Lethargic Beardie??

[zebrasmiles]

Alright where to begin. I am not sure what the deal is, I can't tell if it is bad timing or something else. We have moved Charmander into a new tank Sunday, at first it was cool, he ran around and explored, then just laid in the sun/bulb. We had trouble with the heat at first, but figured it all out and the UVB light is almost where it needs to be. So my problem is that later he went to bed pretty early and the next day he didn't want to move. He is now just sleeping and hiding under his log. He is eating in the morning and has pooped, but he won't touch his salad and he only basks for a little then under the log he goes.

I know I have read a lot on here and I thought maybe it was first stress from us messing with the tank at first because he kept turning black and puffy the first day while we fixed the lighting. Then I thought the UVB was wrong, which it was but idk if that was the actual problem. We had a Reptisun T5 5.0, and I realized that we should have had a 10.0 so we have that now. But hes still being weird lol, he use to run around and murder his salad lol. I thought maybe the stress of moving combo with the lights at first was it but today everything was good and he still just slept. I have seen this burmation (SP??) phase on here but he's about 7-8months, not a year old yet and Im not sure if that could be happening this early.

I just need some input from the lovely experts on here. I just feel bad cause I thought he would like his new tank, he had not shed since the middle of August and I thought he probably just was too big for the 40 gallon, so now he is in a 55. So please can someone give me some thoughts, I just dont know what to do right now.

Just some details:
Was in a 40 G now in 55 G
Basking light is ZooMed basking light 150W
UVB is Reptisun T5 10.0 (I am trying to mount inside, but Im having trouble finding the mount, so right now it is not within 6 in to him, about 8-9)
Eats great in the morning, not so much in the afternoon, sometimes not at all
Poops daily (all fine)
Basking temps around 100-105 Cool Side around 80

heres a pic of this new tank (the dome lights arent being used)

And heres him being sleepy giving me the stink eye

 

[kingofnobbys]

I'd hazard a wild guess and say the intensity of UVA is too low , that's influencing your beardie's behaviour/activity levels.

I'd try getting the t5 tube closer to where your beardie spends it's time to bump up the intensity of UVA it's getting. You couldget a bit of aluminium sheet about 1mm thick and make a reflector to go behind the T5 tube , you will increase the UVA and UVB flux somewhat by focusing the UV and not having so much of it going to waste by shining on areas of the tank the beardie has no access to.
See http://www.uvguide.co.uk/fluorescenttubereflectortests.htm

Could be he's not settled in yet with the new bigger more spaceous tanks too.

 

[CooperDragon]

The T5 UVB bulb has an optimal distance at about 12-14'' above the basking area, so that's fine on top of the tank. It's the lower power T8 that should be 6'' or so out. The rest of your setup sounds OK to me. I use the 150w zoomed for basking too and it makes it nice and bright. I've toyed with the idea of getting a metal halide bulb to provide additional UVA but I haven't run into problems with a similar setup to yours, that would just be an experimental optimization. Since your setup sounds right, my guess is brumation or semi-brumation. Check his weight every couple of days just to see how the trend is. It should remain relatively stable. If that's the case, I'd let him be for a while.

 

[zebrasmiles]

The T5 UVB bulb has an optimal distance at about 12-14'' above the basking area, so that's fine on top of the tank. It's the lower power T8 that should be 6'' or so out. The rest of your setup sounds OK to me. I use the 150w zoomed for basking too and it makes it nice and bright. I've toyed with the idea of getting a metal halide bulb to provide additional UVA but I haven't run into problems with a similar setup to yours, that would just be an experimental optimization. Since your setup sounds right, my guess is brumation or semi-brumation. Check his weight every couple of days just to see how the trend is. It should remain relatively stable. If that's the case, I'd let him be for a while.

Ok good that's what I was thinking, so if his weight stays stable he could be brumating? I wasnt sure if he was too young for that or not.

 

[CooperDragon]

I'm not clear on what the typical age is for brumation, but if he is in brumation his weight should remain relatively stable. Significant weight loss can be an indication of poor health.

 

[zebrasmiles]

I'm not clear on what the typical age is for brumation, but if he is in brumation his weight should remain relatively stable. Significant weight loss can be an indication of poor health.

Ok thank you