Near perminent black beard??

[Killjoy01]

Nazar has been really pissy from the moment she wakes up to the moment she goes to sleep. She just entered a shed so that could be it? She has no stress indicators apart from the black beard and being pretty lazy. She's about 6 or 7 months old but I'm not positive

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Has her beard been black, all day, just today or for how many days?
Shedding definitely does stress them out & can cause them to be aggitated at times. Are
her nostrils possibly clogged too?
How is her appetite doing, has it declined since she is shedding?
Also, at her age, she is hitting beardie puberty so her hormones are changing some. They
may have some behavioral changes during that time.

Tracie

 

[Killjoy01]

Hello,

Has her beard been black, all day, just today or for how many days?
Shedding definitely does stress them out & can cause them to be aggitated at times. Are
her nostrils possibly clogged too?
How is her appetite doing, has it declined since she is shedding?
Also, at her age, she is hitting beardie puberty so her hormones are changing some. They
may have some behavioral changes during that time.

Tracie

It started like this Monday and she started her shed yesterday, if her nostril is clogged I wouldn't be able to remove it without tearing the skin off because the face shed started just today. Her appetite definatly has not declined lol, she's just been a little too lazy to go hunt so I've been hand feeding her kale (which shes been chowing down like a champ) and stuff but she barely hunts for the crickets. We just moved her tank to a shelf too so that could be a little stressful I suppose?

 

[Killjoy01]

Okay today her entire colour is darkening, it's like a dark dark green/grey and she's sluggish and I really don't know what to do

 

[CooperDragon]

Can you post some updated photos? Has the color in the rest of her body gone lighter?

 

[Killjoy01]

I was only with her for about half an hour today before I went to my cousins so I think the grey coloring was because she just woke up (idk she does that when she first wakes up she looks like a grey tree frog), her coloring has lightened up a bit but her shed almost looks purple?

 

[CooperDragon]

She looks fine to me. Her tail and legs are about to shed. Otherwise her color looks OK.

 

[EllenD]

She looks fine, but just in-case, have you measured her 3 temperature zones recently? And what type of thermometer do you use to measure her temps with (stick-on, digital probe, or infrared gun)?

The reason I'm asking is because they darken themselves purposely to absorb more light/heat, so if her temps are too low then she may very well be staying dark all the time to try to absorb more heat. In addition, when they are too cold, they usually do slow-down their movements/motions and become "lazy", so with this combined with the constant full-body darkness, I would definitely be measuring her Basking Spot Surface Temperature (between 105-110 degrees F for a juvenile under a year old), her Hot Side Ambient (air) Temperature (between 88-93 degrees F), and her Cool Side Ambient (air) Temperature (between 75-80 degrees F), and you should be using either a Digital Probe Thermometer or an Infrared Temperature Gun and not any type of "stick-on" thermometers, as you have no way at all of measuring her Basking Spot Surface Temperature with a "stick-on" thermometer, they only measure Ambient (air) Temperatures, and in-addition, they are all very inaccurate, often off by between 10-20 degrees when tested.

 

[Killjoy01]

She looks fine, but just in-case, have you measured her 3 temperature zones recently? And what type of thermometer do you use to measure her temps with (stick-on, digital probe, or infrared gun)?

The reason I'm asking is because they darken themselves purposely to absorb more light/heat, so if her temps are too low then she may very well be staying dark all the time to try to absorb more heat. In addition, when they are too cold, they usually do slow-down their movements/motions and become "lazy", so with this combined with the constant full-body darkness, I would definitely be measuring her Basking Spot Surface Temperature (between 105-110 degrees F for a juvenile under a year old), her Hot Side Ambient (air) Temperature (between 88-93 degrees F), and her Cool Side Ambient (air) Temperature (between 75-80 degrees F), and you should be using either a Digital Probe Thermometer or an Infrared Temperature Gun and not any type of "stick-on" thermometers, as you have no way at all of measuring her Basking Spot Surface Temperature with a "stick-on" thermometer, they only measure Ambient (air) Temperatures, and in-addition, they are all very inaccurate, often off by between 10-20 degrees when tested.

I have a probe thingy I don't know what it's called, I don't know how to take a surface temp but the air temp on the hot side is about 90 to 93 and the cold is 70 to 75. I can't get it any hotter I have the top of the tank covered up (the humidity stays at low 30s to high 20s, i try keeping it higher through her sheds)

 

[CooperDragon]

She's probably a bit cold. It's best to measure the surface temps with a probe or IR temp gun to adjust the lights. They tend to like 100-110 for the basking surfaces and you should provide a gradient down to about 75-80 or so. That will allow her to move around and self regulate. I'd try a more powerful basking light to see if you can bump the temps a little, but I'd get accurate surface temp readings first. Put the probe right on the basking surface and leave it for 45 min or so and see what it shows.

 

[EllenD]

She's probably a bit cold. It's best to measure the surface temps with a probe or IR temp gun to adjust the lights. They tend to like 100-110 for the basking surfaces and you should provide a gradient down to about 75-80 or so. That will allow her to move around and self regulate. I'd try a more powerful basking light to see if you can bump the temps a little, but I'd get accurate surface temp readings first. Put the probe right on the basking surface and leave it for 45 min or so and see what it shows.

Exactly. Just put the Probe from the Digital Thermometer directly on the spot that she lays on when she basks (should be directly under both her UVB tube and her Basking Bulb within the Hot Side of the tank), let the Probe sit there for 30-45 minutes so it heats up to the actual surface temp, and if it's not at least 105 degrees you need to either #1) Lower ONLY the Basking Bulb down a couple of inches towards the Basking Spot/Platform to bump the temperature up, or #2) If it's more than a couple of degrees too cold or you cannot lower the Basking Bulb then you'll need to go to a bit higher wattage of bright-white colored Basking Bulb. You do not need to buy any expensive Reptile Specialty Basking Bulbs from a pet shop for the Basking Bulb, most of us use a regular Halogen Indoor Flood Bulb that we buy at Lowes, Home Depot, or Tractor Supply, the Par38 kind that you use in your house. They are all bright-white in color, they are "flood" bulbs so they emit the light throughout the tank and not just on one spot, and they come is many different wattages. I buy 2-packs at Tractor Supply for $10. Either way this is most likely your issue, he's too cold and needs a higher Basking Spot Temperature that is between 105-110 degrees F.