My beardie is turning black!?

[SapphireTheBeardie]

Hi my name is Kelsie & im new to this whole website as well as a first time beardie mommy. We bought her off craigslist last sunday and when we got her she was in a 40 gallon tank with nothing in it. We cleaned it all out and made her a little hideaway that she adores! Shes two years old and very active. She eats mealworms and crickets. I offer her greens but she just scatters them around her cage. We have a 50 watt day bulb and two red bulbs for night. One is 60 watts and one is 75. I noticed yesterday afternoon that her beard was black. Im a hypochondriac as it is so I worried for her. Shes been eating and active as usual BUT shes always frantically trying to get out of her cage. We are making her a new one in the next few days. She did sleep ALL night last night which worries me considering she never does that??! Help!! What am I doing wrong!? I am on my iphone so i dont know how to post pics?!

 

[daner923]

You're not letting her sleep enough, for one. She also needs exercise, so taking her out is okay. You need to turn off the red lights entirely. Also, mealworms are not good for beardies - they are low in nutrition. I think you should review your whole set up; here's the questions.

How old is your dragon?
How long have you had your dragon?
How long is your dragon?
What is the sex of your dragon?
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
Do you use UVB lights?
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
How old is your UVB bulb?
How close can your dragon get to the UVB, and where is the UVB bulb located?
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb?
Di you have any type of night time heat source (ceramic heat emitter, colored bulb, etc)?
How long are lights on each day?
What are the basking temps?
What is the cool side temp?
What is the night time temp?
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
How many live feeders do you offer at time?
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?
Do you bathe your dragon? How often?
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?

 

[SapphireTheBeardie]

You're not letting her sleep enough, for one. She also needs exercise, so taking her out is okay. You need to turn off the red lights entirely. Also, mealworms are not good for beardies - they are low in nutrition. I think you should review your whole set up; here's the questions.

How old is your dragon?
How long have you had your dragon?
How long is your dragon?
What is the sex of your dragon?
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
Do you use UVB lights?
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
How old is your UVB bulb?
How close can your dragon get to the UVB, and where is the UVB bulb located?
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb?
Di you have any type of night time heat source (ceramic heat emitter, colored bulb, etc)?
How long are lights on each day?
What are the basking temps?
What is the cool side temp?
What is the night time temp?
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
How many live feeders do you offer at time?
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?
Do you bathe your dragon? How often?
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?

Wow lots of questions!
Sapphire is two. Shes about 16 in long i believe. We have had her for almost one week. Shes in a 40 gal tank but we are making her a much larger one in the next few days. We have coconut fiber substrate for the second but read bad things so will be switching asap! We currently dont have a uvb bulb but will soon. It should arrive via mail in the next week. Her day light is on between 10-12 hrs a day and off the rest of the time. We dont have a heat rock or pad. Her hot side of the tank is about 90 and the cold is around 75. We use a round gauge that sticks to glass. She eats large crickets dusted with vitamin d3 and mealworms every three days and kale with cut green beans and shredded carrots. I usually give her around 10 crickets because she usually never eats more than that. I do gut load the crickets with flukers cricket quenchers brand. Her vitamin d3 brand is zoo meds reptivite with d3. She poops everyday of not every other day. I bathe her every monday for about 15 minutes at a time. I do mist her daily and she has not seen a vet. She is the only beardie in her cage. No other reptiles its just her.

 

[MsWanda10166]

