Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently bought a young sandfire beardie at the NY Metro Reptile Show. Initially, she was perky, bright eyed and energetic, but has seriously bogged down. I've raised her temperatures and she has both UVA and UVB lighting. She's getting really thin and lethargic, she's been off her food. I've also been soaking her daily in warm water.

Is there a way to get her to eat? Is there any advice you guys could give?

Give more details on your setup...What is your basking temp? Both surface temps and air temps. How are you measuring the temps (ie stick on side of tank strips, dial thermometers etc) What size of cage are you using? What kind of UVB light do you have? What are you offering food wise? Has it eaten for you at all since you bought it? What is the size and weight of your dragon?

The more info you give, the better we can pinpoint what is causing your dragon not to eat. Common reasons are improper husbandry followed by parasite infestations. If bought healthy and lively, most likely its husbandry causing the problem, which is why we need all the details of your setup so we can help you improve anything if there is any errors.
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PHLdyPayne

Forum Princess

She's only a few months old, maybe 10 inches long including her tail. I've been feeding her chopped greens (romaine, escarole, dandelion) and crickets. I've also tried mealies, but they aren't catching her eye. She has eaten (and quite vigorously at first), but has slowly gotten off of her food. We were using a 60 watt heat bulb initially, but upgraded to 100-watt (today), which has risen her basking temps into the high-90's. We also got a UTH to keep the temp up at night. She's only in a ten gallon now, but we plan to upgrade her soon. We're using a Zilla 50 UVB fixture and a Zilla Day-Glo Heat Bulb. I don't believe parasites are the issue, as she is a captive bred baby, but i'm no expert. She has been getting progressively thinner and less-responsive. The raised temps seem to be helping, but i want to take every precaution to make sure she'll be alright.

A 100 watt basking bulb to heat a 10G tank is a deathwish, no offense meant. There is far too much power coming from that bulb to properly heat a small tank. The basking temps in that cage would be far outside of an ideal range for the little dragon.

What would be most helpful and effective in the short term is to get a bigger tank (20G long would be good for 10" dragon) and lower wattage bulbs ASAP. Household incandescents are okay in lower wattages like 25-40 or even better halogen flood bulbs are great for basking lizards, and you can find them in hardware and dept stores in low wattages. I use 35 watt PAR20 halogen floods in alot of my set-ups, and even those are used with rheostats on occassion when it gets too hot.

If you are able to get a bigger tank ASAP, post a picture of the set-up here and the smarter folks with help you out hammering all the husbandry details starting with the most important, temps.

Good luck!

I agree with the other posters. You are probably cooking her. You need to lower the wattage of your bulb and test the temperatures. At high heats where they can't escape it will dehydrate them very quickly which will lead to multiple other health issues. You also need to do some research on their care and upgrade the size of the enclosure. Please get the temp gun mentioned and see what your temps are.

Good luck and I would make these changes IMMEDIATELY

lINDA

100 watts is alot for a 10 gal tank... In fact a 10 gal tank is utterly useless for even newly hatched bearded dragons. Its just too small to provide a proper heat gradient.

What worries me most about your setup at this point, is you are only getting mid to high 90's for the basking temp. How are you measuring these temps? Are you using a digital thermometer with probe, with the probe placed directly on the basking spot, or just a stick on thermometer on the side of the tank? If the latter, then most likely all you are measuring is the air temp and air temps in the high 90's is too high.

Head off to a department store (walmart, home depot etc) and pick up a digital thermometer with probe, a 20 gal long tank (a 35 gal would be better..it will give you more time to save up or build the adult cage, which needs to have a floor space of at least 4'x2'). You can also look for a temperature gun, which can be found in auto supply stores or departments....just make sure it measures temperatures with a range low enough...between 50F-200F is good...you don't need it to go higher than 150F or lower than 50F.. Pro Exotics has temperature guns designed for reptiles but these are based on the temp guns used with cars to determine engine heat.

FOr the tank cover you want something that is solid except for an area big enough for a hooded light fixture. I find it easier to make my own. It doesn't cost much to buy a small piece of 1"x6" board at any hardware/lumber store (ie Home Depot) or even just picking up a short shelf (melamine shelf, usually 5/8ths thick which is fine). Walmart carries these. And some aluminum screen for windows. This comes in all kinds of sizes...but you don't need much. A short length of 1"x1" board will be needed as well. A bag of small wooden dowels/pins and wood glue is also needed. Finally, buy an undercabinet florescent tube fixture... a 18" one is good...pretty sure a 20 gal long glass tank is over 18" long. I also know UVB florescent tubes come in 18" as well. For either a 20 gal or 35 gal long tank, the 18" uvb tube will work, though you can get a 24" fixture/tube for the bigger tank.

FOr glass tank top I measure the dimension of the inside lip of the tank (inside frame, so the home made cover sits inside the tank, instead of just sitting ontop...where its easy to slide off). Cut the 1"x6" length of board to fit. Measure and cut the 1"x1" board to serve as the other end pieces and long side. Drill two small holes to both ends of the short pieces of 1"x1" which will be large enough to fit the wooden pins/dowels. Line these up with the 1"x6" board and drill corresponding holes. Glue pins into the board and line up with pin holes into the side pieces. Finally, drill holes on the last length of board and clue wooden pins and join with the other section.

Now this should fit snugly into the inside frame of the glass tanks. I screw in two pieces of left over 1"x1" to the top sides of the wide board, to use as handles. Finally staple screen over the open section for ventilation. Mount the under cabinet fixture (after removing the cover over the bulb and replacing the florescent tube it comes with, with the UVB tube) so its inside the tank when the cover is on. Feed the cord from the under cabinet light under the screen so its out of the cage and can be plugged into a power bar, along with the cord from the basking light hooded fixture. Plug the power bar into a heavy duty interior timer (basically has a three hole plug..if you are just using a normal extension cable to plug the lights in, a regular interior timer works fine. I just like having the ground plug option in my setup.)

Secure the hooded lamp so it isn't likely to be knocked over...Metal clips can be used or clamps.

With the basking light on the outside, it may require more wattage to ensure the basking spot gets enough heat...but for the most part, it shouldn't be needed. Unless the room the tank is set up in is very cold...with day temps below 70F.
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PHLdyPayne

Forum Princess