My baby is turning black!

[thutch]

Hi Everyone,

I am new to this forum and I recently adopted a 3 year old beardie that I have named Tilley. I love her so much she is incredibly affectionate and thoroughly enjoys running around my house and watching TV on my lap. However, I notice that off and on she gets these black markings all over her body. The black markings did disappear slightly temporarily however I when I went to greet her this morning she is blacker than ever! I have done a lot of research on beardies (although much of it contradicts one another) and I have learned that there are a few possible reasons for this (she is cold, preparation to shed, mating, she is angry, etc.). Now I do live in Calgary and have been having A LOT of trouble getting the one half of her cage above 90 F. I have two heat pads stuck to the tank, a heat lamp (along with her UVB lamp), and when I am home I turn on an extra heater in her room. An employee from a local pet store freaked me out a bit by saying she may be sick however, she is is completely alert/active and is showing no obvious signs of illness. I was just wondering if anyone has any suggestions on both her colouration and ways to increase the temperature in her tank? I really appreciate your feedback! Thanks


Tanya and Tilley

 

[Gail]

Could you post a picture? it would really help to see what parts of her are dark. You can use a ceramic heat bulb in the cool end of the tank, its a bulb that produces no light, only heat. I use a 40 watt in my tank during the winter and its helped a lot.

 

[quigleysmom]

Have you changed anything in your day to day routine? Is anything different in her tank or in your home? It could be stress due to some change that you may not have even noticed. They are creatures of habbit (no pun intended). They dont adjust to change very easily. It could be something as simple as you fed her at a different time than usual. If she was sick or in pain she would be black bearding all the time. She would not be alert or active and would have no desire to eat and or not pooping. If she is acting normal except for turning black I would not worry too much.

 

[thutch]

Thank you for your feedback. I haven't changed much in her daily routine other than there have been a couple of days where her lights have been turned on at different times. Below is a picture of her with the black colouration primarily along the sides of her body. I also noticed today that she is shedding a bit.

 

[Fallencomrade2008]

I don't see anything too alarming, those darks spots can just be a reaction to stress or even just darkening from sunlight or UV. My little girls tail gets dark when she is in the sun. But just to be certain you should tell us excatly what lights you have. Brand and such. As for your little temp issue...are you measuring the surface temp with a probe or is your thermometer suck on the cage wall? It would amase me if you couldn't get 98-100 with 2 heat pads.

 

[thutch]

When I first got Tilley her old owners had a Reptiglo 10.0 UVB light and a 50W Sun Glo by ExoTerra. I recently replaced her lights with 10.0 (26W) UVB made by Reptiglo and her heat lamp is 150W and is made by Heatglo (ExoTerra). I have two thermometers at either end of the tank and they are both mounted on the cage wall. The outside temperature here has been between -25 and -30 lately so that may also be contributing to the problem.

 

[diamc]

Are you using a digital strip or round gauge thermometer? Both of those can be off as much as 20 degrees. You need to know the temp of the basking spot and the cool side rather than the temp of the glass. The only 2 ways to get accurate readings are with either an infrared temperature gun or digital thermometer with a long wire & probe end. It's very important that you find out what the true temps are.

 

[Screamin99]

I think the problem here could be the bulbs, you should switch to the Reptisun 10.0 instead of the Reptiglo.. As for the bask light, just ensure that it emits NO UVB/UVA and is just a regular bulb. Also find out what the temps are using a digital thermometer. You can get one from Wal-Mart or HomeDepot and Lowes for around 5-15 dollars. The reptisun 10 bulb is cheaper if you order from petmountain.com and will ship quickly.

It also looks like he/she is about to shed. (which you mentioned) that can also cause them to stress out a bit and look darker.. A warm soak for 20 minutes in a bath might bring the color back some and just overall make him/her feel better. So was the dragon under the exoterra and reptiglos its whole life? How are the eyes? Eating habits good? what does his/her diet look like? Most people have and report bad problems from dragons under those bulbs/lights so im just trying to get a idea of whats going on here because this dragon looks pretty healthy otherwise.

