Stress Marks

[Mushusmother]

Hi! I just purchased a baby bearded dragon from petsmart 9 days ago, and I have some concerns. I am a new bearded dragon owner, it (too young to tell it’s gender, it looks 3 months old, petsmart didn’t know it’s age) lives in a 20 gallon tank with a basking lamp and a UVB bulb, it has veggies in his tank for whenever he wants, and water at its disposal. I feed it crickets 3 times a day, and regularly check the temperature in his cage (one side is 90-100 degrees, other side under UVB bulb is 80-90 degrees). I have given it a bath twice from when I first got him, and I take it out of its cage once or twice a day. I understand this can be stressful for a new baby bearded dragon in a new environment but it responds well to being held, never runs away and always sits still when being held and pet. But I am afraid that it has stress marks and I can’t tell if it is stress marks or just the pattern under its chin and on its belly. Whenever I give it a bath, the stress marks seem to disappear and it’s belly turns completely white, but when back in its tank, the “stress marks” reappear. Please help!

 

[Mushusmother]

 

[Wickedpogana]

Hi! I just purchased a baby bearded dragon from petsmart 9 days ago, and I have some concerns. I am a new bearded dragon owner, it (too young to tell it’s gender, it looks 3 months old, petsmart didn’t know it’s age) lives in a 20 gallon tank with a basking lamp and a UVB bulb, it has veggies in his tank for whenever he wants, and water at its disposal. I feed it crickets 3 times a day, and regularly check the temperature in his cage (one side is 90-100 degrees, other side under UVB bulb is 80-90 degrees). I have given it a bath twice from when I first got him, and I take it out of its cage once or twice a day. I understand this can be stressful for a new baby bearded dragon in a new environment but it responds well to being held, never runs away and always sits still when being held and pet. But I am afraid that it has stress marks and I can’t tell if it is stress marks or just the pattern under its chin and on its belly. Whenever I give it a bath, the stress marks seem to disappear and it’s belly turns completely white, but when back in its tank, the “stress marks” reappear. Please help!

He will quickly outgrow the enclosure look into a tank sizes 75 gallon to 125 their isnt any gradient in a tank that small pretty much heats the whole thing offer some hides until your able to upgrade , what uvb light are you using? Make sure his humidity is in the correct range. Sometimes beardies will darken their color to absorb more heat mines beard will turn jet black when stressed not just lines. Beardies usually dont drink from standing water usually a water bowl is useless they get water from bathes I offer mine a waterfall as it flows not always recommend your humidity needs to under control and it needs cleaned often. Make sure you dont feed two hours before his lights go out they need time to digest

 

[Mushusmother]

I have a 13 watt uvb coil bulb, and it’s tank is 20-30% humidity. Is this okay? I’m looking into a waterfall when it upgrades to a 50 gallon tank, right now its size being so small, 20 gallon was the most practical price. Thank you so much for the reply, I appreciate it!!

 

[CooperDragon]

The dark marks are common with young dragons and nothing to worry about on their own. I find the term stress marks to be misleading. They are often just darkening their skin to absorb heat/light while basking.

Your 13w UVB light is inadequate for a dragon, unfortunately. I recommend using a T5 fixture with a 5.0 bulb for now. Then when you get a larger enclosure, you can upgrade the bulb to a 10.0. This fixture usually ships with a 5.0 bulb so might be the best option https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-26053-Reptisun-Terrarium/dp/B00AQU8F2O

I also recommend getting a couple of digital thermometers with probes so you can get an accurate reading of the basking surface and cool side surface temps. The surface temps are important to monitor so you can adjust your heat lamps accordingly.

 

[Mushusmother]

Thank you so much!

 

[Wickedpogana]

I have a 13 watt uvb coil bulb, and it’s tank is 20-30% humidity. Is this okay? I’m looking into a waterfall when it upgrades to a 50 gallon tank, right now its size being so small, 20 gallon was the most practical price. Thank you so much for the reply, I appreciate it!!

50 gallon tank isnt wideenough it's very skinny try to do a 75 gallon you can find them for 100 bucks on letgo or facebook market place . The humidity is good and like what was suggested above make sure you get rid of the coil bulb as it gives you 0 uvb you want him to be able to get uvb while he bask and the tube lights are the uvb amount you need

 

[Claudiusx]

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