Stressed After Move? Black Beard - Scared

[dragondreamer]

Me and Fidgit barely moved in to my new apartment this past Saturday.

Sunday morning she got up and fidgeted (thus her name) and seemed normal, and passed a stool. Monday morning she seemed fine as well, as she was tearing up her hammock as usual.

This morning I got up and her beard was just black (and I've only seen her turn her beard black on one other occasion, which was Saturday when I scared her after prepping her for the move). I am unsure on why she is so stressed out after two days of being fine after the move.

I worried that maybe it is the heat of my new apartment, I do not have a fan in the bedroom she is staying in. Her thermometor registers the room as 87 degrees in the morning (I live in southwest Texas) in the ROOM itself (this is not counting the cage). Next to the heat bulb the thermometer registered 93 degrees, and this is with the rheostat set to really low so the bulb was off most of the morning.
I turned off her heat bulb because I figured it just is not needed at this point. No heat pads either. I also sprayed her with her water bottle and covered her "cool" end of the cage with a towel and went to take a shower. When I came back from the shower, she had moved a little and her beard was not so black, but she still had her stress lines.

Another thing that might have caused it is that I a borrowed a friends fan just last night, and at 3 in the morning it started making a really loud high pitched wail and I don't know if it may have freaked her out or scared her. Any suggestions?

Should I increase the frequencies of her baths since the weather is so hot? How many baths a week should she get?

General Questions:
How old is your dragon? 2 and a half years
How long have you had your dragon? 2 and a half years
How long is your dragon? Unknown
What is the sex of your dragon? Believed to be female
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? Large terrarium. 36 inches long, unsure of width but she is able to turn around and walk without bumping the edges
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? Non-stick vinyl shelf liner.
Do you use UVB lights? Yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? Fluorescent
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)? ReptiSun 10.0
How old is your UVB bulb? 6 months. Due for a change my next paycheck
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? About 10 inches give or take.
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Usually (it's off now). 500 Watts Exo-Terra Heat Bulb
What are the basking temps? 93-95 on the hot end in the morning. May be getting hotter however.
What is the cool side temp? 87
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? Digital Thermometer
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? Outside of the cage at the moment because I don't want to stress her.
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? No, not during summer (never used heat rocks)
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. Crickets primarily. I have offered kale, romaine lettuce, bell peppers, etc, she has not been eating her veggies.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? I feed morning, twice a week, about 25 crickets.
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? Yes
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? Repti-Cal and Herptivite - ever other week
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? No, she barely used the bathroom yesterday but it's been 3 and a half to 4 weeks since she's gone before this one.
Do you bath your dragon? How often? Not as often as I should lately, with the move
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? Mist -yes, again, not as often as I should have been during this week.
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? No
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? Last August she had pin worms. She is due for her yearly checkup when I get the cash to get this done.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

They can have a delayed reaction to moving stress. Your setup is pretty good & that is great you are changing out the Reptisun 10 tube bulb soon as well.
I do have a question. So normally you use a 500 watt heat bulb? Is that a colored bulb or a bright white light? That is an extremely high wattage. What do the basking temperatures usually get with that high of wattage of bulb? Where exactly do you take the basking temperatures at, directly underneath the basking light? At that wattage, the basking temps should be way up in to the 130's.
The warm side sounds like it is way too high being in the mid 90's the ambient temperatures are most likely upwards near 100.
She still needs a bright white light along with her Reptisun 10 tube bulb as using a UVB light without a bright white light will hurt the eyes.
However, one major change that should be made is the supplementation. She does need some calcium as an adult, at least 2-3 times per week, with vitamins once a week or so. The calcium will help to maintain her bone strength as well as her overall health.

We need to get those temperatures under control.

Tracie

 

[dragondreamer]

I'm sorry, I don't know why I said 500 watt XD

This is the bulb she is using
http://www.reptilesupply.com/product.php?products_id=1011

I normally take the temperature by dropping the probe at the bottom near her slate rocks so I know what temperature she is sitting on. In this case, I took the temp at the top of the cage beneath the bulb (the light has a special stand so it sits about 2 and a half inches above the cage, but I can lift it more). I did not want to open the cage as this seems to really irritate her.

