Ra's shedding

[viral013]

Everything has been going great for the past few months with Ra and I. But I thought when I upped the size of his terrarium he would shed again. He has not shed in a while it's been over 2 months and I was wondering if this is normal for bearded dragons when they get over 12 months old. He gets a bath every other day and sprayed with water in between. He gets Fluker's calcium with phosphorous 3x a week, rep cal multivitamin 3x a week. He has a reptiglo strip UVB that is 2 months old. 100 w basking light. temps on basking spot are 111 and 87 on cool side taken w/ digital thermometer. He eats mustard greens, collard greens and bok choy and about a dozen crickets a day. he is probably about 20 in. long. oh and i use cabinet liner, reptile carpet and tile as a substrate. any help much appreciated. thanks,
laura and ra

 

[zebraflavencs]

Is that Reptiglo and 8 or a 10 ? If it is indeed a 10, please change this tube to a ReptiSun 10.0, which is the Best tube UVB on the market !
If it is an 8, how far away from Ra is it ? Do you have a bright house hold bulb for basking close enough that Ra can get both at the same time ?
Janie.

 

[Lennifer]

The only ReptiGlo light that has not had issues is the ReptiGlo 8. As Janie said, If u don not have the ReptiGlo 8, please purchase this or the ReptiSun 10. The ReptiSun 10 is better as far as the amount of UBV it provides. The calcium u are using should be phosperous free!

~Sandy

 

[viral013]

I do have the Reptiglo 10, if I get it within the next month the Reptisun I mean, would I be ok? Would that cause problems with his shedding? His UVB is probably 5-6 in. from his basking spot and the basking light is right next to his UVB so he can get both at the same time when he on his log. I will get the Reptisun if it is really that crucial, but I was told that there were only problem with the reptiglo 10 compact bulb, and could you give me the site with the info on the effects of the reptiglo b/c im not really sure why it would be bad.
Thanks so much again,
Laura and RA

 

[zebraflavencs]

You really should get one sooner. The longer under that 10, and the more health issues you will have to deal with.
You can get a Sun from
http://www.petmountain.com I think the discount code is Pets.
Can you borrow like $20-30 and get this tube quickly ? It would get to you in less than a week, and in the meantime turn off that glo and replace with a bright house hold light bulb.
Also could you give us a run down on the rest of your vivarium ? There may be something else amiss that we can help you change now, if needed.
We need to know :
How old is your dragon?
How long have you had your dragon?
How long is your dragon?
What is the sex of your dragon?
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage?
What are the basking temps?
What is the cool side temp?
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?
Do you bath your dragon? How often?
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?
Thanks in advance !
Janie.

 

[Lennifer]

No Compact bulbs are good for Beardies. Compact lights cause severe and painful eye damage. Below is some info I found on the net regarding coil lights &/or incorrect UVB lighting.

A problem with some of the new high UVB output
fluorescent compact lamps and tubes....

A small but increasing number of cases have been reported of pet reptiles which have developed the symptoms of photo-kerato-conjunctivitis, which is usually the result of abnormally high exposure to ultraviolet radiation. Typical symptoms included a refusal of the animals to open the eyes, lethargy and inappetance; many also stopped basking. More severely affected animals developed swollen eyelids, and a small number developed lesions resembling burns and exfoliation of the skin of the eyelids

What is photo-kerato-conjunctivitis?
This is a painful eye condition caused by excessive exposure to UV radiation.

It is exactly the same as "snow blindness" in skiers, from excessive UV reflected from snow, and "arc welder's flash" experienced by people working with metal welding equipment, who have not worn protective glasses. It is very painful - like having sand in your eyes - and it is caused by damage to the delicate transparent cells on the surface of the eye (the cornea) and the lining of the eyelids. Fortunately, only the superficial layers of the eye are affected; the lens and retina are not damaged (the UVB does not reach the deep structures of the eye) and so it does not cause permanent blindness.

The pain is protective (it makes sufferers close their eyes) and healing begins at once, when the harmful UV light is removed. Unless there have been serious burns, the eyes heal remarkably quickly. The damaged cells are replaced within days and the pain disappears.