Hi, welcome to the site.
We are all great beardie lovers here, and only want what is best for your beardies. I am in no way affiliated with any of these sites I am referring you to, they are just ones I have used and been satisfied with.
First you got to get rid of the collared bulbs. They disrupt their sleep and are hard on their eyes. You need a Reptisun 10.0 tube, or an Arcadia 12% +D3 tube light. You can get them for $25 from either http://www.petmountain.com or http://www.beardeddragon.com and the fixture from Wal-Mart for under $10. You mount the bulb with command strips inside the viv, because a screen will block 50% of the rays. For heat you use a plain houshold bulb, not the coil kind. This should provide enough heat during the day. You need to be able to take temps someway, I got a temp gun from Amazon.com for $12. You need the basking spot around 95 to 100 for proper digestion. The cool side needs to be between 70 and 80. There is no need for a night bulb unless your house gets below 65, and if that is the case you need a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) I also got mine from Amazon, with the temp gun, and got free shipping.
Mealworms, are not a nutritious staple. Crickets, Dubia, Pheniox worms and Hornworms are good live feeders. Crickets, I do not like the smell so mine do not get crickets, http://www.mulberryfarms.com, lindasgonebuggie.com, http://www.phoenixworm.com, Lance (twobeardieguy)in the for sale section of this forum has a great starter kit for Dubias, and his stuff is well packed and clean, I also recently got a shipment of Dubias, from http://www.kimbrellscoldblood.com, They were packed in a bowl that would be ideal to keep them in temporarily, with food, and water added.
As for greens, don't give up, just keep putting them down, eventually your dragon will find something he likes. An awesome guide to what types of vegies to try is on http://www.beautifuldragons.com
One last website that is a great place if your dragon gets sick is http://www.bug-de-lite.com, You can get top of the line supliments there and also find help if you need it. Tracie knows more than most local vets, and can get you threw almost any situation.
I hope this helps.
Wanda

 

[MsWanda10166]

Hi, a couple more things, Kale is not good for dragons, nor is spinach, or broccoli, they all bind to calcium, and are hard on your dragons bones. Beautifuldragons, nutrition list will guide you in the right direction.
For substrate, no loose substrate is good for beardies, they lick everything, so tile, (slate tile is my favorite) paper towels, news paper, or non adhisive shelf liner are all good options. In the DYI section there is a great post on how to make beardie wipes, to clean their poo. I have small 4x4 inch slate tiles in my vivs, and just pull the tiles that get soiled out and rince them off. Make sure that with the viv you are building, that everything is removable, bugs get loose, poo runs in cracks, and you want to be able to get it clean. Dragons, are CLEAN little guys, and they hate their poo, So you do not want your little guy living in a litter box.

 

[daner923]

I highly suggest tile as a substrate - it is by far the best - cheap, easy to clean, keeps nails trim. Other good options are reptile carpet, non-adhesive shelf liner, or paper towels. Both for you and MsWanda - 100-105 is much better for an adult than 95-100. 98F is really the lowest they digest at. Also, don't mist in the tank. It raises humidity, and doesn't help with hydration anyways. You should be offering baths 2-3 times a week instead. In addition, you need to offer calcium with D3 3 times a week and a multivitamin once a week.

 

[MsWanda10166]

Dragons, need 2 or 3 baths a week for 15 to 20 min. I have 4 of them, so I know how much time that can take up. What I do is put one in the bathroom sink as I am getting ready, sometimes I have to break while getting ready, but I have gloves right near the sink, and chage water if they poo. Mine almost always poo in their water. It is so much easier for me if they poo in their bath, so I actually give all of mine a short 10 min bath each day, till they poo.

 

[MsWanda10166]

Thank you Danner for correcting my teps. I will get that taken care of ASAP. I can not believe with all I read that I had that off. Thanks again!!!!!!

 

[SapphireTheBeardie]

Hi! Thsnk you for the quick replies! I have been on the phone with a vet and my biggest problem is heat! I just checked her and her beard is normal again. It turns black often. As for sleep when i hold her she sleeps like a baby. Also i will be switching to tile asap. A question how can i post photos on here from my iphone so you can see her? Id also like to make sure she is a female haha just curious!

 

[MsWanda10166]

I do not know how to do it from an i-phone. On a computer you create a photobucket account, and post them from there. You may be able to do that with an i-phone?

 

[daner923]

You can download the imgur app, and then use that. you need to copy the picture's img tag, and paste it here.

 

[MsWanda10166]

There is a post on this forum, called sexing your dragon, that is fairly clear on how to tell if it is a boy or girl.

 

[MsWanda10166]

Just an FYI ... Do not turn your dragon on its back. She will let you know she does not like it, but they can not breath on their backs.

 

[SapphireTheBeardie]

 

[MsWanda10166]

So, with the post we gave you earlier, you understand that you HAVE to get rid of that loose stuff on her floor and go with something else. This is something that needs to be fixed ASAP, paper towels will do for now, but that loose stuff, they can get in their mouth, and get a blockage, and you can not get all the poo, and urates out of it, and it harbors bacteria.