Worried, opinions?

[kazaa117]

So my beardie aint eaten in a while properly compared to how she usually does, I've offered her food daily, pinkies, greens (rocket, watercress, basil, kale - stuff I know she eats, she doesnt take anything else annoyingly), hoppers and wax/meal worms (not many).
She's been like this for around a month, she had a couple of good eating days but I'm still worried!

My partner reckons shes in shed, her belly is, but her other parts aint

her setup consits of a uv bulb and a heat bulb, so please dont turn around having a go at me for an incorrect setup, its fine! That I'm sure of!

I've given her 3 baths to help with shed just incase it was a shed problem, but nothing has come out of it!

She use to have blood in her stool, but not for a while! reason behind it, I believe was eating large hoppers

any suggestions, questions ask away!

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, how old is your girl and can you post pics of her as well as her entire set up ? Here's how :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/
Then use the XIMG to upload them.

What exact type + brand of uvb do you use and how old is it ? Not saying your lighting is wrong but that's something that's always asked about. Is she on a loose substrate like sand or wood chips ? Pet store calcium sand causes impaction in dragons at times that can put them off their food, so can crushed walnut and wood chips.

 

[kazaa117]

shes a few years old, 2/3 ish, I've used the same UVB reccommended to me from a local shop, pets at home and I change it every 5 months, so this one is around a month old, shes on aspen bedding pressed flat down, would you say to swap to news paper or something? shes been on aspen for a while, swapped often between sand at some point, to newspaper and now aspen as I use aspen for other reptiles!

I cant send pictures, but I doubt they'll be anything to see within the pictures

 

[EllenD]

Well not eating normally for a month is a big deal, or certainly can be, and is an indication that something is off, either in her health or in her enclosure/lighting/temperatures. I'm not "having a go at ya" at all, lol, but many, many, many loving, caring beardie owners come here because their beardie hasn't been eating properly for a while, and they say that their lighting, temperatures, etc. are fine, and 99.9% of the time they were given really bad advice by a breeder or pet shop, or by another beardie forum online, and we find out that they've been using a UVB light that is inadequate, or that their temperature gradient is not within the correct ranges, etc. and they had no idea that something they were doing or some piece of equipment (usually their lighting) is very wrong. It's not at all hard for this to happen, considering 90% of the UVB and basking lights sold and labeled specifically for bearded dragons are totally inadequate, they aren't a strong enough wattage so not emitting nearly enough UVB light for a desert reptile, or a pet shop employee told them improper temperature ranges, or they don't have their lights on long enough, etc.

So if I were you, since this could be caused by any number of reasons and because it's now getting into the potentially serious and dangerous area after a month of no appetite, I would post photos of your beardie, his entire enclosure, and his lights. Then answer a few questions about your beardie, your equipment, and your husbandry. Typically there is a very obvious red flag that jumps out at us and is easily correctable.

Now if he had some actual blood in his poop, that can indicate a parasitic infection with something like a moderate to high coccidia count, worms, or a bacterial or fungal infection... However, if it was not actually blood but rather just a pink tinted urate, this usually indicates dehydration. So try to clarify whether it actually looked like blood in his actual poop, or was his normally white urate tinted pink? How long ago did this happen, and how long did it last?

How old is your beardie? How long have you had him? Do you positively know the sex? How large is his enclosure (dimensions)? What substrate do you use in the bottom of his enclosure? How long do you leave your UVB and basking lights on each day?

What brand/model/wattage/type (long tube, compact, coil, or Mercury Vapor Bulb (MVB) of UVB light do you use? How old is your UVB tube/bulb? Is it mounted inside his enclosure, or is it sitting on top of a mesh or glass lid? How far away is your UVB light from his main basking spot (in inches)?

