My beardie HATES her 20 gallon

[Kippylovesbeardies]

My beardie is 16 inches long and almost a year old, if not already a year old. I got her from PetSmart, so I don’t have a lot of details about her breeder or exact age. I got her in June 2024, expecting to upgrade her enclosure urgently (I had a free 20-gallon tank), but then—boom—financial issues.

At that time, I had just gotten out of the mental hospital, and my mom wanted to cheer me up with a beardie. I can’t work due to my major depressive disorder (severe, recurrent), autism spectrum disorder (level 2 needs), and various other mental health issues. However, I can handle her, especially with my mom’s occasional help (though she barely helps because I take very good care of her).

Lately, I’ve noticed that she hasn’t been eating or moving much in her 20-gallon tank, even though I take her out for feeding time. So, I built her a cardboard enclosure, and I hope it works. I will be getting her a 75-gallon tank in the summer once my dad gets paid, but for now, will this do?

 

[xp29]

My beardie is 16 inches long and almost a year old, if not already a year old. I got her from PetSmart, so I don’t have a lot of details about her breeder or exact age. I got her in June 2024, expecting to upgrade her enclosure urgently (I had a free 20-gallon tank), but then—boom—financial issues.

At that time, I had just gotten out of the mental hospital, and my mom wanted to cheer me up with a beardie. I can’t work due to my major depressive disorder (severe, recurrent), autism spectrum disorder (level 2 needs), and various other mental health issues. However, I can handle her, especially with my mom’s occasional help (though she barely helps because I take very good care of her).

Lately, I’ve noticed that she hasn’t been eating or moving much in her 20-gallon tank, even though I take her out for feeding time. So, I built her a cardboard enclosure, and I hope it works. I will be getting her a 75-gallon tank in the summer once my dad gets paid, but for now, will this do?

What are you using for uvb. If you don't have a uvb bulb, she is likely developing metabolic bone disease. It is absolutely critical she has a long tube uvb. A mercury vapor bulb can work but it isn't idea.
Also not having a window to see what's going on in the world around her is likely to make her jumpy and depressed.

 

[Kippylovesbeardies]

What are you using for uvb. If you don't have a uvb bulb, she is likely developing metabolic bone disease. It is absolutely critical she has a long tube uvb. A mercury vapor bulb can work but it isn't idea.
Also not having a window to see what's going on in the world around her is likely to make her jumpy and depressed.

 

[Kippylovesbeardies]

She has a flukers 100w incandescent flukers light bulb and it produces enough uv, she also can see me walking by since she's on the floor and we talk to her and I put some more stuff in there so she can do some stuff, It's also very temporary

 

[hdochow]

Your lighting is inadequate. As @xp29 mentioned, you need a long tube UVB bulb on top of the basking bulb. I'm going to tag @KarrieRee. She is the one to work with for lighting. This is the most important/critical aspect of your dragon's health and needs to be taken care of immediately.

 

[Kippylovesbeardies]

Your lighting is inadequate. As @xp29 mentioned, you need a long tube UVB bulb on top of the basking bulb. I'm going to tag @KarrieRee. She is the one to work with for lighting. This is the most important/critical aspect of your dragon's health and needs to be taken care of immediately.

Oh okay I realize that now, I talked to my mom and she said she doesn't mind getting the REPTI ZOO T5 HO UVB Lighting Combo Kit, Terrarium Hood Comes with Desert 10.0 UVB T5 Lamp (39W) either tomorrow or the day after, but if there's a better one I'd love to know (I also know to replace this one every year)

 

[hdochow]

welcome to the craziness of getting your first dragon and not knowing what exactly you need to have. you've come to the right place though. the arcadia pro-t5 kit is a great option. you only want it to cover at most 2/3 of the tank though, so make sure you take length into consideration. if the reptizoo is the same for wattage as the arcadia is, that 39W is way too long. i have a 48 inch long (120 gallon) enclosure and have the 39W arcadia, which is 36 inches long. it is what came in my custom built enclosure, but 24 inches long would still have been a good choice. KarrieRee can give you links to other options. I don't have them bookmarked. The good news is once you have lighting and temperature dialed in, you really don't need to mess with it again, just monitor them.

 

[hdochow]

and as for the depression issues and ASD diagnosis, that's my world so if you ever need someone to talk to, just shoot me a message. depression runs many generations back in my family. my daughter is diagnosed with asperger's, GAD, and ASD. based on what i know about her, i'm willing to bet if i was tested, i would be on spectrum too. but why mess with testing when the same techinques will work without that diagnosis.

