Weird behavior- please help!

[katk]

Hi everyone, I have only had Tofi 2.5 months and am still trying to get the hang of this. His behavior has been pretty erratic and I just want my Beardie to be happy! (Or as content as a lizard can be, anyway.) He is a juvenile and was in a 20 gal tank, which we knew was too small- he was glass surfing a lot. We upgraded him to a ~50 gal. tank one week ago. We kept the interior the same and he seemed to transition pretty well at first. Now, he is glass surfing a lot again, generally between 10 am-noon. I have also noticed that he isn't eating as much and hasn't pooped very much (he had no issues in this dept. in his small tank!). He has a heat lamp with a basking spot ~95-100 and a cooler area ~75-80 F. He has UVB (10.0 Reptisun), and eats greens and dubia (mostly dubia as he doesn't like to eat his greens much).

Today he glass surfed like crazy, then he burrowed down in his cool spot like he was going to sleep! It is a little rainy and cooler so I opened up the curtains so that he wouldn't think it was nighttime. He sat in his cool spot like he didn't know what to do for about 2 hours then finally climbed up to bask.

He is still completely terrified of us and freaks out when we try to hold him. He doesn't ever act aggressive and will eat dubia or meal worms from our hands, but when I pick him up to hold him he tries to escape like his life depends on it- this guy is fast! I end up having to put him back so I don't risk losing him.

I'd appreciate any advice. I've attached pictures from today of his tank and him burrowing in his cool spot. (Bad lighting due to rainy weather..)

Thank you!

 

[KarrieRee]

Please get rid of the red bulb -- this could be the reason for the glass surfing--- dragons have very sensitive eyes and colored bulbs can cause long term eye damage - please replace w/ a bright white basking bulb that keeps temps 95-110 taken w/ a digital probe thermometer--- and I would get rid of the loose substrate as well --- most on here use a solid substrate like ceramic slated tile or a textured NON adhesive shelf line -- so much easier to clean -- vinegar/ water 50/50 solution -- the UVB is a T 5 or a T 8 --- this is extremely important for placement as the bulbs have certain distances and placement
Karrie

 

[katk]

Thanks, Karrie. We had put in the red bulb because it was the only one that got hot enough in this new tank and we thought they were just bad for bedtime. We've just changed it out- hopefully he'll be warm enough until the new bulb arrives. We do need a new UVB since this old one is too small- if our tank is 36" what length UVB should we get?

 

[KarrieRee]

I would get a 24" fixture --- you dont want the whole length of the tank -- they need to be able to get out of the UVB rays w/ out having to hide from them -- make sure you have the digital probe on hand when you change the bulb out --- you will need to get a basking temp --its trial and error w/ those bulbs and you dont want to burn him up
Karrie

 

[katk]

Roger that- thank you!