Unusual Behavior Suddneky

[redborzoi]

Hello, i am a fairly new beardie owner and i have a ~6 month old beardie who has been completely healthy up until this strange behavior he has been exhibiting the last day of two.

his basking spot is a stack of rocks and there is a small spot underneath that he is just small enough to wedge into. he usually doesn’t go in this spot unless to sleep, but today and most of yesterday he has been in it all day. the only way i can coax him out for small periods of time is by showing him the cricket keeper which he associates with getting fed. after about 20 minutes though he will go back into the spot and stay there. i’m growing worried because this is very unusual behavior for him- and i don’t think he’s getting any light while he’s in there.

when i coaxed him out, he still ate dubia roaches with vigor. he chased after them and ate them excitedly like usual
his temps are 105 for his basking and around 80 for his cool side
i attempted to give him water but he would only lick up a droplet or two and didn’t seem interested
can anyone please help me identify this strange behavior and if it’s something to be worried about? i may be panicking for no reason as i’m just a new beardie owner

 

[KarrieRee]

Hello, i am a fairly new beardie owner and i have a ~6 month old beardie who has been completely healthy up until this strange behavior he has been exhibiting the last day of two.

his basking spot is a stack of rocks and there is a small spot underneath that he is just small enough to wedge into. he usually doesn’t go in this spot unless to sleep, but today and most of yesterday he has been in it all day. the only way i can coax him out for small periods of time is by showing him the cricket keeper which he associates with getting fed. after about 20 minutes though he will go back into the spot and stay there. i’m growing worried because this is very unusual behavior for him- and i don’t think he’s getting any light while he’s in there.

when i coaxed him out, he still ate dubia roaches with vigor. he chased after them and ate them excitedly like usual
his temps are 105 for his basking and around 80 for his cool side
i attempted to give him water but he would only lick up a droplet or two and didn’t seem interested
can anyone please help me identify this strange behavior and if it’s something to be worried about? i may be panicking for no reason as i’m just a new beardie owner

Ok so to determine if hes hiding because of the bulbs your using lets start there --- what are you using for a UVB ? a coil or a long tube fixture and tell me what brand and bulb if its a long tube fixture and where in the tank is it ? basking temps how are you taking them stick on or a digital probe thermometer ? you want basking surface temps - the probe needs to sit on the spot where he sits for basking-- the basking spot of 105 might be too warm for him now that hes 6 months most dont like it that hot getting older try 95-100 -- your basking bulb needs to be a CLEAR bright white bulb NO off white or yellowish bulbs NO Daytime bulbs they have a coating on them called neoyidium that is not good for the eyes - you want something like this example Exo Terra Intense basking bulb or a Zoo Med Repti basking bulb - those are examples -- they are Clear and bright white - are you rinsing his greens before serving for hydration if hes eating those greens thats going to keep him hydrated along w/ keeping your insects good and gut loaded --

 

[redborzoi]

Ok so to determine if hes hiding because of the bulbs your using lets start there --- what are you using for a UVB ? a coil or a long tube fixture and tell me what brand and bulb if its a long tube fixture and where in the tank is it ? basking temps how are you taking them stick on or a digital probe thermometer ? you want basking surface temps - the probe needs to sit on the spot where he sits for basking-- the basking spot of 105 might be too warm for him now that hes 6 months most dont like it that hot getting older try 95-100 -- your basking bulb needs to be a CLEAR bright white bulb NO off white or yellowish bulbs NO Daytime bulbs they have a coating on them called neoyidium that is not good for the eyes - you want something like this example Exo Terra Intense basking bulb or a Zoo Med Repti basking bulb - those are examples -- they are Clear and bright white - are you rinsing his greens before serving for hydration if hes eating those greens thats going to keep him hydrated along w/ keeping your insects good and gut loaded --

apologies for late response, all his lights are correct and i remember it was you who helped me to set his tank up so thank you sm for that! i wouldn’t think it’s a light issue as nothing has been changed in his setup- could the behavior be as a result of the outside temp? im in new england so it’s dead of winter right now- im using probe and a temp gun to get the temps, his greens are being rinsed before put in his tank. he used to eat dubia but now is just on greens and crickets when i can get them because of a bug shortage from my dubia supplier. if u have any other sites u could recommend for ordering bulk numbers of roaches like 500+ that would be great. he seems to be hiding a little less then when it posted this but im not sure what makes him want to crunch himself under the rock to get a hiding place. tysm for the response

 

[KarrieRee]

apologies for late response, all his lights are correct and i remember it was you who helped me to set his tank up so thank you sm for that! i wouldn’t think it’s a light issue as nothing has been changed in his setup- could the behavior be as a result of the outside temp? im in new england so it’s dead of winter right now- im using probe and a temp gun to get the temps, his greens are being rinsed before put in his tank. he used to eat dubia but now is just on greens and crickets when i can get them because of a bug shortage from my dubia supplier. if u have any other sites u could recommend for ordering bulk numbers of roaches like 500+ that would be great. he seems to be hiding a little less then when it posted this but im not sure what makes him want to crunch himself under the rock to get a hiding place. tysm for the response

So all your lighting is good so it could be the weather - is he basking at all ? they dont always want to bask what about his appetite ?

 

[redborzoi]

So all your lighting is good so it could be the weather - is he basking at all ? they dont always want to bask what about his appetite ?

he does bask but considerably less then he used to since he now hides underneath the rock rather than basking- his appetite is good, still goes after bugs when he sees them, the only unusual thing is the hiding.i just now lowered the basking spot to see if it’s the high temperatures that is making him hide- maybe he wants the heat but dislikes the high temps? i will let u know if that works