Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A month ago I adopted a 3 yr. old beardie. I believe he is a yellow, at least a little. Anyway, he is dark most of the time no matter what temp. he is in. Any ideas? thanks

He is stressed or something is not right in his set up.

Check that his temps are 95-105F and that you are measuring it with an accurate temp guage such as a digital probe (Wal_marts carries them for $7-$10 or you can find them online) or a temp gun. The stick on cheap ones are off by as much as 20 degrees. I just had someone who replaced their temp guage with a digital probe and from that the temp they thought was 98 was actually 79 and the poor dragon was cold.

Also make sure his UVB light is producing good UVB, that there is no plastic cover over the bulb and that he has a good bright light intensity from a plain household bulb, halogen, basking light or a all in one UVB/light/heat bulb.

If temps, lights and food are all correct, he should of settled in by now and be displaying his happy colors.

Also make sure there is not something else stressing him, like a bird, cat, dog, reflection or other loud noise
-----
www.reptilerooms.com

I will adjust and tweak as you suggested. I thought maybe he is stressed but didn't know why or how to fix it. Thank you CheriS and I will let you know how it goes if that is ok?

DO let me know how he does, I have noticed that adults males take longer than adult females to settle in, I think it is their natural territorial display "rights"

Also make sure there is noting overhead from him (except the lights and cage top... they often are stressed by something hanginf from the ceiling
-----
www.reptilerooms.com