HELP Lazy/ill Bearded dragon?

4581 Views 11 Replies 5 Participants Last post by Drikus, Aug 12, 2011

Kimberley

Discussion Starter · Jul 20, 2011

Hi, I have a female bearded dragon and she is approx 13 months old. I'm not sure if she is ill. She never really been active in her viv, but recently for the past month she has been sleeping all day in the same place. I have checked her temperature and they are correct and her UVB is fairly new. We have repti-carpet as a substrate and I give her a bath once a week where she will go to the toilet. She hasn't been eating her veg or live food, so we are going to try her on baby food which I hear usually works. I get her out everyday and she seems very alert and healthy running around the room until she huddles up in a corner. Sometimes I touch her and she is cold, so I have to put her in her basking spot where she will stay for a while. Is she just lazy sleeping all day?
Any adivce will be great

Thanks

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Kendalle

· #2 · Jul 21, 2011

what are the temps? and what are you using for a thermometer if its too cold they will lay around more.

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Kimberley

Discussion Starter · #3 · Jul 21, 2011 (Edited)

Hi, the temperature is 32 degress in the centre of the viv, ive got this special reptile thermometer that you stick on the wall and it changes colour.
Also she ate some worms yesturday but not alot and today i have fed her some chicken baby food which she seemed to like

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Toirtis

· #4 · Jul 21, 2011

The 'colour-change' thermometers are poor...they register the temperature of the glass, not the air, and were designed to monitor the water temp of aquariums, not terrariums.

32ºC is a reasonable basking area temp (but it could be 3ºC-5ºC warmer), but how warm is the cool end of the terrarium? How about night temps? What brand and type is the UV light, and how old is 'fairly new'?

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Kimberley

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jul 21, 2011

Okay and the cool end of the terrarium is around 28 degress. My local pet shop said that I should keep the lights on during the night as the nights are still quite cold. My UV bulb is TRIXIE reptile land Desert Pro 18W and we have it had for 3 months. The terrarium is also in our living room which is always quite warm

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Toirtis

· #6 · Jul 21, 2011

OK, lights MUST go off at night....delineated day and night (light and dark) is extremely important for pretty much all forms of life....24/7 light can actually kill animals. You will need to come up with another way to heat the enclosure at night, such as a ceramic heat-emitter. Your light should never be on more than 16 hours daily.

The UV light is a good one, but it may be spent as far as UV goes...normally these bulbs are good for about 6 months, based on 12 hours per day of usage (to about 2200 hours total use), but burning 24/7, the bulb has likely exceeded its ability to radiate any appreciable UV. Also, since this bulb is a coil UV, it needs to be within 14" of the beardie's basking area, with no glass, plastic, or fine mesh between the bulb and the lizard....and will work best with a good reflector behind it.

28ºC is a bit warm for the cool end of the terrarium...aim for 22ºC-23ºC.

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Jess

· #7 · Jul 22, 2011

I've never heard of the UVB light brand, but if it has been on for 24/7 for 3 months, it is probably dead by now. Personally, I'm not a fan of the coil/compact UVB lights. When you get a new one, ReptiSun 10.0 fluorescent tube lights are great UVB lights (I use these, and I love them!) and the PowerSun 160 watt MVBs have had good ratings lately too. You can get them for a great price at www.petmountain.com. You should definitely get a new thermometer too. I use the indoor/outdoor digital thermometers that you can get at Target or Walmart. They are cheaper than pet store thermometers, and they will tell you both the hot and cool side of the cage.

But my guess is that she is so tired because she doens't have a day/night cycle. They can't sleep with the lights on at night, so the poor girl is probably exhausted.

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Kimberley

Discussion Starter · #8 · Jul 22, 2011

Thankyou very much for your information. I changed her set up today and created a better basking area for her and she has been up there pretty much all day basking which is good. I also gave her some wax worms as a treat which she really likes and I will start turning the lights off at night as well. Thanks again for your advice, she seems happier already

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Jess

· #9 · Jul 22, 2011

Awesome, I'm glad she is doing so much better!

BTW, I would look into getting her a timer. You can get a cheap one for about $5-$10, and they make life SO much easier. You can also keep your beardie on a definite schedule that way, so you know that she is getting the same amount of lights/darkness every day.

Oh, and here is an great beardie site to join, if you want: www.beardeddragon.org
My name is Jess4921 on there, so say hi to me if you join!

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Kimberley

Discussion Starter · #10 · Jul 22, 2011

Hi I also have one more question. How would you suggest keeping the temperatures warm at night time when the lights are turned off?

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Jess

· #11 · Jul 22, 2011

I use a ceramic heat emitter if it gets too cold. They give off heat, but no light. You can get one for a really good price here: www.petmountain.com

You only need additional heat if your night temperatures drop below 65*F though. As long as the temps are above that, your beardie is fine.

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Drikus

· #12 · Aug 12, 2011

hi flagelates?

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