NOT ACTIVE, SLEEPS ALOT

[tyspetspike]

MY SON GOT A DRAGON FOR HIS 7TH B-DAY, 4 DAYS AGO, WHEN WE BROUGHT HIM HOME HE WAS ALIRT NOW HE JUST WANTS TO SLEEP. HE IS ABOUT 7 IN LONG AN ORANGE COLOR, HE IS IN A 10 GALLON TANK WITH A SUN GLO 50W BASKING SPOT LAMP, HE HAS A HAMMOCK DIRECTLY UNDER THE BASKING BULB AND THE TEMP ABOUT 110, AND ABOUT 90 IN THE REST OF THE TANK. HE IS ALWAYS UNDER THE LAMP! I DONT WANT TO COOK HIM, IS THIS NORMAL BEHAIVOR? IS HE JUST SCARED OF HIS NEW HOME?

 

[GoFast]

well for starters, welcome...

the first thing I would ask is what are you using for UVB?? UVB is absolutely CRUCIAL for these guys. Order a reptisun 10 online at one of the many online retailers. DO NOT get the reptiGLO 10 under any circumstance and do NOT get ANY COIL style uvb.

the next thing i would say is your cool side of the tank is about 10 degrees too warm. you want the basking spot 105-110 and the cool side about 80.

Next is food...what are you feeding him and are you dusting with calcium? if so what kind? you need calcium with d3. dust live food source slightly before feeding. also make sure you provide some veggies for him too throughout the day. go beautifuldragons.com for a great chart on good and bad foods for dragons.

 

[GoFast]

you should answer these questions too while you are at it....

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[tyspetspike]

They told me the basking bulb, is a UVB light as well that is all we would need.
He is in calcium sand,he eats crickets, meal worms, we offer brockley and carrots, but he dose not eat them.

 

[GoFast]

It does not provide uvb at all. It does provide UVA but so does any incandescent bulb really. Unfortunately you have been given bad advise by yet another pet store. They sell these little kits and pretend to be experts. Ultimately the dragons die or the owner spends twice as much money as they should trying to get the set up right. For instance, and in addition to the wrong advise on the bulb, you should never use calcisand no matter what. Sand is debatable(I say no) but calcisand is absolutely terrible and leads to impaction. When was the last time your beardie pooped? Next let's discuss the mealworms....another big no-no. They have a very high amount of chitin in them, low nutritional value, and like calcisand, cause impaction. Look around here for some good caresheets, and read some other threads in this forum. It is always the same thing. Get the right stuff as soon as possible too.

 

[tyspetspike]

How old is your dragon? i dont know
How long have you had your dragon? 4 days
How long is your dragon? 7 in
What is the sex of your dragon? i dont know
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 10 gallon
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?calcium sand
Do you use UVB lights? sun glo basking lamp
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?compact
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?50w
How old is your UVB bulb? 4 days
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? within inches
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage?sun glo basking 50w
What are the basking temps? 110
What is the cool side temp? 85
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?stick on
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?where spick sits
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? no
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. crickets, mealworms,carrots,brockl
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? morning
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?yes
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?no
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? every 2 days
Do you bath your dragon? How often? once so far
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? yes
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? no
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?yes

 

[tyspetspike]

SOOO DOES A UVB BULB PUT OFF MUCH HEAT, WHAT KIND OF UVB SHOULD I USE AND SHOULD I LOWER THE WATT IN THE BASKING BULB WHEN I GET ONE?

 

[GoFast]

it depends. A florescent tube puts off very little heat but an MVB(Mercury Vapor Bulb) puts out a lot of heat. Too much for you to use in a 10 gallon tank. Once you upgrade to atleast a 40gallon breeder you can get an MVB. For now get a 24inch reptisun 10. Try lllreptile.com, petmountain.com, or any of the other online sites. They are very very hard to find in pet stores and expensive once you do. You want to allow the dragon to get within 6 inches of it but no closer. The best is to offer a range from 6-12 inches for proper UVB.

 

[tyspetspike]

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP, I WILL NOT BR GOING BACK TO PETSMART FOR HELP

 

[GoFast]

no problem and good luck! let us know if you need anything else.

 

[spurlee01]

Just thought I'd chime in here. The reptisun 10.0 is the best basking bulb by far!
One other thing I noticed was that your baby only gets crickets in the morning. At his/her age, he/she needs crickets at least twice, if not three times per day. You should feed as many crickets as he/she wants to eat in a 10-15 minute period. Some babies eat 50-100 crix a day. A lot of us buy our crickets online by the 1000 to keep up with their appetites. Also, pick up a calcium powder w/ d3 and w/o phosphorous and a multivitamin. Use the calcium 5x per week on one meal of crickets and the vitamin 2x per week on one meal of crickets. Congratulations on your new baby!
Sara

 

[Rachella]

Howdy and welcome!

Another note on your lighting, you could probably return what you have and get your money back.

Whenever you get the UVB bulb (reptisun 10.0 as mentioned before is the best on the common market) it won't put off much heat. However, for heat you could easily use a regular, ordinary house bulb. I'd suggest trying a 65w since he's only in a ten gallon tank. When he gets bigger you'll need to upgrade the tank and then probably have to use a higher wattage bulb.

Also, when you feed him the crickets make sure they're smaller than the space between his eyes. Too big and he may get impacted, which is a bad thing. I wouldn't bother with the mealworms, personally. Crickets are about the best thing for a growing beardie. As for his veggies, here's a wonderful link for different kinds of veggies you can use safely for him :: http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html

Don't hesitate to ask any more questions!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Please let us know when you do make the corrections to your tank setup so we can make sure that you have everything correct. I am sorry that you received bad advice from the petstore. That is a very common occurrence these days. Let us know how things are going for you.
Are you getting any oral fluids into him?

Tracie