New beardie(11 months) shaking and clawing at corner of cage

[Christmas]

I thought he was completely healthy then I found out the original owner didn't even have a UVB light for him and only a 40w basking light which is not nearly warm enough! I am really worried. He was extremely relaxed.. almost as if he is sick... on the way home today he just sat on my car seat covered in a blanket the entire time and hardly moved. Is this normal?

Also, I just fed him and he only ate a few large pieces and started acting funny. I can't tell if he's happy or sick! First he was scratching his face against a little piece of fine bark sticking off his log, then he crawled toward me and started doing a strange shaking/rocking back and forth, licking the cage, and clawing at the cage. Does this means he wants to get out and check his new place out or is he sick or stressed? I just don't know yet I just got him today. He only did it for a couple minutes then went back and laid on his log.

Also he's in my bedroom where my (harmless) cat stares at him nonstop. Should I move him to his own room (I'm very limited on space).

Does he look healthy?

 

[Esther19]

He looks just fine. They do experience relocation stress. Could you please give us a description of his set-up?

 

[Christmas]

He's in a 40 gallon breeder tank with water, veggies and a basking light right now. Tomorrow I'm going to get a bunch of stuff to make his tank more homier. Right now there is a vinyl tile type substrate that came with the tank (bought the whole set up from a guy)

Also I ordered all the lights and crickets which should be here within 4 days. I'm thinking that's too long and am considering buying new ones from a store tomorrow and returning the ones I ordered... I shouldn't let the guy suffer for that long over $20 in shipping. I already have crickets however. What do you guys think?

 

[Varalidaine]

If he went 11 months without a UVB bulb, he could very well have MBD. The lack of UVB combined with the shaking worries me. I have no experience with MBD so I can't advise a wellness plan, but I'm sure someone will come on. Or use the forums search function to look it up and do some research of your own, as I know it's a problem others have faced.

Edit: Just wanted to say he does look very beautiful and healthy though, so don't het too down yet! Tracie's right and he could just be interested in the outside

 

[Christmas]

That's what I was afraid of hearing. The owner said he had a uvb fixture but it broke so who knows. I'll have to research it MBD more.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

He physically looks good & doesn't appear to have any physical deformities that I can see based on the pictures.
What type of calcium are you giving him & how frequently does he receive the calcium?
When are your new lights coming in, this next week & which one did you order for him? You can get a halogen flood bulb for the basking to help with heating. Usually a 75 watt is good, to get the basking to a range of 95-105F.
He may just want out to explore his new surroundings, also. It usually takes a couple of weeks or so for them to become accustomed to their new home.

Tracie

 

[Christmas]

Hello,

He physically looks good & doesn't appear to have any physical deformities that I can see based on the pictures.
What type of calcium are you giving him & how frequently does he receive the calcium?
When are your new lights coming in, this next week & which one did you order for him? You can get a halogen flood bulb for the basking to help with heating. Usually a 75 watt is good, to get the basking to a range of 95-105F.
He may just want out to explore his new surroundings, also. It usually takes a couple of weeks or so for them to become accustomed to their new home.

Tracie

Unfortunately I do not have anything I need yet besides food.

I bought everything online two days ago. I bought a repti sun t5 HO lamp and fixture with 2 day shipping so that should be here this Tuesday I'm hoping. I was planning on waiting until everything came in and rescueing a beardie from the pet store but I found this one on Craig's list and fell in love So I must admit I am shamefully unprepared. I expected a UVB light to come with the set up..

I also bought rep cal calcium with D3 and a 75w basking light plus all the small things like thermometers and stuff. Unfortunately that stuff isn't expected to be here until this friday.

Edit: just checked the tracking number and that stuff is supposed to be here Tuesday as well (it's early Sunday morning here).