Most cases open their eyes again within 2 - 3 days and all symptoms are gone within a week or so, with no medication being necessary. If there has been skin damage to the eyelids this may take a little longer and veterinary examination is essential in case the damaged skin has become infected. We have heard reports of some cases with a sticky discharge from the eye and/or peeling of the skin around the eyelids.

Most of the affected reptiles recovered within 2 – 14 days once the lamps were removed, but we have now heard of five animals - three chameleons and two hatchling bearded dragons - which died before the cause of the problem was recognised. One of the chameleons which died also suffered severe skin damage, also believed to be caused by the lamp.

In previous years, we have heard of a few isolated cases; usually these have been following the positioning of an especially high-UVB lamp (such as certain types of mercury vapour lamp) particularly close to a species that does not normally bask in sunlight. However, there seems to have been a sudden increase in the number of cases reported, over the last 12 months, almost entirely associated with the use of specific brands of new “high output” UVB fluorescent lamps. Moreover, species which are known to bask in full sunlight, such as bearded dragons and red-eared-slider turtles, have been affected.

 

[Lennifer]

Here are a few dif posts from people that have had issues with these lights...

A few months ago I bought a repti-glo 10 as at the time I thought this was the best.
Having seen a few post on the repti-glo 10 I am not so sure.
When I first put in the new tube ZZ went mental - wanting to be out and running around the lounge like a bat out of hell..
Now she has become lethargic and I have feeding problems.
I have to coax her to eat and exercise.
I have even resorted to cutting the jumping legs off the locust but she will still only eat them if they happen to walk past her mouth.
Should I rush out and change the tube???
Have I made a big mistake with this tube???
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The benefit of UVB is that it allows a reptile to synthesize vitamin D3, which in turn lets it utilize Calcium. This allows for healthy growth and strong bones, without it a Beardie can become stunted and get Metabolic Bone Disease.
I would not, however, use the Reptiglo 10.0. This is because that light contains a phosphor that has been causing a health problem called photo-kerato-conjunctivitis, which has symptoms like eyes being swollen shut and lethargy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
QUESTION: Hello, first let me thank you in advance for the help. About 5 days ago we purchased a chameleon with a kit (had zilla lights) and noticed his eye started closing and became lethargic, so after extensive research on chams, i thought we may be stressing him so i promptly traded him in for a beardie...

we brought the beardie home to the same issue. The lady told us we had the proper lighting, which after extensive research i found out zilla lights are hurting them. so today i went and bought a 24inch repti-glo 8.0 which i heard is good for beardies, i have him in a 10 gal tank with a screen at the moment, the reptiglo is on top of the tank and he can reach within 5-6 inches of it and also have a zoo-med 75 wat basking light with a rock under it at the far side of the tank. he can get no closer than about 10-11 inches

he seems more lively since i switched the lighting, though hes still closing his eyes.(only had it switched for 2 hours)

 

[viral013]

How old is your dragon? 18 months
How long have you had your dragon? 13 months
How long is your dragon? 18 in.
What is the sex of your dragon? male
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 55 gallon breeder tank 36x18x16
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? repticarpet, shelf liner, tile
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? yes, house bulb, 100w
What are the basking temps? 111
What is the cool side temp? 87
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? digital
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? on his log
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? no
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. hand full of collard greens, mustard greens or bok choy, dozen crickets a day
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? morning 9-10, night 6-8
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? flukers with phosphoerous (i kno im getting reptical) 3x week, repcal multicitamin 3x week
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? every morning
Do you bath your dragon? How often? everyother day
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? yes both
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? no
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?no

 

[viral013]

No Compact bulbs are good for Beardies. Compact lights cause severe and painful eye damage. Below is some info I found on the net regarding coil lights &/or incorrect UVB lighting.

A problem with some of the new high UVB output
fluorescent compact lamps and tubes....

