Stress Marks WHAT'S WRONG??

[lauraj1055]

So, I've had my new beardie a little over 2 weeks now. When he is in his tank, he is so dark when he is basking and has really dark stess marks on his belly, and this is all day.. However, when I take him out, he lightens up totally and his stress marks disappear. They disappear when he is sleeping too. But as soon as he wakes up and starts basking, his head and body get really dark, and the stress marks appear. I don't know if it's the light that is stressing him out?

Tank set up
40 gallon
Repti sun 10.0 for uva/uvb
45 Watt Halogen Flood light
Cool end 100 watt Reveal bulb


Basking temps 98 - 105 depending on what part of the log he' s on
cool end 80 degrees (taken with temp gun and probe constantly on cool side of tank)

Is their a better bulb I can use for heat besides the 45 watt flood light?? And what does it mean on the bulbs 'now with halogen?' I was going to go and get a 65 Watt Reveal Flood light with halogen at lunch. He doesn't like the basking lamp from zoo med, he hides on the cool side of the tank when I tried this.

 

[deh05001]

babies/new beardies get stress marks for all sorts of reasons and some take months and months to finally go away so this is not a big concern. Also when your dragon goes to bask it gets dark to try to soak in the most amount of heat possible, again not something to be totally worried about. It's actually kind of a good thing that the marks disappear when you take him/her out, it could mean that your dragon feels comfortable with you.

Telling a little bit more about your setup (maybe a picture or two) as well as the age of your dragon might help other board members determine how to help you, but you shouldn't be too worried about the actual marks themselves... this is normal

 

[lauraj1055]

Ok, I just feel bad that he is 'stressed out' in his home.. as soon as he comes out they disappear and he runs around, and has a blast. He is eating and poo'ing regularly. I will attach pictures when I get home..

 

[deh05001]

if your baby is young it will be naturally stressed a little bit (it's new to the world, getting used to you, getting used to it's new home, it feels vulnerable, still learning new things) so you can't take it to heart. Stress marks can come from a million different things. "Stress marks" is just a phrase... it doesn't really mean your dragon has STRESS in the human sense every single time it has those marks. It could be curious about something, confused, etc or just basking and trying to take in heat.

Don't stress more than your dragon is lol

 

[quigleysmom]

Mine have done the same thing. I think it is cool that when out of the tank they both lighten up. Makes me think they like being out with us and feel safe when we pick them up. They will eventually stop. My oldest one started doing it again when we brought the new baby beardie home. I think he just wants extra attention now that he has competition. hehe

 

[Gail]

Probably nothing is wrong. Stress marks is a terrible name for those markings since they are caused by so many different things. If he is relaxed, eating and acting normal, than it most likely not stress.

 

[lauraj1055]

Thanks everyone, I feel better.. I kept thinking that he was stressed out about something, in the human sort of stress.. and all I kept thinking is poor little guy, he must feel so awful. I'll still post pics later though )

 

[spikeswithskills]

sorry to interfere in this post, but mine does the same thing and i have had him for almost 2 years! I thought it was normal until i got my second beardie from someone, who is ten times more active and does not have any stress marks. My beardie just lays by the hot side of the tank and doesnt move, even when there are crickets. what could be wrong?
lighting-100w sunglo, 10.0 reptisun
heat - 90-100 hot side, 80 cool side
size- 18inches, snout to tail
--40 gallon tank

 

[lauraj1055]

My other beardie also has no stress marks, or darkens up at all under his MVB... This is all new to me, I didn't know why he was getting so dark all the time.. however, he is really active OUT of the cage, and he eats really well.