Does he/she bask well throughout the day?

 

[Fallencomrade2008]

If i were you i would pick up a Reptisun 10.0 the reptiglo dosn't put our enough UVB and has been reported to have some bad side effects such as eye issues. When you do pick that up grab a thermometer that has a wire probe so you can measure the surface temps. The side mounted thermometers will tell you the temps of the glass not the cage and there can be almost a 20 degree difference if it is cold outside the tank. As for the heat bulbs any normal bulb that gets the temp will work so you don't have to get an expensive one if you don't want to.

I hope i helped you and your baby!

 

[thutch]

Thank you for the replies! See my longer response below.

 

[thutch]

I have two digital thermometers (from Walmart) at either end of her cage approximately 3 inches from the substrate (just until I can get a better thermometer). I searched the pet stores here in Calgary and of course could not find the Reptisun 10.0 bulbs. I heard that a lot of people have the same problem and end up ordering them online so thank you very much for suggesting a good place to order them. I agree, it does appear she is about to shed. Over the past couple of days the base of her tail has taken on a bluish tint and I have noticed a few flakes of skin around her tank. I typically give her a 10 minute bath once a week but I will give her a 20 minute bath tonight just to ease the shedding process and see it she shows more signs of comfort. Based on what her previous owners said, she has been under this brand of bulbs her entire life (she is 3). Physically and behaviourally she appears healthy. Her eyes are clear and she is very alert. When it comes to eating she is no stranger (I am actually a little worried that she is overweight since she is rather large). She LOVES insects (especially superworms and crickets) and I have been having some difficulty with getting her to eat enough fruits and vegetables. It took me some time to decide on a diet for Tilley but I have been offering her insects every other day (as many as she can eat in 10 minutes) and fresh salads daily. Her previous owners fed her pinky mice quite often (the day I picked her up they fed her 2 in one sitting...I personally think that is too much). I am still torn as to whether or not pinky mice are a healthy meal option for her and if she will have trouble digesting it, but if they are okay to feed beardies, then I am fine with that. If you do feed her a pinky mouse do you just drop it in the tank alive and let her at it? In terms of basking, Tilley spends most of her day doing so. She either props herself up on her rock or climbs up onto her hammock. I am currently in the process of finishing up a fake rock structure for her too . It is good to know that the Reptiglo brand of lights have a reputation of being problematic so I will definitely be switching to the Reptisun bulbs.

Thank you all for the extremely helpful advice, I genuinely appreciate it. This forum has been very informative and I rely on it heavily now.

Sincerely Tanya and Tilley

 

[Screamin99]

Any home improvement store will have a thermometer that will work well for you and what you need it for. Give her a bath for 20 minutes in warm water (test it on your wrist first please before filling the bath/sink/w/e you use) and since she looks like she is starting to shed it would be easier on her to offer one every day or every other day until shes fully shed. When she is not in shed a bath every 2-3 days is advised and again for 20 minutes at a time with warm water.

As for pinky's go, most people here will not feed a beardie a pinky mouse period because of the risk for impaction and hard digestion. Now that doesn't mean that people haven't done it. They are good to help them gain weight as they are extremely high in fat. A much safer alternative would be butter worms as they are MUCH easier to digest and they are very high in fat. Similar outcomes and results without as much risk of injury. Neither item should be fed very often, for the pinky's are high in fat and provide no real nutritional value. Butters are high in fat also and should at best be treated as treats more or less.

Super worms and crickets are great staples. If your worried about weight its certainly coming from all the insects. You can try and cut her back to what she would eat in 5-7 minutes and see how that treats her. In the picture she does look rather wide, but its hard to tell anything really without a weight on her. I wouldn't worry about that so much. Back to the lighting questions, im not sure what all brands are sold in the pet stores there, but you might try just calling around to see if they offer maybe the Arcadia 12% bulb Make sure its a tube type though. This is basically the Reptisun 10 and they offer it in the UK a lot, again not sure about Calgary; but it would be worth a shot to see if they carry it or not.