Stressed baby

[Sweetlittlehugs]

Hello,
I bought a baby beardie from Petsmart last weekend (because that none of the reptile stores in my city have them). I have him in a 50 gallon tank with reptile carpeting, a reptisun 10.0 UV light, day and night heat bulbs. He has a rock to climb closer to the heat/light to bask. The temp is 105.
On the cool side he has a rock cave, water dish and salad dish. there is another rock in the middle, just in case he wants to climb. He eats 15-20 tiny crickets/XS dubias a day. He goes to sleep within 10 minutes of his light going off every night. I don't know if he drinks from the water bowl but I give him water every night from a dropper.
My problem is Eliott has stress lines on his tummy and beard. They go away when I put him in his feeding container or when i give him a bath. Im not sure what is stressing him out. Does anyone have any ideas what I could be doing wrong?

thank you!

 

[CooperDragon]

If he has an appetite and energy to run around/explore that is a very good sign. Young dragons often have the stress lines on their bellies and it's pretty normal. If you see him stop eating for extended periods, or act lethargic with a solid black beard, that would be a sign of trouble. What kind of night heat bulb are you using? If you can give me specifics of your lighting and setup or post some photos I'll be glad to have a look through and see if anything stands out as a possible problem.

 

[Sweetlittlehugs]

I took pictures to post but I can not figure out how to post them. My night bulb is a 75 watt black bulb. It doesn't give off any light that I can see. My day bulb is a 100 watt zillia day bulb. I have them in a double dome fixture pointed at his rock. My uvb lighting is a long florescent tube across the back of the tank. It's A reptisun 10.0. His rock is about 10 inches away from the tube. The lights are on a timer that switches at 9 pm and 8 am.

 

[CooperDragon]

That all sounds pretty good to me. I wouldn't worry too much about the stress lines if his appetite and energy keep up. If you want to post photos going forward, you can use the upload manager https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and then post the image using the XIMG button.

 

[npgeorgeuw]

I wouldn't worry too much but if the stress marks persist in a week or two and you have no explanation for them due to the environment etc. then it could be things like worms or coccidia causing issues.--they may eat and poo fine but these things can still be causing problems. Ours both had on/off stress marks since day one and it wasn't until we cleared them of the parasites that they finally went away.--not saying that's the case but good to keep a vigilant eye.

 

[Sweetlittlehugs]

Ok here is a picture of his enclosure. Its open at the top.

Here is a close up, you can see he is stressed.

And here is a picture of him, because I think hes pretty.

 

[npgeorgeuw]

He's absolutely handsome!--Since his stress spots have continued and in the absence of other problems with UV or temperature I might try to get a fecal done. If that is not possible under your budget there are other ways to send fecal samples out for analysis and treat yourself (I'd only recommend treating yourself if you have had some experience in animal medicine and/or have no other affordable options.)--PM me and we can discuss further if you'd like.

 

[NattyB]

Try not to worry. They can get stress lines from anything including being too hot, too cold, grumpy......just cause they can!!