Juvenile seems Lethargic

[Carpenter Dad]

he is roughly 7-8 weeks old (petsmart purchase).

very lethargic hopefully not sick.

was very hyper and ate great for the first couple of weeks, but now in our third.. he isn’t eating, not walking around anymore and constantly keeps his eyes shut 80% of the time.

eyes are nicely shaped when they’re actually open, colour is great, drinks when placed near water.


uvb is 13W
basking is 100W

basking temp is 98’F
cool area and night is 72’F
lamps are 12” above and on top of screen.

 

[smaugthebeardie3756]

First thing I would change would be that UV. Reptisun is a good brand, but you want the tube not the compact bulb. Compacts in general dont produce enough UVB and can produce harmful light that can damage the eyes, which could be why he has his eyes closed all the time. I would get a ZooMed or Arcadia brand T5 hood, probably 24", and the Reptisun 10.0 bulb or Arcadia 12%. The ZooMed hood will come with a 5.0 bulb that you can keep as a backup. They will stop eating if the lighting isn't right, and it can lead to bad things if it isn't fixed. I'm sure Petsmart told you what you have would be fine, they did the same to me. Unfortunately not everyone that works there gets adequate training in actual animal needs, especially exotics like bearded dragons.

Less urgent would be getting a digital probe thermometer to get more accurate basking temps. You want the spot he sits on to be about 110 F while he's a baby, down to 100-105 when he gets older. The stick-ons can be really inaccurate, up to 20 degrees, and they can only get ambient and not surface temps. I would also try to get that cool side up to about 80 during the day. He may not be warm enough to properly digest, which will make him stop eating as well.

 

[Rubble1212]

Dido