 

[Varalidaine]

He should be okay until Tuesday for the UVB. When I got my dragon, I had to use a weak UVB bulb for a few days that probably didn't even make it through the mesh to where he was before my HO Reptisun arrived. if it's sunny enough in your area, you could always put him in a plastic bin (lid off) and take him outside for some natural UVB. Just make sure you put on sun screen or sit in the shade so YOU don't get too much UVB haha. I also did that with mine as he was acting a bit lethargic with his old light so I let him sit in my hand in the sun so bask since the plastic tub freaked him out.

For the basking light, make sure it doesn't say "Neodymium coated" as those aren't necessarily recommend. I use a 50W Halogen bulb and mini hood by Zilla, but you use one from a home improvement store instead, which is what I will switch to since the Zilla ones are a bit more expensive. I prefer Halogen as they have the potential to last longer and don't have a coating. Plus they are way cheaper at a home goods store (like Home Depot or Lowes) though as long as his temps are right, you should be fine with whatever you have.

I will say never ever trust a dial or digital stick on thermometer. They only measure how warm they get, not how warm his basking spot is. You will need either a thermometer with a probe on it or a temp gun. I have two thermometers in my tank (one for hot one for cool) just to get a general idea of the temps in his tank, but I use a temp gun during the day to check his basking spot. For example, my hot side thermometer reads about 80-83, which seems way to cold for a hot side, but his basking spot itself is in the 103-111 range, with a few small hot spots. If going by the stick ons alone, I would have baked him by getting a 150w bulb! (Sorry for the long explanation, I have no idea how much experience you have with these guys so I thought I would just over explain and cover all bases haha)

If your crickets are already in transit, I wouldn't worrying about returning them. You can pick up like 20 or so at a pet store to get him through the next few days until they come. Crickets ordered online will usually be better in quality and fed better than pet store crickets. Just make sure to gut load them as crickets aren't the most nutritious thing out there. I use Repashy Superload mixed with water to form a gel for my crickets. I only feed crickets as treats though. My main feeders are Phoenix Worms and Silkworms, as they are the higher in calcium and most nutritious feeders. I order everything from Rainbow Mealworms, because they have a focus on organic farming, so their bugs get fed organic veggies. They also have little sales if you leave stuff in your cart for a few hours And things like the Repashy Superload and water crystals can also be found on their website. They carry absolutely every feeder imaginable and their Phoenix Worms (actual PW brand) are a bit cheaper than ordering off the PW site.

If you want, you could also get a multivitamin to give once a week (I believe that is the recommended dosage for a multi?). I know many people use Herptivite.

 

[Christmas]

He should be okay until Tuesday for the UVB. When I got my dragon, I had to use a weak UVB bulb for a few days that probably didn't even make it through the mesh to where he was before my HO Reptisun arrived. if it's sunny enough in your area, you could always put him in a plastic bin (lid off) and take him outside for some natural UVB. Just make sure you put on sun screen or sit in the shade so YOU don't get too much UVB haha. I also did that with mine as he was acting a bit lethargic with his old light so I let him sit in my hand in the sun so bask since the plastic tub freaked him out.

For the basking light, make sure it doesn't say "Neodymium coated" as those aren't necessarily recommend. I use a 50W Halogen bulb and mini hood by Zilla, but you use one from a home improvement store instead, which is what I will switch to since the Zilla ones are a bit more expensive. I prefer Halogen as they have the potential to last longer and don't have a coating. Plus they are way cheaper at a home goods store (like Home Depot or Lowes) though as long as his temps are right, you should be fine with whatever you have.

