Stress all week?

[iamgenosperson]

So I have a 1 month old bearded dragon, Arnold, and he's been mine for one week. He's been eating, basking, drinking, running around, waving at his reflection, the normal stuff. His basking spot is usually 100- 110F, he has a REpti- glow UVB spiral bulb, 2 red heat lamps- a 100 watt and a 150 watt, his cool side is usually 75-86F. He has a ginormous water bowl, newsprint bedding, stuff to climb on, and 2 hiding spots. All this is in a 75 gallon tank. I know stress is horrible for babies on their hearts. Any predictions as to why he's so stressed? He's not really showing any signs of stress besides his belly and chin. Also the humidity is always 25 but sky rockets to 70 at night- how can I keep the humidity in the tank down without it interfering with my hermit crabs and long tail lizard on the other side of the room?

 

[Tonja]

Hi. to keep the humidity down you need to remove the water bowl and not put one in the tank. Dragons usually wont drink from a bowl since its standing water. You can bathe your beardie in water that is the temp you would bath a baby in. They get moisture from the bath through their vents and sometimes drink from their bath. Most of us do not keep a water bowl in the tank at all. Also please turn off the reptiglo coil light. Those can actually harm your beardies eyes and overall health as the uvb is to strong and the wavelenght to short. What you need is a reptisun 10.0 tube light or an arcadia d3 12% tube light. In the meantime till you can get the proper light for him/her, you can take your beardie outside for 20 mins of natural sunlight weather premitting. I also would not use the red heat lights, especially at night, they can see the red light and it will disrupt their sleep, as they need total darkness to sleep well. If you need heat at night in the tank <if the tank falls below 65 degrees> I would recommend a ceramic heat emitter <CHE> to warm his tank. Hope this helps.

 

[iamgenosperson]

The way I have the tank setup though is that the UVB is 13 watt, and I have this large branch thing- the higher side is closer to the heat- shorter is UV. My vet acturally preferred the coil. I live along the jersey shore therefore cannot take him outside- he's also a baby so... Another thing- does the zilla uv slimline work if the the lens is taken off?

 

[ikkie78]

The only two recommended lights are are the ones mentioned above...and they must be the tube lights...the coil and compact bulbs will do harm to you beardie and are bad for their eyes and overall health.

 

[iamgenosperson]

Okay- but explain what overall health is. My friends who used this never had a problem. Besides- times are tough so I can't afford the one hundred something all that's gonna cost. If you can explain what overall health is- ill save the money/ but for now idk

 

[Tonja]

These coil and compact bulbs for UVB can cause eye problems, stress like you are seeing, can make them lose their appetite, cause lethargic behavior in them.

 

[vampy]

Even people who've not seen eye problems with coil bulbs have been amazed at the difference in their dragon when switching to a good UV tube...their colours are brighter, they seem more alert, have better appetites, and are just generally happier.

It shouldn't cost you $100 to sort out, I think people have said they've got the tubes for $30 online, and the fixtures for about $10 at walmart, and you can replace one of your red lamps with a normal household bulb for a couple of $.

As for your original question, the stress marks could just be due to relocation stress, it sometimes takes them a week or two to settle in a new home, or it could be the lack of UV. As well as the coil bulbs not being good, the way you have it located means he has to choose between UV and basking. An ideal set up has the tube running most of the length of the viv so your dragon will get UV no matter where he is in the tank, especially when he is basking, as he'll be spending a lot of his time on the basking spot.