A small but increasing number of cases have been reported of pet reptiles which have developed the symptoms of photo-kerato-conjunctivitis, which is usually the result of abnormally high exposure to ultraviolet radiation. Typical symptoms included a refusal of the animals to open the eyes, lethargy and inappetance; many also stopped basking. More severely affected animals developed swollen eyelids, and a small number developed lesions resembling burns and exfoliation of the skin of the eyelids

What is photo-kerato-conjunctivitis?
This is a painful eye condition caused by excessive exposure to UV radiation.

It is exactly the same as "snow blindness" in skiers, from excessive UV reflected from snow, and "arc welder's flash" experienced by people working with metal welding equipment, who have not worn protective glasses. It is very painful - like having sand in your eyes - and it is caused by damage to the delicate transparent cells on the surface of the eye (the cornea) and the lining of the eyelids. Fortunately, only the superficial layers of the eye are affected; the lens and retina are not damaged (the UVB does not reach the deep structures of the eye) and so it does not cause permanent blindness.

The pain is protective (it makes sufferers close their eyes) and healing begins at once, when the harmful UV light is removed. Unless there have been serious burns, the eyes heal remarkably quickly. The damaged cells are replaced within days and the pain disappears.

Most cases open their eyes again within 2 - 3 days and all symptoms are gone within a week or so, with no medication being necessary. If there has been skin damage to the eyelids this may take a little longer and veterinary examination is essential in case the damaged skin has become infected. We have heard reports of some cases with a sticky discharge from the eye and/or peeling of the skin around the eyelids.

Most of the affected reptiles recovered within 2 – 14 days once the lamps were removed, but we have now heard of five animals - three chameleons and two hatchling bearded dragons - which died before the cause of the problem was recognised. One of the chameleons which died also suffered severe skin damage, also believed to be caused by the lamp.

In previous years, we have heard of a few isolated cases; usually these have been following the positioning of an especially high-UVB lamp (such as certain types of mercury vapour lamp) particularly close to a species that does not normally bask in sunlight. However, there seems to have been a sudden increase in the number of cases reported, over the last 12 months, almost entirely associated with the use of specific brands of new “high output” UVB fluorescent lamps. Moreover, species which are known to bask in full sunlight, such as bearded dragons and red-eared-slider turtles, have been affected.

I do not use a coil or compact bulb, i specified that

 

[viral013]

no one answered my question on how often they are supposed to shed? and also a website with info on the reptiglo 10.0, i have not yet occured any problems with it. no out of the ordinary behavior. thank you all for your help i am just concerned with him not sheeding in a few months and i will get a different bulb since everyone is so concerned with it, they are not cheap and i just got the reptiglo...

 

[zebraflavencs]

As each dragon is different, so are the shedding. I have one an 9-10 month old that sheds once a month. I have two 4 month olds that shed almost every other week. One of the 4 month olds just started that, while the other has been shedding constantly since we got them.
All I can say, is keep offering as much protein insects as he will eat in a 15 minute time span 2-3 times a day. Ra will come around, grey out and behold, shed !
Hope this all helped !
Janie.
Also here is a web site you can check over the information we offered about the bulbs:
http://www.uvguide.co.uk/phototherapyphosphor.htm

 

[Lennifer]

Yes I know that u are not using the coil lights but the coils & any kind of bad UVB lighting cause these issues. I also provided a few stories/complaints I found from others who have used the ReptIGlo 10 & say they caused these lathergic eye issues. I can provide more stories/complaints from people if u would like There is no evidence other then people's stories of these issues. That is why they are still selling on the market. ReptiGlo is never going to say they have bad lighting because then they would need to recall them. It is your personal choice to stay with this light, we are just trying to help u with the info we have learned.

~Sandy

 

[viral013]

Thanks so much, I will switch it. But how often is a dragon over 12 months supposed to shed? That was the initial question.

 

[Lennifer]

I wish I could answer that question for u! lol
I currently only own one Bearded Dragon (Drago) & he is just now over a year so I am in the same boat as u! lol
I do know that they tend to slow down on shedding a bit as they get older. Hopefully someone else will come along that has older dragons & can answer this one. :wink:

~Sandy

 

[viral013]

When was the last time your b.d. shed?