What brand/color/wattage/type (compact, coil) of basking bulb do you use? What type of thermometer are you using to measure the temperatures inside the enclosure (stick-on, digital probe, or temperature gun)? What are your Basking Spot, Hot Side Ambient, and Cool Side Ambient temperatures? When is the last time you measured them? Do you use any type of nighttime heat source (light, Ceramic Heat Emitter, mat, etc.)? If so, what are you keeping your nighttime temperature at?

What type of supplements are you dusting his food with, and how often? When is the last time he had a bowel movement? Was it normal in size, color, consistency, and smell (was it liquids or did it smell worse than usual)? How many live insects and how much salad did he eat per day before he lost his appetite, and how much is he eating now?

 

[EllenD]

Right off the bat yes, you should remove the Aspen bedding and replace it with only a solid substrate. For now you can dump out the Aspen bedding, disinfect the tank, and then just put down clean, dry papertowels or newspapers that can be thrown away and replaced as they become soiled...Bearded Dragons are not similar to most other pet reptiles, especially tropical one or ones from the forest, in that they come only from the Australian desert, which is nothing but dry, hard, solid rocky terrain and vegetation, so there is no sand, dirt, wood chips or leaf covering, etc. They lick everything, it's a form of identification, and ANY LOOSE SUBSTRATES are potential impaction and/or chronic constipation risks. Even a small amount of sand, bedding, wood chips, crushed walnut shells, etc. inside their gastrointestinal tracts can cause bloating, pressure on their spinal column, pain, and loss of appetite. In addition, loose substrates are a breeding ground for parasites, bacteria, and fungi, and if they are consistently living in it and eating it, they contain no natural immunity to keep themselves from being infected and constantly reinfected with the microbes...

Now being a desert reptile from Australia, once again they have extremely specific lighting and temperature needs, much more so than any other reptile I'm aware of, and as such they are very prone to deficiency diseases caused by inadequate UVB lighting. The UVB light you use for your beardie is absolutely the most important item you will ever buy for him, and there are very few UVB lights marketed for beardies that are appropriate, and this is well demonstrated in the massive number of pet beardies with various forms of Calcium and vitamin B1 deficiencies. I've never heard of the brand of UVB light you're using, and I have no idea what wattage it is, if it's a long tube, a compact bulb, or a coil bulb, but this is extremely important information we need to know, as well as how you have it mounted and at what distance it is from his basking spot. Look on the bulb itself for the wattage and any other info and let us know, because this could very well be the source of your problem finally catching up with your beardie. Unfortunately pet shop employees mean well (sometimes) but make huge mistakes because they are uneducated or given wrong information.

 

[kazaa117]

 

[kazaa117]

Pictures are uploaded now!
When I've done with my tasks today I'll be off to buy kitchen roll to replace the aspen substrate!
Beardie is 2+, had since little, probably a male, 4ft tank, lights are on from 8am-6pm.

What UVB bulb would you reccommend? I'll buy it asap and install it asap, there is a fitting for a second UVB also!

 

[EllenD]

Okay, so he looks pretty good, though a little small for a 2-3 year old male, probably due to the bad UVB tube. I don't know where you live in the world, but in the United States the best UVB lights available are long tubes like the one you have, but the only adequate brand here that I'm aware of are the Reptisun 10.0 (never use the 5.0) T8 or better yet the T5 High-Output tubes. They come in several different lengths, 18", 24", 36", etc. With the Reptisun 10.0 tubes, the T8 is the weaker of the two, though it's totally adequate, but must be mounted inside the enclosure like yours is and absolutely cannot sit on top of a mesh lid or be obstructed by anything. It also must be mounted within 6"-8" of his main basking spot. The T8 must also be replaced once every 6 months at a minimum, as it stops emitting UVB light at that point. In contrast, the Reptisun 10.0 T5HO UVB tube can be mounted on top of a mesh lid or inside the enclosure as long as it's within 11" of his main basking spot, and must be replaced once every year. So the Reptisun 10.0 T5HO UVB tube is definitely the best available in the US. The only issue you may have with the T5HO is that it requires a long, flourescent tube fixture that is rated for a T5 tube at 24 watts, so the fixture you have may not work for it, and you may need to upgrade the fixture as well. But it's a very good, long-term investment, I've been using the Reptisun 10.0 T5HO UVB tubes for almost 12 years with stellar results.

