Sleeping ALL the time???

[Sheri1484]

Hi everyone! Our little guy is doing MUCH better today! He's lively, running around, eating crickets and just seems happier. I'm glad I got that bad UVB shut off when I did! He was even just sitting on his rock looking around instead of sleeping in his cave! Thanks for everyones help and support! Hopefully he'll warm up to me now!

 

[spurlee01]

So glad to hear he's doing better. UVBs can make all the difference. I love the pictures!
Sara

 

[n00bness]

I've been having the same problem with my new Bearded, Jaeger. He was fine the first day, then seemed to lose his appetite the next day. He's been sleeping all day, and barely even stirs when I pick him up. I bought a Bearded Dragon tank kit at the pet store that had lamps and bulbs with it but am unsure if I made a mistake in going with this setup.

 

[crickest]

Sorry to hear that . . . a few questions to help diagnose . . .

What bulbs came with the set up? (need name/wattage/length/the more specific you can be, the better)
How big is the tank?
What are the basking temps and the cool side temps?
What are you using to take the temps with?

Is your baby eating? and if so, what?

We can start with those questions, so you aren't too overwhelmed right off.

 

[n00bness]

It came with three bulbs all Zilla brand. one is a 120 watt day basking bulb, second a 50 watt night basking, and third is a round 20 watt that says desert on it. The tank is 20 gal. long. The temps seem to be fine; about 100 in the basking and 80 in the cool side. I'm using a round thermometer that shows temp and humidity.
When he eats, it's a mix of live crickets and whatever fruit/greens he'll eat. He ate quite a bit of cantaloupe and a little carrots.

 

[crickest]

I would immediately turn off the desert light, especially if it is the ESU desert reptile. Our Spark was about 9" long and had the same symptoms. After researching the light, I turned it off and saw immediate results, even before I had another UVB. I switched to the Repti-Sun (not repti-glo) 10.0 uvb bulb and he is active, alert and eating really well. There are a lot of bad UVB bulbs out there and a lot of employees at pet shops aren't as knowledgable as they should be. Try turning off the light and see if it helps.

 

[crickest]

One other thought, unless you live somewhere where it is really cold and your room is colder than 65 degrees you don't need a night basking light. Those red lights can keep the lizard from sleeping well at night, keep him awake, which will throw off his cycle. They actually like it a little bit on the cool side at night (deserts get cold at night, you know). If you do need to heat his viv, you can use a ceramic heater (gives off heat, but no light) and you'll want to just raise the temp to the low 70's.

Hope these things help.

 

[n00bness]

Thanks a bundle. His "night light" is a blue color, I don't know if that's better or worse than the red.

 

[n00bness]

Also, I took him outside for a little while and let him lay in real uv light and it seemed to help. His color darkened and he started looking around, he even watched the birds intead of ignoring them like usual.

 

[crickest]

I wouldn't recommend the blue light at night, either. (I bought the red one and a blue one - we are using them to heat our cricket farm).

The best place to find a Repti-Sun 10.0 UVB bulb is pet mountain (I don't know the web address, but its easy to find if you google it).

Let us know how your little one does.

 

[n00bness]

Thanks, I'll try that and hope it helps.

 

[Sheri1484]

Hi everyone! Just thought I'd write and let you all know that our little guy is doing great now! He's so hyper now it's crazy! He was even swinging on the vine we have in the tank and swimming in his waterdish! Thanks for all the help, and n00bness, I'm sure yours will perk up soon enough. We changed our lights out almost a week ago and today he was awesome...we noticed a difference within a day, but now we see the full results!

 

[Drache613]

Hello Sherri,

GREAT that your little one is doing so well now!
It sounds like he is very active now, swinging on his vine & swimming around too. Is his appetite doing well?
Thanks for the update. Let us know if you need anything.

Tracie

 

[Sheri1484]

His appetite varies. Sometimes he'll eat like 8 crickets at a feeding, other times he's good after like 2. He generally eats about 8-10 total on a daily basis. Really still doesn't like any greens, but we offer them so maybe one day he'll surprise us and chow down on them!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Great he is at least eating. Their appetite does vary. Unfortunately some just do not like greens as much as others do & that is something you have to work with & try to find something that he likes which will be hard I know!
At least you got the lighting all fixed though.

Tracie