I will say never ever trust a dial or digital stick on thermometer. They only measure how warm they get, not how warm his basking spot is. You will need either a thermometer with a probe on it or a temp gun. I have two thermometers in my tank (one for hot one for cool) just to get a general idea of the temps in his tank, but I use a temp gun during the day to check his basking spot. For example, my hot side thermometer reads about 80-83, which seems way to cold for a hot side, but his basking spot itself is in the 103-111 range, with a few small hot spots. If going by the stick ons alone, I would have baked him by getting a 150w bulb! (Sorry for the long explanation, I have no idea how much experience you have with these guys so I thought I would just over explain and cover all bases haha)

If your crickets are already in transit, I wouldn't worrying about returning them. You can pick up like 20 or so at a pet store to get him through the next few days until they come. Crickets ordered online will usually be better in quality and fed better than pet store crickets. Just make sure to gut load them as crickets aren't the most nutritious thing out there. I use Repashy Superload mixed with water to form a gel for my crickets. I only feed crickets as treats though. My main feeders are Phoenix Worms and Silkworms, as they are the higher in calcium and most nutritious feeders.

Thanks for all of the info! I spent a week learning all of that stuff, too bad I couldn't just ask you first because it would have saved me a TONNN of time lol. I didn't know about the halogen lights and coating however so thank you. How much water do you mix with the Repashy Superload? I have a dubia roach colony but it won't be ready for a few months so he's going to have to live with crickets until then :wink:

 

[Varalidaine]

For the Repashy, it's 1 part powder to 2-3 parts water. I usually do 3 parts just give my crickets some extra hydration. But you can feed them organic veggies or scraps from your dragon and whatnot. The super load isn't necessary. I only use it as I find it easier than making my own slurries or feeding veggies. I've tried veggies before and the crickets never really went for them, but they flock to this stuff as soon as it's down.

Yeah, lots of peeps here use halogen as you can get a lower wattage one that produces more heat, so it's more energy efficient and will cost you less in the long run, electricity bill wise. I saw little halogen light bulbs (not actual flood lights, just the tiny little bulbs) at Lowes for $5.94! I hadn't looked for a fixture yet since I already had my Zilla one. You could also use a halogen flood light, and put that in a dimmer hood (I love Flukers dimmer hoods) so have better control over the temps. Just whatever is easiest for you and gives you good temps is fine though.

Wow, I just rattle on, don't I! Please come back to update us on your little man and how he's doing!

 

[Christmas]

So I got home today, everything was here. The lights, calcium d3, etc. He loves it. But I have some gross/bad news. About 3 minutes after I hooked everything up and put him back in his basking spot, he pooped cricket parts EVERYWHERE. I'm talking no digestion whatsoever. Pure cricket matter.. it was awful. The cricket smell was something I've never experienced before, but it wasn't horrible. Could he have parasites? The weird part is he pooped earlier sometime today too, and it looked completely healthy and fine.

I think the smell is supposed to be really bad when they have parasites right? I'm hoping it was just the awful lighting the previous owner had which I now corrected, and within minutes he just... relieved himself? I hope he's ok ... Does anyone know anything about this?

I have the basking temp at 108 degrees right now. He's pancaked out and enjoying it.

EDIT: Also today is the first time he's pooped since Nov 28 (saturday), is that normal?

 

[CooperDragon]

The smelly loose poop could just be a digestion problem. I've found that cricket poop can be pretty stinky too. It's not unusual for them to go a few days between poops as they get older. I would give him a week or two under his new lights to settle in and see if that helps his digestion and overall health. I think it will. If he still has stinky loose poop after that it's probably worth getting it tested for parasites but I'd hold off for a little while and see how he reacts to proper heat, lighting, and diet. Lucky guy to have such a nice new home!

 

[Christmas]

Thanks for your reply. Sorry for all the questions I'm just really worried because he's been soooo relaxed and hardly moving/eating. I'll keep an eye on him like you said and try not to be so worried about everything, lol.

 

[CooperDragon]

It's normal to be worried and the lethargic behavior is concerning. I do think that his health will improve with a proper setup though and good lighting makes a huge difference for these guys. It may not be all that he needs but it's a good start so I'd use it as a baseline and go from there. Please keep us updated and feel free to ask as many questions as you'd like. We are here to help you get him into good shape so he's happy and healthy.