black body?

[renich]

How's Bubba today?

 

[rugbychic07]

i just got to see him its kind of weird he has the same design on his back but now what was the lighter colors are dark brown and darker brown colors are now black he seems content and wanting some worms that i was getting ready for him didn't touch his greens and still no poop I'm off to give him a bath but i hope he isn't to agitated and bite me

 

[renich]

It is very rare that a bearded dragon will intentionally bite its human. It is usually an accident. Bernard bit me once, but I was waving a piece of collard green trying to get him to eat his greens. He mistook my finger for the green. Oops and ouch!

Did you take your camera for a pic?

 

[rugbychic07]

yes i got the camera just before i gave him his bath he seemed to have his color back just fine after his bath and now still he is darker than normal it doesnt seem to be bothering him to much it kind of comes and goes hes eating fine mo poop yet but lets hope the bath helped him seems to be breathing fine i was rubbing his belly in the bath and the back end was fine but there are on both sides just by his front two feet seem to be something hard sticking his skin out kind of like shoulder blades but on the underside of him i can feel his ribs when i run my fingers across them but he is getting a belly and its final no more greens for him i tricked him a few times he thought they were alive i honestly think it meant the same as when the beard turns colors but i never knew they could shange their body color i want to take him out to run around but my leg and his nervousness wont prove to be a good thing

 

[rugbychic07]

hes even darker now than 20 secs ago and he is flat like a pancake but he seems to be just chilaxin let me shoot some pics of this crazy man

 

[renich]

Cool. I'm really curious what the dark coloring looks like. It may be that he is soaking up his uvb lighting. I'm sorry if you told us, I forget. What UVB bulb do you have? And how old is it?

 

[rugbychic07]

no apologies needed its a reptisun 10.0 and it was just put in when we got him so maybe a bit more than a week old

 

[rugbychic07]

this is his old color

 

[rugbychic07]

this is like 3 mins ago

 

[rugbychic07]

a better one i hope dorry for the blurry pic

 

[renich]

I could be mistaken, but based on the pic, it looks like he is getting ready to shed. It's hard to say.

Let me make sure I understand this correctly, is his darkening constant or is does it come and go?

 

[rugbychic07]

it comes and goes

 

[renich]

Does he seem to get darker when on the cool side?

Also, I would try to up your cool side. 85F is ideal for these guys.

 

[rugbychic07]

actually his color comes back to normal when he is on the cool side i just turned up to thermostat

 

[renich]

ok, bearded dragons can get dark when cold and light when warm.

Did Doug measure the temp at the basking area?

 

[rugbychic07]

yeah last night when this all started his log was 111 and today just now it was 112 i know they can stand higher temps than that maybe he wants more? or maybe and im guessing his normal color is dark and when we got him he was light color because everything was all new now he is settling down i dont know im reaching for something to tell me that the doc wasnt wrong

 

[renich]

Yeah, this is a tough one. I'm hoping it is just a mood or temp thing. Keep a close eye on him. Notice any changes in temperament, eating, etc. Don't fret too much about not eating veggies. They go through periods of not eating. And then periods of gorging themselves.

 

[TheWolfmanTom]

Hey Renee? Is it at all possible the bulb is a dud?? I have never heard of such a thing but my gut keeps telling me this is a temp or light issue.

 

[rugbychic07]

hmmmm is there anyway you can test to see if it is putting out the right stuff? stupid question im not sure

 

[renich]

I guess anything is possible. It could be a bad bulb. I'm not sure about the way the temp is being taken. Could it be off a bit? And by how much.

How far away is the basking light from his basking area?

Tom, I think you are right that it is temp related.

How long are lights on and how long are lights off?

Just trying to step back to the obvious....