Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey all,

Just wanted to see if this was a normal occurance for any of you. I have an adult dragon whos diet mainly consistes of crickets and salad. He appears to be healthy but is sluggist at times. Any suggestions, or is this normal?

Thanks
Jeremy

Give us some lighting details, and if he is eating now try a warm water soak. That usually relaxes the muscles. Let us know the progress.

Hi Jeremy,

If you are concerned you may try soaking in warm water as the other person suggested. You may also use this in conjunction with exercising the dragon. An emphasis on roughage in the diet may be of some help right now too. If your animal still does not defecate I suggest a trip to the vet.

Also, make sure your surface temp under the hotspot is sufficient. I like temps around 115-125 for babies and even hotter for more mature animals. Of course they need a cool area of the enclosure as well.

Good luck,

Ian

Right now I've got a 60 watt spotlight bulb. Tempertature is usally between 80 and 85. He's been eating, but not as much as he usually does. I think I will try soaking him in warm water and see what happens. Thanks for the suggestions

Jeremy,

If your hot spot tops out at 80-85. That is too cold. As in way too cold. For my adult dragons I like a hot spot of 120-140. Remember, this is the measurement of the hottest spot under the basking site. They will position themselves all kinds of distances from this spot including directly under it to use different temps.

To make sure your temp readings are right I suggest an infrared point and shoot thermometer (pro exotics.com - not advertising for pro exotics it's just the cheapest place I know of for an infrared thermometer) for $25 and if not a good indoor/outdoor thermometer would be my second choice. No progress can be made until you have a reliable approximation of your temps. The strips and pet shop gauges are crap - at least for the purpose of this discussion.

If your hot spot truly is around 85 in my mind that would definitely account for a sluggish dragon with a meager appetite.

You can also raise the elevation of the basking site to allow the dragon to reach higher temps, instead of raising the wattage of the bulb. You still want a nice gradient in the cage where the dragon can cool off. I like a cool end of around 70 for my animals.

Lastly, if you are heating the dragon with a spot light, sometimes, in my opinion, they are not appropriate. Particularly with a large dragon. I like a light that covers a wider area (I think the dragons do too at times) so the dragon can heat more of its' body at once. Incandescents (regular household light bulbs) work well for this and I like 50 watt wide halogen flood lights (they produce a lot of heat though so you have to make sure they are appropriate/that you make them work for your enclosure so the whole cage is not a giant oven.

Hope this helps.

Ian

Thanks for the information. Personally I think 140*F is way too warm of a temp. No where have I read that the cage should be THAT warm. Is there any written information available that suggests temperatures that warm (anyone?)

I am running the generic pet store theromoter. You are right, it would probably be wise to invest in a digital reader to see what my actual temperature is.

What is written has nothing to do with it. Personally I think many care sheets are drafted (in whole or in part) based on a previous care sheet - and that has no meaning. What bearded dragons actually use when given the option(s) has everything to do with it.

That being said, I know there are plenty of people out there that keep dragons with hot spots of 105 or 110. So the question of can it be done has already been answered.

Personally I like to experiment with giving my dragons different choices (food, temps, humidity, substrates etc.) and see what they choose to use. I keep all of my adult dragons with hot spots (the very hottest point under the light - remember the thermocline is very steep as you move away from that small point) between 120-140 and they will sit directly under it and use that heat. It is nothing to them. They will also use the cool end of the tank with temps around 70. If they only have 100 degree spot then that is all they will use - no other choices.

So to me, what someone says or does not say about temps runs a distant second to what I see the animals utilizing day in and day out.

But just case in case your hot spot really is/was around 85 - I think anyone here would agree that is way too cool.

Of course it's your choice about how to keep your animals and if you have a healthy thriving dragon then it is a moot discussion anyway.

I certainly wish you well with your animals.

Ian

I think its pretty normal, mine does that alot and she seems to be fine, but if it last over a week or 9-10 days you can soak him.

Gooluck to him!

Lauren