Not basking but eating well

[Screamin99]

Hey everyone...

Recently I noticed my almost two year old dragon is basking for a while in the morning then he will hide under his bask the rest of the day usually around 2-3pm he goes under his bask and will stay there until about 6-7 then he might come out and bask for a little and then he goes straight back under.

During the morning he will sit up on his bask for 10-20 minutes then he will go to the cool side then back to the bask. He goes up and down a lot, Im not so sure if this is normal as when he was a juvenile he would bask for hours on end unless he was eating or going to the bathroom. But along with this lack of steady basking came a lack of going to the bathroom daily. He is to the point where he might go once a week now.

His tank setup is as follows

55gallon glass (48x12x21)
Repti Sun 10.0 Tube (24inch) roughly 12-14 inches above the top of his bask
a 60W house bulb for his basking bulb

Temps are read with a digital probe style thermo. Basking temps are around 100-104* on the hot side and around 85-88 on the cool side. I keep the a/c on and the fans on but its roughly 98* outside and the temps are just HOT. I keep him on tile and I feed him supers and offer greens daily. I typically offer Turnip/Collard, but I try to toss in Dandelion/Endive or Kale with one of the others from time to time and switch things up.

I have Calcium powder with D3 from Rep-Cal and I also have the Multivitamin too.. He just doesn't eat his greens well anymore (he would rather scarf down 10-15 supers a day as to eat a bowl of greens. I can hold his supers for a few days and he might pick at his greens but he won't eat a full bowl.

Does it sound as if I should get a fecal?

 

[Beardednoob]

Possibly get a fecal. Always the for sure way to know. However I would cut down on the supers as 10-15 everyday is not the good for him. Try to switch it up with some silkworms. How old is your Reptisun 10.0? Also this can get closer to the basking area, the dragon should be able to get about 8 inches from the Reptisun 10.0 florescent tubes.

 

[Screamin99]

I shouldn't say I give 10-15 EVERYDAY haha a more realistic number would be 5-7 I typically give him 5 - 7 daily, but some days I'll give him more. And sometimes I'll not even offer them in hopes he will go after his greens.

I've offered silks before and he won't touch them, the same with dubais. I used to feed crickets and he stopped eating those around 7-8 months old.

The repti-sun was bought in March (around the 9th) and installed about a week after that. So it's around 4 months old. I used to have his repti-sun exactly 8 inches from the top of the bask to the bottom of the bulb/middle of the bulb. So assuming he was laying on the bask that would put him 5-7 inches from the bask depending on how exactly he's laying. So if he was facing the bulb with his head up and standing on his front legs pushed up then he would be even closer. But the major reason I moved it up was because at the start of spring when he was coming out of his burmation period he went nuts and was jumping on top of the light trying to climb out haha so I felt the need to move it up and keep it out of his range haha. I can move it back down or lower it some if I need to though.

I haven't got a REALLY good length on him, but I think he's close to 22-24 inches nose to tail. And I think that he weighed around 490 grams at his last vet visit.

Here is a timeline of the roller coaster ride Ive had with him (my first dragon)

Brought him home September 22nd 2009 (6-8inches long)
Around January of 2010 he stopped eating crickets (our heat went out and temps were getting cool)
April of 2010 I had a fecal done after he did a on again off again eating spurt and he had coccidia
Treated and everything was going well for a while and he was starting to eat again
December 2010 he went into his semi burmation state and was laying under his bask hiding from the light and wouldnt eat aside from me force feeding him
He wasn't totally out so I left his lights on and left him laying there I would feed often via syringe and give baths often as well.
Did a fecal around January 2011 after he started trying to eat some greens and he was positive for pinworms.

And here we are again :study:

 

[Jess]

What's the humidity?

My beardie has been doing the same thing: He eats well, but sleeps all day and only basks in the evenings. I was talking to Barb (Fresnowhite I think?) about it, and she said that her beardies do the same whenever the humidity is over 37%. If the weather where you are is hot and humid like it is here, he might just not feel up to basking. They are desert animals, so they probably feel pretty miserable in humid weather!

To get him to go to the bathroom more regularily, you can try giving him a bath every morning. I think it kind of helps when they have a "schedule" of some sort LOL.

And for greens... Try feeding super worms every other day or every 2 days. As adults, they don't need protein every day.

I would probably get a fecal done too, though, because of his history with the parasites.

 

[Screamin99]

What's the humidity?

My beardie has been doing the same thing: He eats well, but sleeps all day and only basks in the evenings. I was talking to Barb (Fresnowhite I think?) about it, and she said that her beardies do the same whenever the humidity is over 37%. If the weather where you are is hot and humid like it is here, he might just not feel up to basking. They are desert animals, so they probably feel pretty miserable in humid weather!

To get him to go to the bathroom more regularily, you can try giving him a bath every morning. I think it kind of helps when they have a "schedule" of some sort LOL.

And for greens... Try feeding super worms every other day or every 2 days. As adults, they don't need protein every day.

I would probably get a fecal done too, though, because of his history with the parasites.

Actually it has been fairly humid here.. Around 31% or so in his tank. How can I get his humidity lower in his tank?

 

[Jess]

I think some people have dehumidifiers. Personally, I've never had one though, since the humidity is only high enough to make Dudley lazy and not enough to give him a URI or anything. If you have a water dish, taking that out would help.

 

[Screamin99]

I think some people have dehumidifiers. Personally, I've never had one though, since the humidity is only high enough to make Dudley lazy and not enough to give him a URI or anything. If you have a water dish, taking that out would help.

We have two dehumidifiers in the basement, but none upstairs. No bowl, I use do a bath every 2-3 days.

Thanks again.. Maybe it IS the humidity. I forgot to take the stool from yesterday down to the vet for a fecal today. I'll see how it goes over the next few days. The vet mentioned he's had a lot of calls about this recently and that his is even doing the same things. He mentioned letting his dragon out in the sun for a while to get some natural rays? But its more humid outside than it is inside so wouldn't that be worse?

 

[Jess]

Dudley always perks up a little after I take him outside, so I think the benefits of the natural UVB out weigh the humidity. It seems to help!

 

[Screamin99]

Dudley always perks up a little after I take him outside, so I think the benefits of the natural UVB out weigh the humidity. It seems to help!

I may have to give that a shot then.. Any tips for letting him be outside?

 

[Jess]

Well, you will want to put him on a leash, or in some kind of container (Not a glass aquarium, though). They can move faster than you would think, and you don't want him to get away!

 

[Screamin99]

What about a laundry basket ? Would that be safe to put him in with it upside down and something on top? How long should I leave him out? Its been like 120 here with the heat index and humidity and temps average 94-97*.

I've got him sitting in the window right now with the window up. The screen is down so im sure its filtering some, but he sits pretty content there most of the time.