Need help balancing basking temps, gaping, set up advice

[themamaj]

Hi guys. I have a newly adopted 4 year old beardie, Chomper, who I have had 5 days now. He is doing well and seems to be settling in overall but I am still trying to learn his specific behaviors and make sure I have my lighting and temperatures set right. He is in a 40 gallon breeder. He has a basking rock cave that sits on. The platform is about 9.5 inches from his basking light. I have been using an Nubee infrared temp gun to measure temps. His rock at various spots is 93-98. I have a 75 watt halogen bulb in his basking light and also run at Reptisun 10.O T5 in a nano tech reflector fixture which sits on top of his screen lid. A concern I have is he is still having periods of gaping while sitting on his rock. Do I need to change out bulb to a 60 watt and lower his basking temp? I am struggling to figure out how to keep his temps stable where he is getting all the heat he needs but not too warm. He will shift positions on his rock for lighting needs. Another concern is he rarely goes to the cool side of the tank. My cool side reads about 81. Tank has plenty of ventilation. I really appreciate the input. Have done a lot of research prior to bringing him home and trying very hard to make environment one he will enjoy and thrive in.

 

[themamaj]

One more thing is he has had a couple of episodes of glass surfing. Whew scared me to death. He has a background in back of tank but hadn't added side cover. Just did that in green which was walls of previous owner color. Also noticed he pooped on cave so cleaned that. He seems to have settled a bit and went back to his rock but now gaping again. Poor guy. Feel like he is as stressed as me at moment. He has had some diarrhea initially but seen one formed. Majority are looser stools. I hope some of this is normal during an adjustment period. I am watching stools closely. If not consistently formed by next week may take him to vet for check up. Have fan in room to increase air circulation in room. Going to hunt a lower wattage bulb to try.

 

[themamaj]

One more update. I changed basking bulb to 60 watts. That has lowered temp on his basking area 90-93 range and cool side to 80. Humidity runs between 45-50%. He is still gaping a lot. I can't imagine it is a temp issue. I don't see any mouth or nose drainage or any other signs of URI. Here are a couple of pictures of my set up and my dragon. Please offer any suggestions.

 

[CooperDragon]

I would keep the basking temps higher and let him move if he wants to cool down (given a good gradient). They will gape even at cooler temperatures sometimes. When he is basking, what does the temp gun say the surface temp of his back is?

 

[jayce82]

definitely need higher basking temps. his rocks surface should be around 100* gaping is his way of regulating his body temps. the reason he stays on his hot side is cause it's not hot enough for him to move to the cool side to cool off. he's is having to constantly stay on warm side to keep his body temp up

 

[themamaj]

I changed the bulb back. His basking spot had been reading 100-101 with 75 watt bulb. He is still having very loose stools today. Do you think it is related to all of the changes and me not having temps just right yet? He is also having major glass surfing today on cool side. Is there anything else I should add to his enclosure you think would make him more comfortable? Thank you!!! Can't tell you how much I appreciate the responses!

 

[CooperDragon]

I would just let everything settle for a little while. It could be stress or just an upset stomach which should settle on it's own if everything else is OK.

 

[themamaj]

Thank you. He has had a really good day today. I gave him more time out of cage to walk around and explore very supervised of course. I think that was a good outlet for his energy and very little glass surfing today.