The ambient temperature in the apartment is about 88-90 by itself in my room. Even though I have the rheostat set to low, and the 150 watt bulb technically turns itself off, I'm still worried. The bulb was average about 93 degrees when I turned it back on yesterday, but the cold side of the cage can't get lower than 87 without the air conditioner, which I can't leave on all day I'm afraid.

Okay so she needs her calcium more, and I plan on getting her Acidophilus + probiotic from ESU/Zilla when I buy her new bulb. How many crickets per week should she be eating? I offer her veggies usually every day but she has not been eating them for about a month now, unsure as to why.

Also, her cage needs to be cleaned (she left a present) but I'm unsure whether right now is a good time to take her out for a bath. Her bottom side needs to be cleaned. Should I wait a little while longer before cleaning time? How long should I wait?


Thank you much for your help.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Ok, great. I was pretty worried when you wrote a 500 watt basking lamp.
I understand that the rheastat turns off when it hits a certain temperature, but my concern is that her tank is not bright enough now with it shutting on & off.
I think for now, you will need to take the Sun Glo out & just use a lower wattage basking bulb. Try a 50-60 watt halogen that should be very bright, but is much less wattage. Then during the wintertime you can use the Sun Glo because it will be a little bit cooler & easier to maintain the temperature.
The ambient temperatures are way too high, so you will need to find some way to get that down quickly or she is going to overheat in no time.
Can you get that fan fixed? Try to do that, it would really help out alot for her.
Well, since she is an adult, she can have roughly 50 feeders of mixed variety weekly along with greens & veggies. That should maintain her weight nicely. Have you changed her greens a little, maybe she is a little bit bored? Try putting a few pieces of fruit in there for some color, that might help. Also, phoenix or butterworms go in greens & veggies well, she might pick through her salad a little bit also with something else in there.
Well, you may as well try to get her out for a bath, it might help to hydrate her a little bit. You are going to have to take her out sooner or later. Just be gentle & spend some extra time with her.

Let me know how the temperatures are coming along.

Tracie

 

[dragondreamer]

Tracie,

Thank you for all your help. Here is how I'm going to try to tackle this temperature issue.

* I will have to wait till next paycheck to get her a bulb I'm afraid (unless I manage to find 7 bucks in my piggy bank anyway).

* I have the little fan fixed with some wd-40, and have it in the doorway of her room blowing the air from the air conditioner in the next room on. My boyfriend says I just have to suck up the electric bill and use the air conditioner all day or she is never going to get any better, and I trust him on the temperature thing.

* I will cover up my bedroom window with tin foil to reflect the desert sun back out. It may be just enough to keep her room cold enough. If not... then I will be forced to move her into the air conditioner's room/living room and will just have to live with my dresser being out there for all to see since I can't afford a tank stand right now

* Today, I will butter her up with some crickets and meal worms that she will hopefully (Hopefully!) eat, and then when she seems to be satisfied or calmed down I will give her a bath, and clean her cage up because that cannot be healthy for her sit with her excremate.

* I will put back all her little plants for her to hide behind, I'm sure this will comfort her.

* I think I'll have to wear gloves, I've never seen her so upset with me before, she has been puffing at me non-stop. Very displeased to see me.

Question: Should I keep the towel around her cage, or do you think this won't do her any favors?

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

That sounds like a plan!
Those are great ideas & should help with the temperature control for awhile. I think once her temperatures are better she wont be so moody for you.
I hope that she will eat the butterworms & mealies for you.
Yes putting the plants back in for her should be able to bring some comfort for her since she is familiar with them. Good luck bathing her & I hope that she doesn't scratch or bite you!
Maybe you can just put her in the air conditioned room if the temperatures are still too high. Let me know how things are going.

Tracie