In the UK and Australia, the best UVB tubes available are made by Arcadia, the 12% Arcadia tube is what you want, do not go for the 10% Arcadia, it's not strong enough.

I did research your brand of UVB tube, and it's just as I thought, it's similar to the brands Zilla, All Living Things. and Reptile One. They are very cheap, Chinese-made UVB tubes that actually not only emit very little UVB light to begin with, but they also stop emitting all UVB light after a month or so, they just aren't good quality at all, and are only effective for a bearded dragon if they are mounted within 3-4" of their basking spot, which is nearly impossible to accomplish in most enclosures, and is a very dangerous risk to their eyes if you do mount them that close. Plus, they stop emitting appropriate strength and wavelength UVB light very shortly after being turned on.

The other very important recommendation I would make to you is that you absolutely need to increase you "photoperiod", or the length of time your beardie is under both his bright white basking light and his UVB light. If you have his lights on for only 10 hours a day (8 a.m. to 6 p.m.) he's not getting nearly enough of the already weak UVB and UVA light he has. His lights absolutely must be on for a minimum of 14 hours every single day. So if you turn your lights on at 8 a.m., you must leave them on until 10 p.m. at a minimum. Also, be sure that you're using only a bright white basking bulb, no colored bulbs at all, and that after you replace his UVB tube and potentially his basking bulb, you remeasure his basking spot (100-105 degrees), his Hot Side Ambient (88-93 degrees, and his Cool Side Ambient (75-80 degrees) with a digital probe thermometer or a temperature gun only, no stick-on thermometers that are usually off by up to 20 degrees, and cannot be used to measure the temperature of his basking spot but only ambient air temperatures.

He's done growing in length at 2 years, so he's a bit stunted but not horribly, so after you get him a vry good UVB tube that emits strong enough UVB and UVA light, and you increase his photoperiod from 10 hours a day to 14 hours a day, his appetite, activity level, shedding and brightness, etc. are all going to increase and he's going to be on his way to recovering from any MBD or Vitamin deficiencies he may be starting to suffer from. I would be sure to use a calcium powder that has D3 in it only for the next month or so, since he hasn't had any adequate UVB light to help him manufacture his own vitamin D3, but after about a month under a good UVB light and an increased photoperiod you can cut back to using calcium with D3 only once or twice a week, and use just plain calcium without D3 the rest of the week. I'd also up his multivitamin powder use to 4-5 days a week, using a good quality multivitamin for reptiles, like Herpavite.

 

[BadgerGirl]

Just a note on the Arcadia 12% - I'm using it and I've been advised on this forum that you need a reflector with it to get the best uv output from that distance. i now have mine mounted like yours on the roof with the reflector behind it.

This is the only place I found them online in the uk - https://www.bluelizardreptiles.co.uk/reptilelighting/lightfittings/830857000034

 

[CaramelBeet]

Just a tiny correction, Ellen D. In Australia, we have Reptisuns, not Arcadias Just to be confusing, a few of us have had Arcadias imported from the UK, but you can't actually buy them here (that I know of, anyway)

 

[EllenD]

Just a tiny correction, Ellen D. In Australia, we have Reptisuns, not Arcadias Just to be confusing, a few of us have had Arcadias imported from the UK, but you can't actually buy them here (that I know of, anyway)

Did not know that, seems every person in Australia uses Arcadia, so I assumed that they were available there. But, if Reptisun is available then you're good to go. It's interesting, as I had never heard of ReptileOne or some of these other really cheap brands because I've never seen them here in the United States, but after researching found that several really awful brands are all made in the same factory in China and labeled under different brands, but all the same, cheap tubes.