Hi, I am a new beardie owner as of a month ago and I got him from petsmart. He has been just fine with eating and everything until recently. He randomly refused to eat crickets which he would eat out of my hand and everything and then one day he stopped and slowly ate a couple but not many and then just stopped completely for a couple of days. The poop also started to get really funny and then today it happened to just be clear with no green or brown and I don't seem to know what is happening ):
I have reptile carpet with a heat pad under that keeps the tank about 85° and under his lamp the basking spot is about 105-110° and I have a repti-glo uvb fluorescent tube, the tank is a 55 gallon.
Thanks for answering. Is the uvb a 10.0 t8? Is it on top of the screen? How close can he get to it? How are you taking the temps? Does he have a bright white basking light?
Yes it's a t8, he's about 10-12 in from it and from basking about 8 in, I'm using a 100w zoo med basking bulb, I take the temps with a temperature gun and no it's not on top of the screen
Yes it's a t8, he's about 10-12 in from it and from basking about 8 in, I'm using a 100w zoo med basking bulb, I take the temps with a temperature gun and no it's not on top of the screen
If it's a T8 tube , even if it's rated at 10% UVB , if he is not able to get closer than 6" from , assuming there is not a screen underneath the UVB tube and fixture, he'll never get enough UVA and UVB.
The results of insufficient UVA are lethargy and lack of appetite.
The results of insufficient UVB are insufficient metabolisation of dietary calcium, insufficient blood VitD , and this can after a short while result in stunted growth, and poor development and MVB.
If the temperatures are too low , he will also be malnourished because reptiles require heat to digest their food.
I recommend you move the T8 closer to where he basks ( a lot closer and double check it's rated AT LEAST 10% UVB , if not the T8 must be replaced with a more intense tube which produces very high levels of UVA and UVB ..... this is CRUCIAL.
I also recommend you double check your temperature, basking spot at 100 degF.
If the basking light is a colored one - throw it away and replace it with a clear colorless par38 incandescent globe and adjust the basking position height by trial and error until you are getting 100 degF - 105 degF at the basking spot.
Make sure your photoperiod is long ( I recommend at least 14hr , I run my lights on for 16hr per day and my lizards are thriving).
You need to offer AT LEAST TWO live insect meal to the hatchling per day, as many high quality live insects as it'll eat per session (BUT only 2 or 3 insects at a time so you do not overwhelm him with fast moving bug hopping and scurrying in all directions.
Change in poo habits / quality is dietary I suspect, he's actually malnourished and NOT eating enough insect protein.
You will need to know how much he weighs to be able to give him the correct amount calcivet and bugpie.
He may need a vet visit and to be put onto Critical Care Carnivore food supplement
for a while too in order to build him up and get him back on track wrt growth rate and development , I think the vet visit needs to be arranged URGENTLY.
Also - is he sharing his tank with another hatchling ?.... if so , they need to be housed separately in their personal tanks , this kind of thing is commonly observed with hatchlings who are sharing a tank with a more aggressive feeder who gets the lion's share of the food and the best access to resources (basking and sleeping spots) and the subservant shy hatchling is stressed all the time and fails to thrive and grow.
Okay so when I got up this morning I moved his basking spot directly under the uvb lamp and it is 10% when I get home I'm going to move his bulb closer and take him to the vet and buy him those bug pies and syringe and no he does not share with others
He'll appreciate the changes .... and you''ll likely see him improving slowly over the next few months. don't be afraid to give him an extra feed of live bugs (silkworms - small sized (1.5in long) and MSF maggots (aka Phoenix Worms) for teh