Our beardie Apollo is about 14 months old. We've had him since April 2014. He's been doing great and adjusted easily to coming to our home. He's always been very friendly and pretty predictable with his eating, bowel movements and general behavior. He has had 1 full shed since he came to us. Suddenly the last few days he has had some strange behavior:
- Started spending more time on the cool side of his tank. Typically, he spends 95%+ of his time basking.
- He isn't eating much. That on its own isn't a concern since he does occasionally eat a little less. Usually when he is starting to shed.
- When I gave him a bath tonight he drank a lot of water while he was in there. I have NEVER seen him do that in the time we've had him. We had a water dish in his tank for a while but he never used it so we eventually took it out completely after I read here that it's not necessary.
- He is hissing at us, which is the thing that is most concerning to us. It happened yesterday when I reached in to pet his head and today when my son just walked into the room. Since he came to live with us, he has hissed only twice and only when our dog got a little too close for his comfort. He has always been very happy to be pet, held, etc.
How old is your dragon? Turned 1 year in June 2014
How long have you had your dragon? Since April 2014 - he was 10 months old
How long is your dragon?
What is the sex of your dragon? Male
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 40 gallon breeder
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? Ceramic tiles
Do you use UVB lights? Yes, fluorescent tube. Recently switched to ReptiSun 10.0 UVB
How old is your UVB bulb? Just purchased within the last 2 months
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? Within a foot
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb? Separate. White. ZooMed ReptiBasking Spot Lamp 150 w
What are the basking temps? 104 degrees
What is the cool side temp? 85 degrees
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? temp gun and digital w/probe end
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? Usually on tiles, on branch he basks on and rocks nearby
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? No
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. Rotate between mustard greens, collard greens, yellow squash and endive. Also, feed him Phoenix Worms every other day. As much as he will eat in 15 minutes which is usually about 30-35. We ran out of Phoenix Worms on Friday, so yesterday we picked up some superworms from Petco and fed him a few of those yesterday. He's only had those 1 other time about 6 weeks ago and did fine. It's my understanding they aren't a good staple food, so we only use them when we have a day or two before our Phoenix shipment arrives.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? Feed veggies every morning between 8 and 10am, then again mid afternoon if he eats everything in his bowl.
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? No
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? No
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? Yes. Last one was only 24 hours ago.
Do you bath your dragon? How often? Yes. Every other day.
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? No
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? No
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? No
- Started spending more time on the cool side of his tank. Typically, he spends 95%+ of his time basking.
- He isn't eating much. That on its own isn't a concern since he does occasionally eat a little less. Usually when he is starting to shed.
- When I gave him a bath tonight he drank a lot of water while he was in there. I have NEVER seen him do that in the time we've had him. We had a water dish in his tank for a while but he never used it so we eventually took it out completely after I read here that it's not necessary.
- He is hissing at us, which is the thing that is most concerning to us. It happened yesterday when I reached in to pet his head and today when my son just walked into the room. Since he came to live with us, he has hissed only twice and only when our dog got a little too close for his comfort. He has always been very happy to be pet, held, etc.
How old is your dragon? Turned 1 year in June 2014
How long have you had your dragon? Since April 2014 - he was 10 months old
How long is your dragon?
What is the sex of your dragon? Male
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 40 gallon breeder
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? Ceramic tiles
Do you use UVB lights? Yes, fluorescent tube. Recently switched to ReptiSun 10.0 UVB
How old is your UVB bulb? Just purchased within the last 2 months
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? Within a foot
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? Is it a white or colored bulb? Separate. White. ZooMed ReptiBasking Spot Lamp 150 w
What are the basking temps? 104 degrees
What is the cool side temp? 85 degrees
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? temp gun and digital w/probe end
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? Usually on tiles, on branch he basks on and rocks nearby
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? No
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. Rotate between mustard greens, collard greens, yellow squash and endive. Also, feed him Phoenix Worms every other day. As much as he will eat in 15 minutes which is usually about 30-35. We ran out of Phoenix Worms on Friday, so yesterday we picked up some superworms from Petco and fed him a few of those yesterday. He's only had those 1 other time about 6 weeks ago and did fine. It's my understanding they aren't a good staple food, so we only use them when we have a day or two before our Phoenix shipment arrives.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? Feed veggies every morning between 8 and 10am, then again mid afternoon if he eats everything in his bowl.
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? No
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? No
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? Yes. Last one was only 24 hours ago.
Do you bath your dragon? How often? Yes. Every other day.
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? No
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? No
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? No
