Lighting question

[nfoster187]

I recently baught a beared dragon off craigslist from a woman who clearly had no idea what she was doing. I baught if or my sons birthday and only baught it on craigslist because it was a great deal. I keep chameleons for myself so i am not completely inept when it comes to taking care of a reptile. My question is she has a coil UVB bulb on the cage which i have read numerous times suck the big one. I just ordered a t rex MVB from LLL and hopefully it will be here soon. so the question is should i take the coil UVB off and just have not uvb because it is so damaging until the MVB gets here? He is acting very sluggish, i know that he is dehydrated because he can not drink enough water every time it is offered. He has also not really ate anything since the move which was yesterday morning. I would say that he is around 10" tail to snout and i am unsure of age. I am hoping that with the MVB it will cure my woes as it generally does with a sick chameleon.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

Nick

 

[zebraflavencs]

Yes, Nick, remove the coil, and replace with a bright house hold bulb, until your MVB comes in. It is much much healthier for no UVB than Bad uvb !
Hope this helps, and welcome to the Family !
Janie.

 

[beardlover]

Coil bulbs are no good as they are known to cause eye problems as well as other health issues. How long is it until the MVB gets there? He should be ok without UVB for a couple days as long as the temps stay up. Basking spot should be about 105-110* with a cool side of about 85* or so and then night time temps should never drop below 65*
Another way to get his hydration level up is to give him a luke warm bath for about 20 minutes, the water level should be up to about his armpits. You can do this daily until he is properly hydrated then cut it back to a 2-3 times a week.
What are you feeding him? Sometimes beardie go through relocation stress which will cause them to not eat...


I'm no expert so if anyone feels different about the ubv and other advice I've given please let me/us know....

 

[Lennifer]

I agree! Def turn off the coil light. If possible, u can take him outside & he can soak up some real sun rays for 15 mins or so. This will help until the UVB light arrives. If you don't have time to go outside, u could just open a window & let him sit in the window sill for a bit. Hopefully the wheather is warm where u are. lol

~Sandy

 

[Tigg]

Personally I would think it would be best to turn the coil light off and don't use any artificial UVB at all until the MVB comes in (assuming it will only be a couple of days) Depending on where you live you may be able to get the BD outside for some real sunlight, or even near a open window in the house.

 

[nfoster187]

That is a very good point, i live in phoenix so now is the perfect time for it. I just hope LLL is prompt and the bulb gets here soon, i really do not want to the loose him. I do have a baby chameleon cage (screen cage) that i could put him in and set him outside. How long do you think would be good to keep him out there, i was thinking because it is kind of chilly like 70s that i could put his heat lamp on it as well.

Thanks!

Nick

 

[zebraflavencs]

No longer than 10-15 minutes, than bring him on back under his basking light to warm up.
Also here is a great list to choose healthy foods for your dragon from
http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html
This way you know you are doing all you can for this guy !
Janie

 

[nfoster187]

Yeah i already have collard greens and squash but the trouble is getting him to eat what is offered i am hoping that getting him some sun will change these habbits. I just hope that he is not too far gone, there were about 3 dozen crickets in his cage when we picked him up, poop all over everything, and plenty of dead crickets. What troubles me is that she did not buy him at petco, but rather a speciatly shop and if they gave her all this information it is worriesome.

Nick

edit: how many 10-15 minute stints outside do you think would be adiquate till the mvb gets here.

 

[nfoster187]

Wow braught him back inside instant differance in alertness, offered some crickets and he is chasing them all over the place. What a differance!

Thanks again guys

Nick

 

[Tigg]

I know it can be costly, but you may want to consider getting your beardie into the vet for a check up... and considering you said there was stool, and dead insects all over the place... It's very easy for them to become infected with parasites from this type of husbandry. Some of these parasites are also very easy to transfer and you will risk passing them onto your chameleons.

As for the greens, most young beardies don't care much for them, just keep offering them and eventually you will be feeding more greens than protein. (Adults usually eat 80% veggies 20% protein, young/juvies are opposite.)
Once you are sure your lighting, and temps are correct you can start mixing some meal worms in with his greens, this will kinf of trick him into eating greens. Some even have success sticking their finger in the salad and wiggling it around to make it look alive to their dragon.

Glad the trip outdoors did him good!

 

[zebraflavencs]

As long as temps are being warm enough a few times daily will do nicely.
Glad to hear things are already getting better !
Also, you are not limited to just crix and meal worms as feeders. You can also use Horn worms, phoenix worms (just hold back on the calcium on those) silk worms, roaches (Dubias, Turks and Lobsters).
Hope this helps out !
Janie.

 

[Lennifer]

That's great that u have nice wheather to be able to get him some natural sun rays! The screen cage is perfect for outside, just make sure he has a shady area in the enclosure, incase he gets to hot. One way to help prevent the parasite issue is to try feeding in a seperate conatiner. This is how I feed Drago & I love it for many diff reasons. I get to spend more time with him (hands on), his cage always stays clean & there are never any crickets biting him! lol. Just a thought. I also order my lighting from LLLReptile & the order is usually @ my door fairly quickly

~Sandy