Now what?

[CharlotteM]

So I got the fecal results and no parasites for Tyler. That was good news. I even got a super worm and 3 hornworms in him yesterday. Now I'm not sure sure if this is new and unrelated to his loss of appetite or the result of an accident but his left front leg is limp. Yesterday I mounted the light I got on he underside of his tank as suggested but one side fell. I thought it missed him. Maybe it didn't? I ended up cutting a hole in the screen so it's safer for him. I didn't notice himnlimoing last night. Maybe it's just sore. I'm hoping it goes away and is just temporary...or perhaps related to whatever is going on in him? I'm just at a loss and am sad that this is something new or the worsening of his health.

 

[AHBD]

Well that's good news/bad news. :? I think it's logical to conclude that the light DID hit his foot. He'll probably be O.K but if you're really worried you might get him to the vet. Can you post a video of him walking ?

And you never have to mount a strong uvb bulb inside the tank, cutting a hole in the screen CAN be done, but you need to be sure the beardie can't jump up through it. I've always mounted mine ON the screen, it only blocks an average 25 % uvb.....that's not a big deal.

 

[EllenD]

Oh no, I didn't know the light hit him!!! Is he using his leg? I'd watch him and if he still isn't using it by Monday, or it swells any more I'd take him to his vet, but hopefully he'll be OK.

AHBD, I have read and also been told by Tracie in another post that unless you have a T5 High-Output UVB you'll lose close to or even more than 50% of the UVB light into a metal mesh screen, and almost 100% if it's glass. So it's not just 25% that you lose with a 10.0 T8 tube. There's been many individual posts on here about making sure you mount your T8 UVB under mesh because the OP's didn't, and as a result their year old or younger beardies have developed severe MBD and have appetite and lethargy issues. There's tons of posts about this that show the results of obstructing a 10.0 T8 tube. Yes, a T5 High-Output tube will almost fully penetrate metal mesh screen, but not a T8 that is 17 watts like the 10.0 Reptisun T8 tube.

 

[AHBD]

Not that much is lost. Here's the testing done that many refer to. Scroll to the end discussion and it tells you how much is lost with varying types of screen.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=3&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwi4vJOO3vnUAhXK4IMKHdZfBjkQFgg6MAI&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.uvguide.co.uk%2Ffluorescenttubemeshtests.htm&usg=AFQjCNEblaL0mKNp5_C2jh6Rckx3w67ucg


And we already know we're not talking about glass.....I don't think anyone mounts their uvb on glass and if so it would be obvious to any of us giving advice that it would'nt work. And it's true that some posters come here with dragons in poor shape but most of them have the coil/compact bulbs in use.

 

[AHBD]

It's interesting that back in the 90's when I got my first dragons, the most powerful + highly reommended tube uvb was the Reptisun 5.0 t8. [ The now [ almost ] obsolete 10.0 t8 is twice as strong as that, and THAT bulb had't even come on the market yet ! ] I used the 5.0 in a large store display case that I converted to a dragon mansion. The dragons never got closer than 8" to it and there was no aluminum backed reflector. But the dragons grew large + healthy + lived good long lives with no MBD.

By the way, I did mention that it's O.K. to put the stronger bulbs on top of the scree....those would be the Reptisun 10.0 t5 or the Arcadia 12% D3. It can be beneficial to mount the less powerful ones in the tank or with the screen cut in a way that is still safe for the dragon. There are different ways to go about it.....I sure didn't mean any harm to anyone here or to sound too controversial. My apologies if I have !

 

[SHBailey]

I had the T8 10.0s on top of wire mesh screen for about 3 years, and according to my UVB meter (Solarmeter 6.2), about 30% of the output was being lost through the mesh. I was careful to replace them whenever the output dropped, and so far our beardie hasn't shown any signs of MBD. He got sick a couple of years ago, and I was afraid it might be the beginnings of MBD, but it turned out to be adenovirus. I could almost wish it had been MBD, because that would have been a whole lot easier to fix.

His immune system seems to have gotten a handle on it and he seems to be holding his own now, except for a tendency to get some kind of unidentifiable opportunistic infections in the joints of his fingers and wrists and elbows. Meanwhile, we upgraded to a T5 HO 10.0 over his basking area early this year, so I feel a little better about the amount of UVB he's getting, but it doesn't seem to have made all that much difference in his behavior or his health. He spends most of his days basking, and I understand that the amount of vitamin D they make is a function not only of the amount of UVB they're getting in microwatts/cm2 but also they amount of time they spend in that light, which probably explains why my little champion basker would probably have to have a pretty bad UV light before he'd start showing signs of MBD. But I like to try to do the best I can for him at my end.

I've always felt safer with the lamps on top of the screen rather than trying to put them inside the tank. What kind of screen mesh you have matters too -- some types block out more light than others.

Just my 2 cents worth...