrees. I have a tunnel on one side near the basking lamp as Spike really likes to sit there and I have a flat-topped cave on the other that Lazlo can hide in or sit upon. They eat crickets and superworms as well as greens and strawberries. There are two smaller water sources in the enclosure as well.

 

[Ofthelime]

That enclosure isn't large enough to house two adult bearded dragons, in fact it is a bit small for one, I am assuming at the time they are young though. If they are juveniles then that would be too small to divide however. Can you give me a little more info on the UVB and temperature gradients throughout the enclosure? Can you also tell me about vitamin supplementation and scheduling of the insect and vegetable diet?
Also strawberries should no be fed as a staple for they are high in oxylates and goitrogens.

 

[SpikeandLazlo]

The Reptile UVB 150 lamp is made by Exoterra. It says on the box it is effective for up to 20 inches and has a "very high D3 conversion". It was formerly the Repti Glo 10.0 compact. Not sure what else to say. I'd like some advice on where to get another enclosure. When we purchased the lizards from pert I, they originally recommended a much smaller one. I told them I would prefer to buy their forever tank instead of several increasingly larger tanks. They directed me to the tank I now own which is the largest reptile tank they carry. (I have since asked) I have two thermometers in the tank both of which appear to register temperatures within 5 degrees of each other. This is likely due to the 18 inch heating pad affixed to the back exterior wall of the tank. (I have an old house and was concerned about drafts). Spike rarely goes under either the tunnel or the cave, si I do not believe the tank is too hot. He only sits with his mouth open when he basks close to the heating lamp.

 

[Ofthelime]

Once you get above 40 gallons it is typically cheaper to build an enclosure. Otherwise go somewhere where they sell fish and get a 55-75 gallon. I can't say if the Sun-Glo is bad seeing as I have never used one and most people don't, however if the basking bulb and UVB bulb is the same bulb and you have a dominance issue that would result in only one lizard getting the UV. Swap that light out for a Reptisun 10.0 linear fluorescent bulb, or Arcadia 12%. Also generally you would want a more substantial difference in temperature from one side to the other, but if they like it hot then they like it hot.
You still haven't covered their full diet.

 

[blindside]

If i were you I would look into building a crossfire vivarium its a 4x2x2 enclosure thats fairly easy to build. That way you could move one dragon in there and the other would be ok in that one you have now. If you never heard about the crossfire plans google "crossfire vivarium" and a bunch of topics will come up. Im guessing the crossfire viv would cost around $150 with lights and everything. maybee someone who has actually build one will comment on how much it cost.