New Beardie - some troubleshooting help please!

[KatieMoo94]

So I recently took on my second Beardie. Pancake belonged to someone in my work's son who could no longer look after him. We got him about 2 weeks ago and although we expected some teething issues with relocation stress etc he seems to be having a hard time at the minute. Stress marks constantly and a black beard here and there as well. Eating isn't great he ate okay for the first few days but this tailed off and he isn't very interested. He is a very big boy at 23" so no mbd or malnutrition issues from his previous home.

He keeps hiding all the time under his log or branch but I discovered the other day that his basking temperature had been set waaaay too high by the previous owners and the thermostat was keeping his basking spot at 50c!! So I think that may explain the hiding and glass dancing. He has an arcadia 14% UVB brand new just put in this week so that can't be the problem.

He had been kept on sand his whole life, I switched him to sand mats when he moved in with us but I don't think he is impacted, every bowel movement has been big and healthy. He is a bit smelly from the sand but I'm giving him the odd bath with a baby toothbrush to try and sort that out.

So basically I have been firefighting just fixing small problems as they come up but he just seems miserable and stressed out
And I could swear he's dropped a little weight since he got here (hard to tell because he's massive) or if it's just because we've got used to him being so big in comparison to our other beardie who has topped out at 17".

Is this just relocation stress that has been made worse by changes to his home (i.e. change of substrate and basking area) or is there anything else I should be looking out for that would indicate something is wrong physically with him? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Gormagon]

Sounds like a bit of relocation stress. Give him time, he'll be fine.
He just misses his other keeper. I am sad for him, everything he knew and, loved is gone and, he has to start over

 

[kingofnobbys]

I concur, most likely relocation stress and not happy about being "abandoned".

Probably worth working through this though : viewtopic.php?f=6&t=236150&p=1815390#p1815390

May just be the rotten weather , they do sense the weather is nasty even if they never leave the house.

 

[KatieMoo94]

I figured he's probably just feeling a bit sorry for himself bless him. It's snowing and freezing cold just now and my other beardie is brumating at the minute and that has caused me no end of stressing so I'm totally just having a meltdown over the little buggers just now.

Just going to see how he gets on over the next week or so he's been through a lot of change and I know they don't like it (other beardie stropped for a week when I bought him a new basking platform) and if he's still not right in himself I'll pop him down to the vets... for the sake of a few quid it's worth it to put my mind at rest!

 

[kingofnobbys]

A vet check up to get his health status is probably a good idea if you can get him there without his freezing on the way and the vet is an experience reptile/herp vet.

I find lots of snuggles under a layer of clothes ie a under a nice bagging fleecy hoody's arm works wonders for my gang when they are feeling down.

 

[KatieMoo94]

I planned on taking them both once Snoot wakes up from his brumation just for a wee annual check up but I will take pancake sooner if the weather allows. The vet is only a 15 minute drive and they are very good with reptiles.

He was banging at the glass for attention last night so I opened the door for him and he leapt right onto my lap and then onto the table and went for a good rove around leaping from one bit of furniture to the other while I chased after him hovering to make sure he didn't do himself an injury ??.

I think he's getting a bit chilly at night and that's why he's so dark and grumpy early in the day but with the postal service at this time of year I'm still waiting for his ceramic heat emitter etc to get delivered. I'm feeling better about him today it's just crazy how different they are with their own little personalities so I've been trying to get it into my head that what's true for snoot isn't necessarily true for pancake and just adapt to their differences!

 

[kingofnobbys]

I planned on taking them both once Snoot wakes up from his brumation just for a wee annual check up but I will take pancake sooner if the weather allows. The vet is only a 15 minute drive and they are very good with reptiles.

He was banging at the glass for attention last night so I opened the door for him and he leapt right onto my lap and then onto the table and went for a good rove around leaping from one bit of furniture to the other while I chased after him hovering to make sure he didn't do himself an injury ??. <<<<< that's an excellent sign, I miss my beardies being young and enthusiastic about trot about exploration / fun time on the floor. My Peppa is a beardie who lives for snuggles and if not having a mommy or daddy snuggle is chilling on the lounge next to me , by bluetongues also love snuggles and chilling .
I do have a rescued wild water skink (Fluffy) who leaps out of her 10L siesta tub onto my hand and loves crawling and climbing and leaping all over me .... and who climbs onto my hand to come out of her 100L tub for her daddy fun time, snuggles and feeding ... you guessed it, I have a tribe of skinks and all are spoilt rotten and super affection and smoogy.

I think he's getting a bit chilly at night and that's why he's so dark and grumpy early in the day but with the postal service at this time of year I'm still waiting for his ceramic heat emitter etc to get delivered.

<<<< being Scotland , it will be very cold at night, and yes , your dragons will definitely benefit from overnight viv heating via a ceramic heat emitter controlled by a dimming thermostat - I'd set up the probe in the cool zone of the tank and set the thermostat to hold between 24 and 26 degC.
You can run the thermostat controlled ceramic heat emitter 24/7 , it will help boost the temperature in the viv during the day as well as overnight and can be run at the same time as a MVB or par38 incandescent or halogen basking globe.
I'm feeling better about him today it's just crazy how different they are with their own little personalities so I've been trying to get it into my head that what's true for snoot isn't necessarily true for pancake and just adapt to their differences!