New beardie coloration questions (constant black beard).

[Tealebeardie]

Hello all,
First of all, I’m not sure if I should post this on here or on the introduction forum.

Yesterday I adopted a 2 year old bearded dragon from a local store. I spent lots of time researching and most people suggested to get a young-adult or adult as my first bearded dragon. However, most "high end" breeders sell these adults for hundreds of dollars and a $500 animal isn't in my price range. On the other end there are plenty of adults on Facebook or craigslist for less than $100, but i'm not a bearded dragon pro so I don't think Id be the best rescuer. I ended up finding this beardie from a store that takes great care for their pets and for a great price. The store owner said this beardie plus a female around the same age were given to him by someone two weeks prior to my purchase and they have been eating a pooping regularly. I ended up getting the male because I loved his colors and he seemed more active in the store.
Here is the information I have on the beardie
— he is about 2 years old
— he has a tail nip but the store owner said it looks completely healed
— he is a male
--he is a leatherback

Here is the setup I made before I adopted him:
—40”x22”x20” custom built PVC enclosure
—125W Mercury Vapor lamp on one end (I have a 160W but it makes it 110 on the basking spot... is this ok?)
—22” 10% T5H0 Reptisun UVB tube mounted inside and stretching from one side of the enclosure to the mercury vapor bulb on the other side. (Arcadia 12% and 14% were out of stock at the time)
— hide spot (tree bark dome thing)
— water bowl And food bowl on cool side
—cool side stays about 85 on the upper level and 75-80 by his food/water
—hot side is 100 on basking spot and 85-95 on lower level depending on how long the heat lamp has been on and if the door windows are open or closed
--At night, temp is 68-71 and humidity is 40-55% (I have a 80W ceramic heat lamp...not sure if I should use it or not)
—10-35% humidity on hot side (goes down with the day)
—30-45% humidity on cool side
**** I have 4 stick on gauges inside and a fancy lazer gun to double check ****
—green carpet substrate
—thin pine sheet (1/16”) on the walls

Now for the questions:
1. Can anyone Identify his morph/phase?
2. His beard looks dark all the time (dark grey/ maybe blueish). Could this be "spring fever" even though he's housed alone with no other reptiles in my house? Could it be just his natural color?
3. He also has lots of yellow colors, could this be fungus or just normal?
4. His tail nip looks healed, but a second opinion would be great.
5. parts of his scales look dry, almost ashy. This is around his mouth and at the end of his tail. Could this be some sort of rot, or do I need to moisturize him?
6. IMO, he looks very muscular and he literally jump from one spot to the next, is this normal? Is it possible that his previous owner let him roam the whole house or something?
7. Any estimate on his age?
8. Do the stains on his stomach look like dried poop stains or could it be a fungal infection? (I just gave him a quick bath and scrubbed his belly with a soft toothbrush for a few mins, but i didn't want to scare him since its only our second day. I'm not sure if it came off at all)
9. Should I be worried about the humidity fluctuations and the high levels at night?
10. Yesterday he glass surfed all day in his new enclosure until lights out, but he hasn't at all today. However, he is still very active and has the darkened beard all the time. Could the constant dark beard be from relocation stress alone?

That's all my questions. Any help or suggestions or advice or anything is much appreciated!

Update on today, may 13th:
His beard looks like its lightening up a bit, but not much. Also, he is starting to glass surf again today and occasionally bops his head. He is very calm if I hold him and doesn't show any fear/aggression to me. I made him a salad with collard greens, green bell pepper, carrots, squash, one strawberry, and around 10 nutrigrub worms. He ate some, but not much. I also gave him a few 1/4 inch dubias (all i have right now) which he ate quickly.

 

[CooperDragon]

He looks pretty healthy in the photos. The dark beard is natural coloring and if he was in distress it would get really jet black. As far as your setup goes, since you have a T5, I'd probably move the MVB out and replace it with a halogen for heat. That way you can change the height/wattage or dim it to fine tune the temps. 100-105 is a good surface temp range with 90s around that and 75-80 or so on the cool side. It sounds like you're pretty close with that. You can use the MVBs as portable basking spots when he's out and about (if its safe for him to do so). Your overnight temps sound good. Keep the CHE on hand in case you need it in winter but for now I wouldn't bother. 65-70 is pretty normal and safe. At most I bump my temps to 70-73 overnight.

I will try to address some of your questions as I can.
1. I'm not sure about his morph. I don't know much about their genetics.
2. His beard looks like a natural color. It does look like he has some areas about to shed that could have him in a grumpy mood but I don't see cause for concern.
3. His yellow colors are natural. No cause for concern there.
4. I agree that his tail nip looks healed and shouldn't pose any issues.
5. The dry skin is patches about to shed. They don't really need any interference from you and should just peel away on their own (and with him rubbing on rough surfaces) after a while.
6. It is good that his muscles are well developed. That is one indication of good health. It is possible that he is used to roaming around and if it's safe for him to do so, I encourage it as enrichment.
7. Hard to say what his age is beyond he looks like an adult, so probably over 18 months old.
8. The stains on his belly look like patches of skin getting ready to shed.
9. Humidity fluctuations are normal and it will be a bit more humid when the lights are off. It's not something I concern myself with unless it feels really humid to me in the room.
10. He is probably curious about his new environment. May be a little stressed but let him explore as much as he wants within boundaries of safety (no other animals around or dangerous objects to ingest, places to hide where you can't reach him etc.

 

[Tealebeardie]

@cooperdragon
Thanks so much for the feedback!!
Could you recommend any specific halogen bulb? I have a 300W dome fixture.
Also, do you think the MVB could be the reason for him glass surfing?

 

[CooperDragon]

I've been testing different bulbs with varying success. I generally use a GE PAR38 halogen flood but they are heavy and tend to burn out quickly (not as quickly as the reptile specific bulbs). BR30 and BR40 bulbs tend to work well too but will stick out of the bottom of a lot of fixtures. Wattage will depend on the surface temp readings you get in your enclosure so that may take some trial and error.

The glass surfing is more likely adjusting to the new environment and wanting to get out and explore.

 

[AHBD]

He is a leatherback. I agree with Cooper, the dragon looks very fit + healthy. Hard to guess an age, but probably over 18 months but could be much older. No saggy belly but has a thick tail so he's probably young + active. He has very interesting color + pattern that would intensify if he spent time in the sun. Really nice + healthy looking boy !