Worried about our dragon not eating

[xp29]

Hey there...it doesn't seem like Hookfang was taking too well to his new tank/setup. So we moved things around and put his old familiar basking spot in. I know it's winter time and they become a bit lazy, and also a change in the tank and setup could cause him to be acting a bit "down". He also just had a big whole-body shed. And looks like his hind legs are about to shed again. He has explored but very little. He is mostly behind his basking spot or just pancaking in the middle of the tank or in the cooler part of the tank.
We got a new UVB light since we had the other one for over 6 months and upgraded the basking bulb to 150 watts. The lights are about 13 inches from the top of his basking spot and sit on top of the screen. This screen is much thicker than the one on his old tank. The digital temperature reading is basking 103 and the humidity 35. If we use the temp gun these are the readings we are getting, 76 in the shade, 79 in the light on the far right, 89 where he is sitting now, 93 about 4" above the basking rock, and 115 on the basking surface.
Since we've moved him, he's only pooped once every other day when he was usually pooping twice a day. His breathing seems to be a little faster than normal and his chin seems darker too. Not quite total black bearding but it's darker.
His diet is around 6-8 med/large crickets twice daily and around 20-22 larvae in his salad also twice daily. The salad is arugula and butternut squash. We dust with calcium daily and multivitamin 3x a week during the morning feeding. He eats mostly on his own, but we do end up hand-feeding him any remaining larvae before we take the bowl out for the evening. He also drinks water out of the pipet during feedings, but that seems to have slowed down too.
He is still very skittish about being held. This makes us sad, but we are being patient with him. He does recognize us and lets us pet him, but very little.
Do we monitor and give him more time to adjust?
Should we find a way to attach the UVB light inside the tank instead of mounting it on top?
Should we have a higher wattage for the basking light?
Should we add a ceramic heat emitter?
What else can we do to make him comfortable and happy?

Wow he has grown so much. In my experience my males have always hated changing their habitats way more than my females. Zen used to pout for a couple weeks when I moved anything. Your boy will adjust with a little time.
As for a higher wattage bulb it just depends on your basking temp. If it's low you can raise the wattage. Otherwise it should be ok.
The tank looks like it's probably 18 inches tall, if so I'd leave the uvb above the screen. Without a solarmeter to measure with, the best we can do is guess on the uvb. I run Arcadia lights and at 7 or 8 inches the uv index reads up near 20, thats way to much. 4.5 to 5 is more what we need to aim for. So if you put it under the screen the light is an inch or so thick, your basking platform is 3 or 4 inches so if your tank is 18, you'll already be as close as 13 inches. With good bulbs you could already be getting into over exposure.
The meters are pricey but they can help you dial in the uvb.

 

[Hookfang]

Wow he has grown so much. In my experience my males have always hated changing their habitats way more than my females. Zen used to pout for a couple weeks when I moved anything. Your boy will adjust with a little time.
As for a higher wattage bulb it just depends on your basking temp. If it's low you can raise the wattage. Otherwise it should be ok.
The tank looks like it's probably 18 inches tall, if so I'd leave the uvb above the screen. Without a solarmeter to measure with, the best we can do is guess on the uvb. I run Arcadia lights and at 7 or 8 inches the uv index reads up near 20, thats way to much. 4.5 to 5 is more what we need to aim for. So if you put it under the screen the light is an inch or so thick, your basking platform is 3 or 4 inches so if your tank is 18, you'll already be as close as 13 inches. With good bulbs you could already be getting into over exposure.
The meters are pricey but they can help you dial in the uvb.

Thank you for the suggestions! I think we'll just be patient and give him time to adjust. As you can tell, we get a bit nervous after all we went through with him

 

[AHBD]

I agree that going to a new enclosure can cause a little stress, some more than others both male + female. He is beautiful and getting big ! It would be really best to slow down quite a bit on the feedings, just like children can get chunky our beardies can as well and it's very difficult for beardies to lose it . You will save him from many health heartaches like gout, liver + kidney issues and excess fat in body cavities that can impair his breathing and movemenet. Switch to half of what you're feeding him, believe me he will not starve and he will grow to be leaner and healthier.

As for handling, once he's settled in for a few more days just pick him right up and sit on the floor with him on your lap. If it's a very safe room it's O.K to let him roam but he'll probably poo somewhere or hide. Always be SURE there are no rubber bands , coins or anything on the floor that he can fit in his mouth. You can also just pick him up and hold him to your chest gently but firmly. Too many people just let the dragon dictate until they get really fussy but of you try these things he will eventually be east to handle , even if not a " lap dragon."

 

[Hookfang]

I agree that going to a new enclosure can cause a little stress, some more than others both male + female. He is beautiful and getting big ! It would be really best to slow down quite a bit on the feedings, just like children can get chunky our beardies can as well and it's very difficult for beardies to lose it . You will save him from many health heartaches like gout, liver + kidney issues and excess fat in body cavities that can impair his breathing and movemenet. Switch to half of what you're feeding him, believe me he will not starve and he will grow to be leaner and healthier.

As for handling, once he's settled in for a few more days just pick him right up and sit on the floor with him on your lap. If it's a very safe room it's O.K to let him roam but he'll probably poo somewhere or hide. Always be SURE there are no rubber bands , coins or anything on the floor that he can fit in his mouth. You can also just pick him up and hold him to your chest gently but firmly. Too many people just let the dragon dictate until they get really fussy but of you try these things he will eventually be east to handle , even if not a " lap dragon."