 

[KarrieRee]

Are you still using the 20 gallon tank? For a adult dragon even 6 months old it is too small-- please upgrade to a larger tank - I can help you get this set up - did you get a UVB? For a 20 gallon tank you can get a Zoo Med 24" fixture and use the 5.0 bulb that comes w/ the fixture - but you would need to have a piece of basking decor directly under it 6-8 inches and No obstruction meaning no screen blocking the rays - or get the Reptisun 10.0 T 5 bulb and have the fixture sit on the tank going width wise w/ the distance over the basking decor 12-15 inches -- again no screen -

 

[Kippylovesbeardies]

and as for the depression issues and ASD diagnosis, that's my world so if you ever need someone to talk to, just shoot me a message. depression runs many generations back in my family. my daughter is diagnosed with asperger's, GAD, and ASD. based on what i know about her, i'm willing to bet if i was tested, i would be on spectrum too. but why mess with testing when the same techinques will work without that diagnosis.

Thank you so much for understanding I really appreciate all of the tips and critiques being said nicely it really helps ♡

 

[ChileanTaco]

and as for the depression issues and ASD diagnosis, that's my world so if you ever need someone to talk to, just shoot me a message. depression runs many generations back in my family. my daughter is diagnosed with asperger's, GAD, and ASD. based on what i know about her, i'm willing to bet if i was tested, i would be on spectrum too. but why mess with testing when the same techinques will work without that diagnosis.

offtopic, but found it important to answer:
About the same is the case for me (Asperger's/ADS) plus hyperacusia (fine sense of hearing so that background noises like they are common in many social situations become overwhelming) plus prosopagnosia (also known as "facial blindness" - a term that doesn't describe it well IMHO as faces can be seen very well, but the issue is remembering and re-recognizing faces one is supposed to know, that's not working well).
Also didn't get tested for long (it might had been helpful during school lime, but it wasn't a topic by then), later same reason as what you mention, knowing what the "issue" is quite well and which techniques, environments, activities... work for me and which not. (Finally, already well into adulthood, I got tested - for free - as part of a study I found interested to participate.)

@Kippylovesbeardies
The most important thing is here the light. KarrieRee gives really good suggestions regarding this. UVB and proper basking temperatures are the most important ones. "Basking decor", if that is not clear, means something the dragon an climb up and sit on, like a branch, a flipped-over rough flower pot (rough, so your dragon an climb it), a large stone.

@KarrieRee To my understanding, the dragon was moved into a temporary cardboard enclosure as shown in the picture in the first posting.

 

[KarrieRee]

You need a digital probe thermometer- how tall is the enclosure please?

 

[Kippylovesbeardies]

I have a digital thermometer, her enclosure is about 25-30 inches tall, I put some rocks, a hammock, a log, a box, and more in there so she will be happy, although she keeps hiding and I noticed she hasn't pooped in a few days so I'm really worried, I'm not completely sure how much they're supposed to poop, buti know she's been having diarriah for a few months now and I'm not sure how to stop it, she shows no signs of worms which is good, but I think she might be really stressed out :C

 

[KarrieRee]

I have a digital thermometer, her enclosure is about 25-30 inches tall, I put some rocks, a hammock, a log, a box, and more in there so she will be happy, although she keeps hiding and I noticed she hasn't pooped in a few days so I'm really worried, I'm not completely sure how much they're supposed to poop, buti know she's been having diarriah for a few months now and I'm not sure how to stop it, she shows no signs of worms which is good, but I think she might be really stressed out :C

What is the surface basking temp where she sits for basking? You need a uvb she will quit eating w/ out one- your going to need to place the the uvb under the screen you want a 24" fixture 10.0 bulb or the Arcadia 12% bulb 24 watt - you need to get this right away-- distance 12-15 inches directly above the basking area

 

[Kippylovesbeardies]

What is the surface basking temp where she sits for basking? You need a uvb she will quit eating w/ out one- your going to need to place the the uvb under the screen you want a 24" fixture 10.0 bulb or the Arcadia 12% bulb 24 watt - you need to get this right away-- distance 12-15 inches directly above the basking area

Okay, she ate her dubias today, but not her veggies, I'm concerned because she won't eat veggies, but I will get her a uvb either today or tomorrow, her basking area is about 85 degrees, but it's a very cold rainy day today so it's normally 100 or so, should I be worried about a fire hazard with the blanket?