Not gaping, dark stress marks.

[Kolane]

Our baby beardie, Tequila, has been having a rough time. She is somewhere between 6-8 weeks, we believe, since she is only 6-7 inches head to tail. When we first got her, she was gaping and never had any stress marks. The last week or so, I or my boyfriend haven't seen her gape once, and she has stress marks all the time. She basks, goes to the cool side, climbs, runs, eats, and poops regularly. She just finished a shed, which we thought might be causing the marks, but they haven't gone away since the shed ended.

Our set up is a 4 foot x 18 inch x18 inch custom viv that we built out of wood. Cool temps are usually around 85, but as of late we have been experiencing a heat wave in Western Washington, the cool side is getting up to 90. The hot side stays around 100, with the basking temp at 110-115. She has reptisun 10.0 uvb light in her tank as well. Assess to veggies and water 24/7. Always has white urates, so I know she is drinking. Stress marks actually go away when we take her out of her viv, so maybe something is wrong with her home?

Everything with her seems fine, except that she isn't gaping and always dark. We have read everything we can on beardie behavior and cannot really find any info, so all ideas are welcome! Thank you.

 

[Toddzilla1108]

How are you measuring temps?
Probes, dial, or a temp gun? If you're using a dial, your temps are likely much higher than the dial shows since they are pretty inaccurate.

Is the Reptisun 10.0 a tube or a compact bulb? If it's a compact, that may be causing some stress and you'd want to switch that out ASAP.

The behavior sounds fine, the dark marks could just be her getting used to her new environment. I think there's often a misconception over 'stress marks', my girl has always had very light 'stress marks'. I believe they may even show marks (and darken their color) while basking to absorb more heat.

About the not gaping, gaping is used to release excess heat I believe, not gaping means that your dragon doesn't need to release heat. Not necessarily a bad thing.

Again, since you said she was being active, thermoregulating (moving to cool side), eating, drinking, pooping, I think everything is okay.

More experienced input would of course be better

 

[Kolane]

I was using a dial, but switched over to a tempgun and actually did have to get her a smaller basking light.

Its not so much dark marks as it is her whole belly and chin is black, with white spots on it. But again she only does this when she is in her tank. As soon as you pick her up or give her a bath or whatever, her belly turns back to white.


Maybe she is darkening to aborb more light and not gaping because she isn't warm enough, but the over all temp of even the cool side seems high! And my uvb bulbs are compact. I have two of them in there since the tank is a pretty good size.

 

[Toddzilla1108]

If I recall correctly, the compact reptisun 10.0 bulbs can be harmful for beardies. With two of them, especially, that may be the source of the stress marks. I'd look into Arcadia tubes or a reptisun 10.0 tube

 

[Kolane]

I checked the brand and its actually the exo Terra desert uvb compact, which is not on the list of harmful compacts. Her color is getting better, so i think it was that part of her shed was stuck on her tail.

She isn't basking a lot, and I believe that is why she isn't gaping. Would it be the basking sight is too hot and that's why she is spending a lot of time on the cool side? (She is either glass surfing or on her branch on the cold side of the tank). But I'm concerned that not basking will lead to her not digesting properly.

 

[destiny1998]

Hi. No coil bulbs are good for beardies. As the previous poster said. They do not put off the proper amount of uvb. They start off to strong then the uvb gets week and the screen blocks most of it. They do cause appetite, lethargy and eye issues. Definitely need a better uvb. The reptisun 10.0 Tube t5 is a good one and it's powerful enough to put on top of the screen so she will get good amounts of uvb. Also 105 to 110 is what you want any higher and its too hot.

 

[kingofnobbys]

If I recall correctly, the compact reptisun 10.0 bulbs can be harmful for beardies. With two of them, especially, that may be the source of the stress marks. I'd look into Arcadia tubes or a reptisun 10.0 tube

ARCADIA's 10 -12 % UVB CFBs and UVB200 globes are excellent , I suggest swapping to either of THESE IN THE FIRST INSTANCE - I've been using UVB200s with my beardies for near 4 years now with good results and very good hatchling growth .
Can always swap over to T8 or T5 10-12% UVB and even 14% UVB tubes if you have the money to buy a suitable reptile luminaire for the T8 or T5 tube.
Another very good option is to change over to using Arcadia MVBs (they are available from 80W).

 

[Kolane]

We custom built her tank, and the lights are mounted it. There is not mesh on top. Her color has come back to normal after she finished her shed, but she isn't basking. We raised the sight and its anywhere from 100-110 depending on time of day (measuring with temp gun). But she still isn't basking. I will probably end up calling the local reptile vet because I'm not sure what else to do for her.

Do bearded dragons have to bask to digest or is the heat enough? She stays by her heat lamp (on top of a little bush), but she won't sit directly under it. Do I maybe just need a lower wattage bulb?

Thanks for the help!

 

[destiny1998]

I'd try turning off the uvb and see if that's why she's not basking. Just for the day. Those coils really bother their eyes so that's probably one reason why she isn't basking.

 

[Kolane]

Uvb was off for the day and she still won't bask. We have found, however that if we put her on her basking spot, she will stay there and will gape after 30 minutes or so. But she isn't basking on her own. She is still very young, and maybe doesn't know better? Or is just being close to the basking spot and being warm to the touch enough to digest her food?

 

[Toddzilla1108]

Uvb was off for the day and she still won't bask. We have found, however that if we put her on her basking spot, she will stay there and will gape after 30 minutes or so. But she isn't basking on her own. She is still very young, and maybe doesn't know better? Or is just being close to the basking spot and being warm to the touch enough to digest her food?

You can measure the temps on her back while she's nearby to see if she's warm enough. They do usually need a higher temp to digest properly. I think if her body measures around 95-100 you'd probably be okay. Not too large of meals at a time to be on the safer side id say

 

[quyllur]

I'm in the PNW as well. My dragon's enclosure has been getting too hot (90 on the cool side is too hot, even if the basking temps don't go up much) as well. I set my timer during the worst of it to be off for a couple of hours in the afternoon. The fact that she looses the marks when you take her out of her enclosure supports that it's either too hot in there, or as others have mentioned, the lights are bothering her.