New dragon wont eat... just sits on a branch

[danny662boy]

so i bought my first beardie yesterday a lil guy about 6 inches, and i put him in his kingdom (40 gall breeder) i have a flukers medium iguana branch that goes to this like tree thing thats in the shape of a y. the highest point of the branch is about 6 inches from the screen top, which lies my 5.5" fixture with a 75 watt zoo med reptibasking spot lamp.. and in the middle i have the deep dome with the repti sun 10.0 compact flourescent... i check the basking spot with my temp gun often to see the temp rise, i havent gotten it to a 100 so far, its at 84 and i turned it on an hour ago.. do i need a stronger bulb? maybe 100 watt to get the correct basking spot? he doesnt seem to sit under the basking light, but goes offset to the right of it on the branch? and he hasnt ate a cricket or veg yet? maybe since its a new environment??

 

[midnight_962002]

It sounds like you are going to need more wattage. I have never owned a 40 gal breeder but, from what I have seen most people go to 150 watts and have a different setup. I think for those types of enclosures I would recommend a MVB and a lower basking point. Is the compact fluro a coil? If so return it and get a tube, unless you are going to get the MVB cause that will give your animal plenty of UVB.

You are shooting for a temp of 105. Getting close to that should be good.

Ernie

 

[LJean]

Many beardies suffer from relocation stress when first put in their new environment. It can take a few weeks for them to adjust.
They can also refuse to eat if their temperatures and lighting aren't correct. Try what you can to get the basking temps to at least 105 for the baby. Aslo, compact and coil lights have been known to cause problems. You may want to switch to a MVB (mercury vapor bulb) like the megaray or t-rex, or use the long tube flourescent, such as ReptiSUN 10.

 

[danny662boy]

i left 5 crickets in there b4 i left, and i just got in they were gone, he passed a stool, and the temp an inch away from the branch was 106.3 as opposed to taking the temp 6 inches away, outside of the screen where it was 94.5 degrees.. he was sitting perched up on the branch under the spot, and looked comfortable and livelier.. i talked to a breeder about the compact flourescent coil bulb i have, he said the closer i can get it to the lizard the better, bc i addressed the issue about a lamp stand bc of the eye problems they cause but he said its fine

 

[diamc]

Hi, as others have suggested here and in other threads, the coil/compact UVB's are very dangerous. You can read about them here: [ Invalid URL Removed / p= t=65424 f=1 ] You beardie would actually even be better off without any UVB for a few days rather than using that one. Actually, the closer he gets to it, the more damage is being done. If you read the info about them, it will help you to understand all the problems better.
I think the temperature gun is supposed to get a reading about 4" from the surface you're measuring, anyone please correct me if I'm wrong. They will not give an accurate reading through screen though. What is the temp of the cool side?
That's good that he is eating a little for you. Please keep us updated on how he is doing.

 

[RioReptiles]

i talked to a breeder about the compact flourescent coil bulb i have, he said the closer i can get it to the lizard the better, bc i addressed the issue about a lamp stand bc of the eye problems they cause but he said its fine

That's crazy. Maybe he thought it was a flourescent tube.

My beardie barely ate for over 3 weeks when I first got him. I was so upset until I found bd.org. Turns out, he just didn't like crickets, so I tried phoenix worms and roaches and never looked back. Now he's older and eats crickets now that I started a roach colony. Don't worry, he will eat when he is settled in and happy. Cheryl