My Bearded Dragon is Turning Black

[ReenieBaby]

Hello,

I have a bearded dragon that I purchased from a reptile show back in 2012. He was born June 2, 2012. He's about a year and a half old. He's a very calm, mellow, well behaved beardie.

Last night before heading to bed my bearded dragons beard was fully black. I just assumed he was stressed with the cats in the room so I removed them. Upon waking up I went to turn his lights back on and as well as his beard, his sides and tail are now black. His coloring has also lightened a lot just over the course of the night.

When I purchased him he had a lot of orange in the coloring on his back and head but as he got older his orange coloring faded and became brown and tan. Today aside from the black on his sides beard and tail; almost his whole body is orange and tan.

He has three bulbs. A red NightLight 60W, a ReptiGlo UVB bulb 10.0, and a basking light that sits over his favorite rock.

His diet consists of collard greens, kale, summer squash, and butternut squash. As well as crickets and meal worms for his live prey. Also on occasion he enjoys eating mango as a treat. All of his food gets lightly dusted with calcium. He also loves water so he has a decent sized water bowl inside his habitat.

His behavior has not changed at all except that about a week ago he stopped chasing his crickets and just lets them come to him. And his diet and lights have not changed either. He is handled everyday by myself and my god son who is 4 yrs of age. We both walk through the house while he sits on our shoulders. He also always has interaction with the cats. They are always in the room he is in and they never bother him, just watch him.

I can provide many pictures if needed as soon as I get home. My phone just won't allow me to do so.

Thank you.

 

[beardie parents]

I would change the reptiglo uvb to a reptisun 10 tube. That is a better uvb than the reptiglo's are. Also, don't give kale on a long term basis as kale can bind calcium in their bodies and cause Metalic Bone Disease, which is a lack of calcium in their bodies.

When they get to be adults, they don't go after their live food as they do as babies. Our Rosie quit going after crickets at about that age. She, and squirt, won't eat crickets at all any more. They eat Superworms. Rosie is about 5.5 years old and Squirt will be 2 this coming June 18th..

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. Get rid of the red light. Those and the uvb you have cause eye problems.

 

[ReenieBaby]

Thank you. I have taken the lights into consideration and changed the ReptiGlo to ReptiSun. It's a tube bulb. He has a new symptom now. He is throwing up crickets. Any suggestions?

 

[Linziehonn]

I read that you feed mealworms, these are rather high in chitin and have been known to cause impaction issues in some beardies. When was the last time your beardie had a bowel movement?

 

[ReenieBaby]

The last time he had a bowel movement was today around 3:30pm.

 

[Linziehonn]

What basking temperature are you keeping and what are you measuring it with? I have heard of dragons vomiting from not properly digesting their food. I'm sure there are other reason why they would, but I'm not familiar with those. I did give my dragon banana baby food once and within an hour it came right back up, it just didn't sit well with him.

Also, about the red night light the previous person told you not to use, they do not require heat at night unless the temperature in your house falls below 65 degrees. If the temp does fall below that then you can purchase a Ceramic Heat Emitter, they put off plenty of heat without any light.

 

[ReenieBaby]

The basking bulb that I have is a 100WATT bulb. I only have temperature gauges on the back of the tank. They are located in the middle. I try to keep them between 90 and 100 degrees. The humidity never goes over 20/25 percent. It is a 40 gallon tank. At one end is his basking light and a rock while the other end holds his favorite tree.

As for the heat bulb I use that at night because my apartment is extremely drafty and gets pretty cold at night. We also have a couple feet of snow on the ground here. But I only use the heat bulb in the fall and winter months. I will certainly look into the ceramic heat emitter tomorrow.

Thank you.

 

[ReenieBaby]

As for the meal worms he hasn't had those in weeks. The local pet store always seems to be sold out by the time I get there to buy him some.

 

[destiny1998]

So you use round gauges for the temps? Those are usually of by 20 degrees or more so he might be to hot. Thermometers with a probe to take on the basking spot is what you need.

 

[ReenieBaby]

That is very possible. But I still find it strange that these symptoms started over night where nothing has been changed in the year and a half that I have owned him.

 

[Linziehonn]

As Destiny posted, unfortunately those gauges don't measure temps accurately. They could be off as much as 20 degrees. It's possible, since you stated your house is kind of cold and drafty right now, that his basking and/or ambient temps aren't reaching an optimal temp for your beardie to properly digest his food. At his age his basking temp should be around 100-105, ambient temp on the warm side around 85-90 and cool side can be 75-80. Walmart sells a thermometer with probe for around $10, it's called Accurite and they work great. The probe sits directly on the basking spot, and the thermometer measures the probe temp, ambient temp and humidity.

As far as night time, until you can get a CHE, you could make sure his head is covered with a dark cloth that will block out the red light.

Does his beard appear to be puffy, as if it's full of fluid? It would look saggy if so and be a little squishy.

 

[ReenieBaby]

No his beard is not puffy as to be full of fluid. He isn't doing too good this morning. He has gained some of his normal coloring back but still has the jet black patches on his sides, beard, and tail. He seems to be having trouble breathing this morning, he hasn't opened his eyes fully, and he isn't moving very much. Nor has he ate any of his food that he normally goes right after.

 

[Linziehonn]

Oh goodness, I'm sorry to hear he's not doing any better. I really have no idea what could be bringing all of this on so suddenly, especially since he's pooing well. I would go ahead and take him into the vet so they can figure out what's going on with him. Beardies are great about hiding their ailments, so for him to be showing it something's really got to be bothering the little guy.

I hope he gets better soon, let us know what the vet says.

 

[ReenieBaby]

My beloved beardie Phoenix is no longer with us. Thank you for all your help and concern. He will always be remembered.