Stress Marks

[Runsnoopy]

How can I tell if a BD is stressed and what does stress marks look like?

 

[Beardednoob]

Stress marks

Stressed dragons tend to have a loss of appetite, showing stress marks other possibilities as it is different per each individual, decreased energy and or lethargy. Some may even have too much energy. It really depends on the dragon to give a 100% accurate answer. Any particular reason?

 

[Runsnoopy]

It's almost 2 months since I got the BD from Petco and trying to get everything right to make sure he is happy and healthy. Had some issues at the beginning but got it fixed by changing substrate, lighting, etc. Now I'm concern with his BM. At the beginning he had BM once a week, black and white- chalky and on the harder side then he stpped BM for about 2weeks, got that taken care of and now this week, he BM twice yesterday and today and it's on the softer, watery side and it's brown. He also seems to be eating a lot more veggie than several weeks ago and he's been walking back and forth the tank, having his mouth open sometimes in the last two days. He does not seem to be stressed because he's eating and sleeping well so just wanted to understand the signs of stress in case I'm not looking for it correctly.

 

[Beardednoob]

What else has been fed lately? Are you dusting his food per a schedule?

If not or if you have any concerns about a schedule to dust by, there is this one that I use personally.

up to 1.5 years - calcium 5x per week / vitamins 2x per week (one(1) dusted feeding per day)
1.5 years + - calcium 3x per week / vitamins 1-2x per week (one(1) dusted feeding a day 4-5 days, 2-3 days nothing dusted)
Gravid female - calcium 5x per week / vitamins 2x per week (one(1) dusted feeding per day)
sick dragon - Unable to dose, due to variables of illnesses
up to 1.5 years butterworm/BSF larvae diet - calcium 2-3x per week / vitamins 2x per week
1.5 years + butterworm/BSF larvae diet - calcium 1-2x per week / vitamins 1-2x per week

What is the basking temperature? How close can your dragon get to his UV light?

you mention that the urate is hard (?), this can be from too much calcium in the diet which can also affect the dragons ability to poop on a proper schedule. Too much calcium can harden the urates making it more difficult to pass. Is there an orange-ish tinge to the urate?

 

[Runsnoopy]

I've been dusting the crickets with calcium 2x each week. I feed him crickets and veggies- squash and rmaine lettuce, he eats all the veggie. Someone gave me some mealworms to feed him as well and give him that 1x a week along with the crickets and veggie but I don't dust the. I'm not sure if the BD s male or female. Yes, the irate and BM is a slight orange color. What does that mean? I have a 40g tank and the Reptisun 10 is hung insidevthe tank in the middle against the top of the tank. The UVA light is on the right and his basking log is slanted against the side of the ank and the top of the log where he bask is about 5-6" from the top of the tank. I'm having temp issues too. I have a 100 watt basking bulb and it's only reading 93 at the highest point. Middle of the tank is 85 and cool side is 75. I have a heat emitter on the left side and it's 150 watts. All lights are on for 12 hours and everything is shut down at night.

 

[Beardednoob]

I honestly wouldn't feed mealworms. They pose a risk of impaction especially if the temperatures are inadequate. They also have very little nutritional value and what is there is partially block during digestion from their chitin shell.

From what I have read in the past on here, the orange-ish tinge would be from over supplementing calcium.
How often do you bathe him?

EDIT: to fix wording

 

[Claudiusx]

Michael meant, WOULDN'T feed mealworms. Just to clear that up lol.

-Brandon

 

[Beardednoob]

Michael meant, WOULDN'T feed mealworms. Just to clear that up lol.

-Brandon

Thank you Brandon I will edit my post to reflect the right wording. :wink:

 

[Runsnoopy]

BM seems to be more normal today. I bath once a week and for the first time today, he had a BM when he was in the water. He's been pooping twice a day- is that normal?

 

[Beardednoob]

BM seems to be more normal today. I bath once a week and for the first time today, he had a BM when he was in the water. He's been pooping twice a day- is that normal?

It is normal for some dragons to poop 2 times a day. As he gets older this may change to be less frequent.

 

[Runsnoopy]

I was concern because when we first got him, he was only going once a week than nothing for 21/2 weeks and now 2x a day.

 

[Beardednoob]

I was concern because when we first got him, he was only going once a week than nothing for 21/2 weeks and now 2x a day.

I have a young dragon @ ~4 months old, he sometimes goes once a day other times he goes twice a day. This can be dependent on how much he eats, what he eats, and how much he is basking with the proper heat and UV. Also consider if you bathed or not. If the fecal looks proper and smell the normal smelly smell (LOL) then I really wouldn't worry too much. The times I would worry is when he isn't going. :wink:

In other words it is better he is going 2x a day then 1x a week or even longer in between.

What is his diet consisting of?

 

[Runsnoopy]

Large crickets, 8 each day because he's only eats 6-8 within a 10-15 minute period and won't eat anymore crickets that's in the tank. He also gets veggie,he's been eating squash and I leave a annul in a bowl in the AM and when I get home around 5:30-6:00 pm. He loves the squash. I just ordered Phenix Worm on line, so I'll be substituting the crickets with the worms.

 

[Beardednoob]

Crickets should be fed no larger then the space between the dragons eyes. Feeding larger then that with crickets can impact a dragon.
What do you mean by "annul" :?:

 

[Runsnoopy]

Typo- a handful. The Petstore by us only have extremely small or large crickets. The crickets are smaller than space between his eyes if the cricket is straight up but some are larger than space between his eyes if the cricket is measured sideways. How should it be measured?