Thank you! We have been talking about cutting back on feedings. Especially to encourage him to eat his salad.
We will work on handling him better. We do unfortunately put him right back down if he starts squirming.

 

[AHBD]

Sounds good ! And yes he will eventually let you hold him, just do it and he'll get used to it. It's up to you if you want him on your bed, etc. but nowhere too high up where he might jump and sprain a leg.

 

[xp29]

I agree with @AHBD. If you put them down or back in their habitat when they are fussy they learn being fussy works. Myself (especially with young dragons) I let them run hand over hand until they get tired/give up. Eventually they learn that that behavior doesn't work and stop. It's easier if you teach them this when they are younger. I've gotten dragons that were near grown and it's much harder to do hand over hand with a bigger beardie.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

It sounds like you are on the right track with him.
He will calm down over time as he gets older. It
takes time to work with them to get them used to
a certain schedule, etc.
Once you cut down on his feedings, he will be
more excited to eat his greens, veggies & will
have a better appetite.

Keep us posted on him!

Tracie

 

[Hookfang]

Hi all! Quick update on Hookfang...he wasn't eating much or pooping and was losing weight and just really wasn't acting like himself so we took him to the vet. Poop culture came back good but vet put him on antibiotics and suggested we soak him daily and take him outside for natural sun light daily. He loves being outside in the sun... sometimes he's in his tent for one to two hours. We also rearranged and adjusted his lights. All of this to say he's getting back to normal. We do still hand feed him at times. He's eating crickets, about 8 a day, around 30 BSFL and for salad he has arugula, dandelion greens, sweet potatoes, and strawberries. Here's a picture of his mouth... there's something black or possibly just dirty teeth, is this something we should be concerned about?

 

[Sue E.]

Here is how I did mine, if that helps. I used 24" heat resistant zip ties to secure the uvb tube under the screen, angled the uvb right next to the basking bulb (which is over the screen). I replaced the dual dome lamp with a single deep dome light 150 watt. Your basking spot should be around 12 to 16 inches below the uvb.

 

[Sue E.]

I agree on the solarmeter 6.5R! Kai actually gets on the high end for UVB (6.5), which I wouldnt have thought, but Im leaving it for now since hes getting a new tank very soon. The solarmeter takes all the guesswork out of it.

 

[xp29]

Hi all! Quick update on Hookfang...he wasn't eating much or pooping and was losing weight and just really wasn't acting like himself so we took him to the vet. Poop culture came back good but vet put him on antibiotics and suggested we soak him daily and take him outside for natural sun light daily. He loves being outside in the sun... sometimes he's in his tent for one to two hours. We also rearranged and adjusted his lights. All of this to say he's getting back to normal. We do still hand feed him at times. He's eating crickets, about 8 a day, around 30 BSFL and for salad he has arugula, dandelion greens, sweet potatoes, and strawberries. Here's a picture of his mouth... there's something black or possibly just dirty teeth, is this something we should be concerned about?

I see the black, try giving him some crunchy bugs to see if it will remove it. Go easy on the fruits, lots of sugar.
Personally I don't recommend giving antibiotics for 'just in case' They can wreck thier appetite. @Drache maybe Tracie can give your the best advice for that
Seeing everyones beardies grow up is kindda like finding out your friends kids are getting married lol. You scratch your head and wonder when that happened

 

[Hookfang]

I see the black, try giving him some crunchy bugs to see if it will remove it. Go easy on the fruits, lots of sugar.
Personally I don't recommend giving antibiotics for 'just in case' They can wreck thier appetite. @Drache maybe Tracie can give your the best advice for that
Seeing everyones beardies grow up is kindda like finding out your friends kids are getting married lol. You scratch your head and wonder when that happened

Agreed on the antibiotic...he already wasn't eating much so that didn't help. But appetite seems to be coming back.
How often is fruit okay? What kind of crunchy bugs should we try?

 

[Sue E.]

Agreed on the antibiotic...he already wasn't eating much so that didn't help. But appetite seems to be coming back.
How often is fruit okay? What kind of crunchy bugs should we try?

I dont feed fruit at all. If you are looking for a way to sweeten the greens, you could try bee pollen powder (available online...the powder, not the chunky bits). I have some on order to try but who knows if he will like it. Some do, some dont. Dubias are crunchy. (So are crickets, but I hate them and Kai wont touch them anymore so we dont buy them).

 

[Sue E.]

If you do feed crickets, take them out of the tank when your dragon is done eating them...they will bite him, esp when he is sleeping. Or only put in what he will actually eat, not a big handful of them. Dubias are better in that respect, they cant climb glass, dont stink, and dont bite.

 

[Hookfang]

I dont feed fruit at all. If you are looking for a way to sweeten the greens, you could try bee pollen powder (available online...the powder, not the chunky bits). I have some on order to try but who knows if he will like it. Some do, some dont. Dubias are crunchy. (So are crickets, but I hate them and Kai wont touch them anymore so we dont buy them).

I have chunky been pollen and I smash it with the back of a spoon to turn it into a powder.
We have not tried Dubias...I have a phobia plus we're in FL and they're illegal here.