New owner - stress marks????

[kdh2273]

Ok - so its day two for Rex with us here. He still has stress marks on his belly. He won't get on the basking branch formation. Gobbles up any crickets we put in with him. Hasn't been interested in the mustard greens/cherry/peach salad we made (with vitamin powder). He ate one mealworm. We gave him a warm bath - where he did drink some. His viv is in our bedroom, where we also have a cockatiel. Could the bird's chirping/singing be stressing him out? We only took Rex (the BD) out once for the bath. His viv temp. is 100 using infrared bulb and under tank heater. Cool side is 80-85. Again, this is our first beardie and we want to do everything right. Here are a couple pics of the marks...

 

[kdh2273]

Gosh I figured someone would have responded by now. Well, he ate some of his salad. We removed the mealworms. Added some juvenile pellets pre-soaked with warm water. And gave him more crickets - small 1/4in ones - so I won't have to worry so much about impaction.

 

[oberon101]

welcome. what a cutie you have.
don't know if i can help much, im learning as i go also. i don't care for the undertank heaters at all. our first little guy met a very sad ending when ours shorted out and actually fried the poor guy. when we got our new beardie i started with changing the substrate to slate tile to get the temps right.
those are stress marks and the birds noise may actually be upsetting him. i know our beardie gets very upset when the cat scratches on her cage. it took her quite a few days, when we first got her, to get comfortable with us and for her dark beard to go away.
don't know if this helped at all. good luck

 

[doopie]

Wow. Last night I noticed the same type of marks underneath our Baby Beardie and wondered why they were camoflauged like that while she was in the cage but when we take her out and play with her and hold her she turns white underneath again. I wonder what is stressing her while in the cage. I wonder if the cat sitting next to the viv is stressing her and then when we hold her if she is more relaxed.

 

[MALIBUSMOM]

Do you have a UVB light?What typ is it?I can see you have him on pellets?Those are really no good n u can switch to tile ,soft adhesive shelf liner or paper towel or the fake grass turf stuf.
Temps should be around 105 for a baby....you can use a regular housebulb for heat.
A megaray or repti sun for uvb.
There are several care sheets available on this site.
Some babies do not eat alot of greens....but keep offering them.You can go to a website:Beautiful Dragons.Org n get lots of info.
And we are always glad to help!

 

[kdh2273]

I do have a UVB - its a 10.0 compact bulb. My fiance threw away the pkg. so I don't remember what brand. I will be buying a Reptisun tube as we just got a 55gal tank with light hood.
We did take out the pellets already per everyone's suggestion on here - have the reptile carpet now. Only used the pellets per the exotic pet store where we bought him.
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Rex is doing great yesterday and today - very active and very hungry for his crix.
Just bought the Accurite therm. with probe.
Now working on getting more heat for this lil guy. 92 basking right now - I know thats not high enough. The infrared heat lamp we bought from pet store isn't doing it. Cool side is good at 80.
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Thanks all again for all your helpfullness and suggestions!
Kim

 

[MALIBUSMOM]

You can use a regular household bulb for heat 60watt or 75watt should do it.

 

[kdh2273]

Just hang the bulb in the tank or do I have to use a metal hood? I feel like I am asking alot of simple, dumb questions.
Just wanna be safe and have the best viv for Rex.

Thanks
Kim

 

[pimmsoclock87]

Just hang the bulb in the tank or do I have to use a metal hood? I feel like I am asking alot of simple, dumb questions.
Just wanna be safe and have the best viv for Rex.

Thanks
Kim

Depending on what the top of the viv is made out of depends how you can hang the bulb. if its solid like wood then you can get a fixture for it and hang it inside the viv. if its a metal mesh type then you will need to get a stand so it can suspend over the viv.

And you can use any type of household bulb as the basking bulb just play around with different watts to get the right temps

 

[kdh2273]

Rex's viv is a 20gal tall - glass. we have a powder coated metal mesh screen top. Currently the infrared heat bulb and the UVB compact both sit right on top of the screen.
see pic

I will start with 65 - and go from there.
Thanks!

 

[pimmsoclock87]

First of i would go and but either a digital probe thermometer or a temp gun as those stick on thermometer are not very good and can be as much as +-20f off. So for all you know the temps could be fine but the thermometer is reading them wrong. From what the American members say you can get the digital probes and temp guns in walmarts or most pet shops.

And also you should try and put a hiding place for your beardie, they like to hide and cool down and from the pic it looks like he is always on show.

 

[MALIBUSMOM]

If its still to hot u can go w/ a 40watt.Just screw it in where u had the infared.

 

[Freeie]

Hello and welcome. Let me see if i can help a bit. If he dosnt eat his veggies powder the crickets. The reason you dont use a under the tank heater is beardies dont regulate their temps from below they have a 3rd eye on the top of their head that tells them if they are to hot and so they move. What are your temps up there on his basking area. Its hard to do correct temps easily in a 20 gal. Id dumb the infared light they dont like them. Id just use a household bulb. You may have to buy several packs of diffrent watts to get the correct one for your viv. Compact uvb's can cause eye problems you may want to try and get a diffrent one like the ReptiSUN 10. its a tube uvb light much safer. Younger beardies like their temps between 105f to 110f cool side 80f to 85f. Proper temps are very important for digestion. You might want to start looking for a bigger viv soon he will out grow the 20 gal. He sure is a cutie Pretty much all he needs is his bugs if he dosnt eat his greens right away no worrys. But always offer them.

Good luck!

 

[kdh2273]

Hey Christy, thanks for the response! I have learned about the undertank heater - already removed it. I didn't know that the compact bulb causes eye problems - but I had already planned on ordering the Reptisun uvb tube. I just got the digi therm. with probe. Feel certain my new temps are decently accurate. I already planned on getting a diff. heat bulb since this one isn't giving me enough heat. Infrared I have is Exoterra 100w. Would think a 100w would be plenty in a 20gal tank??? Well tomorrow will be getting several flood lights to see if they will make a diff. cause I do know it needs to be hotter - 100-110. Cool side has been fine.

More updates tomorrow evening!
Kim

P.S. oh - I did know that Rex may not care about his veggies for now since he is a baby (9" - 11wks), but he gets a new, fresh salad every morning. I dust his crix with calcium every other day. I put vitamins on the salad - but will do on crix now that he haasn't really been eating salad.
(salad = mustard greens everyday. sometimes add cherries, peaches, pears. or green peas and carrots)

 

[MALIBUSMOM]

He is very handsome!