Sick beardie?

[Muleman0517]

Hello and really need some help here. I currently have a beardie who is almost 1 year old. He is my first beardie and something is wrong. So he is in a 40 gal breeder and I have his uvb light mounted in tank right above basking spot. It's a reptisun 5.0. He's been fine up until 3 weeks ago and now he barely eats (0-2 superworms and no greens/day) and constantly scratches at his tank and runs around tank. He tries to scratch at the uvb light. Light was just replaced and when I replaced it he was fine for 3 days. He was eating normal and wasn't running around. His tail isn't dark. Temps are fine. When I take him out he's fine. Can hold him with no problems. He walks around and is totally fine when he's out. We bath him daily (poops in there). I've noticed a strong chlorine smell the last day in our water we drink it and never had issue with it. Fellow beardie owner does not use reptisafe (nor do we) and has same water. I'm not sure if that's the problem or not. I am lost. Not sure what I'm doing wrong and need help.

 

[CooperDragon]

I doubt the water is causing a problem. The UVB light will be if it isn't already though. Is this a T5 or a T8 5.0 bulb? How far is it above the basking area? It's likely not producing adequate UVB for him.

 

[EllenD]

It sounds like a lack of adequate UVB/UVA light, probably due to the 5.0 bulb, especially if it's not a long tube but rather a compact or coil bulb that fits into a regular lightbulb socket. Depending on how far away the 5.0 light is from the basking spot, and what type of light it is, this could very well be the cause of the problem. It's only a 5% UVB light, and as such it has to be closer to him, totally unobstructed, and replaced more often than the 10.0 or 10% UVB lights do. If he was better when you first put the UVB light in and then got worse, and is seemingly trying to get closer to the UVB light, that's a pretty good sign that he's trying to get more UVB/UVA light. The 5.0 lights also put out half as much UVA light (30% vs. 60% for the 10.0), we don't often think about the UVA light but it's a factor as well.

If you have any compact or coil UVB light then it needs replaced with a long tube, it doesn't matter if it's a 5.0 or a 10.0, they are only 13 watt bulbs (actually I don't know what wattage the 5.0 compact/coil bulbs are, the 10.0 compact/coil bulbs are 13 watts) and they are not at all adequate for a desert reptile. If it's a long 18" tube but it's the much weaker T8 strength UVB tube, and then it's only the 5% UVB on top of only being the T8 strength, then it's a double whammy as well. If it is the much stronger T5HO strength tube and it's only the 5.0 then this can be made to work as long as it's unobstructed and within 5" or so of the dragon, but the T8 5.0 tubes are just not strong enough for a dragon, and you need to at the very least upgrade to the 10.0 T8 tube; However, it would be a much better investment for your dragon to purchase both a 10.0 T5HO UVB tube and then a T5-rated tube fixture, they only need replaced once a year (all the other need replaced either every 3 months or 6 months) and they only need to be within about 11" of the dragon's basking spot.

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, are you positive it's a male ? Females can develop infertile eggs + become very restless before laying. If you want us to double check the gender, sit the dragon flat on a table and arch the tail high in the air [ like a happy dog has it's tail in the air ] and snap a few pictures of the rear end .

 

[Muleman0517]

Ok first thanks for all the help, I am currently out of town until tomorrow. My house sitter won't hold him so I will post pics of his rear end tomorrow. I know the bulb is a t8 5.0 and if I remember it's about 7 inches (will measure for sure tomorrow) directly above his basking spot. No obstructions In the way. I sure do appreciate any help. We have only had him since last March and he's our first reptile but he's (maybe she) is part of the family and we want him/her to be healthy and happy!

 

[Muleman0517]

I cannot for the life of me figure out how to upload a picture for you to help me determine sex of beardie. I thought I was phone savvy however I do not use forums. Any tips?

 

[CooperDragon]

You can upload photos here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and post them using the XIMG button when you reply. If you are on a phone, you can use the menu (green button on the top left) to go to the user image upload manager to do the same.