I have had my bearded dragon Sol for 3 months now and he is currently about 1.5 years old. Since I got him he has always had a blackish gray beard. I don't think it is him being angry or stressed because to me he always looks happy and never puffs his beard out. Sol has a UV light spreading over his whole tank. Since I got Sol he has had what looks like a bit of shed on his leg and its been there for 3 months i don't know if that's not normal, and i have gave him baths and what i think is a shed is still there (I gave him a bath a day for 2 weeks). Please tell me what i am doing wrong i really love this guy.
Which UVB lighting are you using right now? Have you double checked the temperatures to
be sure they are correct & he isn't getting too hot? Where is your digital probe placed?
Since summer is here, many times the temperatures get too hot & basking light wattages
have to be adjusted.
It isn't normal to have a black beard all of the time though. Do you have another dragon in
your home?
Which UVB lighting are you using right now? Have you double checked the temperatures to
be sure they are correct & he isn't getting too hot? Where is your digital probe placed?
Since summer is here, many times the temperatures get too hot & basking light wattages
have to be adjusted.
It isn't normal to have a black beard all of the time though. Do you have another dragon in
your home?
Thanks for responding Sol is the only Beardie i have. I am sending pictures of the UVB lighting im using (It stretches throughout the whole tank, I just moved it to the middle before it was at the back). Also i am sending you the temp today and where its placed.
So sorry I didn't check back. I need to move your thread so it doesn't get missed since it is
regarding lighting & care. How is he doing?
The Reptisun 5 tube is ok, but, not real strong. Placing it on top of the screen is filtering out
quite a bit of the usable UVB for him. I would recommend trying to upgrade the tube bulb to
a Reptisun 10 tube or you could even consider the T5 tube from Reptisun or Arcadia, since it's
a high UVB output bulb. Try to mount it underneath of the screen for a better UVB exposure.
How close is the light to him?
I am moving your thread over to Health for you so it's more visible.
I agree that moving to the 10.0 ReptiSun or the 12% arcadia (the 22'' version of either will fit the same fixture) is a good idea. I would also try and move the temperature probe down onto the basking surface. You can use zip ties or similar to hold it in place if needed. That will get you a better idea of the surface temps which is what you want to go by when adjusting your lighting.
I currently cant buy a new UVB but i did do some moving around and mounted the light under the screening and i moved the probe lower and here is pictures of the temp.