Baby Bearded Dragon sunken eyes no appetite

[charmander1234]

I don't know anything about that test but I have a vet tech friend that can help let me get w/ her about those questions-

Hi Sadie, can you please give me suggestions again for lighting requirements for my 2 month old beardie baby.
I currently have a 20 gallon tank using
-Zilla slimline desert 50 UVB T8 fluorescent fixture
-50 W Basking bulb Zilla ( I thought it was a 75W until I removed and rechecked bulb.
Can you also send me your exact lighting fixtures you use and the brands?

I set it up just like you suggested and how you have your tank set up.
Is this sufficient? Please tell me if there is a better option I can purchase for him. He doesn’t have a strong appetite and I am thinking maybe to change his lighting . Also he likes to hang out on the cool side of the tank in the corner and it seems he gets cool right away but doesn’t go back to his warm side . His body does turn dark quickly when he goes to cool side of tank. He is a translucent red Beardie and I did read they look dark quickly when on cooler side of tank .
I’m worried the tank is big and he is so young that he is cooling off on the cool side and staying there. Therefore it is effecting his appetite and he is not growing or thriving like he should. I am also waiting for parasite test to arrive. I do not have a reptile vet near me. I did find one 1 hour away but they will not give me an appointment until November 9th. I took the appointment but I figure let me also order the at home test also until we go to the appointment. The at home test may also be helpful for the vet.

His temps are 100- 105 Basking
Cool side is 80
Humidity about 40-50 with tiny water bowl in tank ( should I remove it?)

is the 50 watt day basking bulb ok? Should I switch to a 75watt. Should I put another low watt day bulb on the cool side of the tank to keep it warmer for him since he likes to go there?
Any brands better than others?
I think I posted a picture of his tank above for you.

thanks so much
Vanessa

 

[Sadie]

Hi Sadie, can you please give me suggestions again for lighting requirements for my 2 month old beardie baby.
I currently have a 20 gallon tank using
-Zilla slimline desert 50 UVB T8 fluorescent fixture
-50 W Basking bulb Zilla ( I thought it was a 75W until I removed and rechecked bulb.
Can you also send me your exact lighting fixtures you use and the brands?

I set it up just like you suggested and how you have your tank set up.
Is this sufficient? Please tell me if there is a better option I can purchase for him. He doesn’t have a strong appetite and I am thinking maybe to change his lighting . Also he likes to hang out on the cool side of the tank in the corner and it seems he gets cool right away but doesn’t go back to his warm side . His body does turn dark quickly when he goes to cool side of tank. He is a translucent red Beardie and I did read they look dark quickly when on cooler side of tank .
I’m worried the tank is big and he is so young that he is cooling off on the cool side and staying there. Therefore it is effecting his appetite and he is not growing or thriving like he should. I am also waiting for parasite test to arrive. I do not have a reptile vet near me. I did find one 1 hour away but they will not give me an appointment until November 9th. I took the appointment but I figure let me also order the at home test also until we go to the appointment. The at home test may also be helpful for the vet.

His temps are 100- 105 Basking
Cool side is 80


is the 50 watt day basking bulb ok? Should I switch to a 75watt. Should I put another low watt day bulb on the cool side of the tank to keep it warmer for him since he likes to go there?
Any brands better than others?
I think I posted a picture of his tank above for you.

thanks so much
Vanessa

Your set up is good but we need to change some brands and yes some brands are better than others
so lets start w/ the basking bulb your using a neodymium bulb and those bulbs have a coating on them
which is a rare earth mineral, decreases the CRI or Color Rendering Index which affects the overall brightness. It does this by cutting the yellow color range out to make it appear brighter but since reptiles are very sensitive to
light & can see more of the spectrum than we can it is best to use a bright white light for basking
instead. So this came from a vet tech w/ that being said please get a bright white basking bulb like a Exo Terra Intense basking bulb go w/ a 75 watt that is what I used on my 20 gallon tank but you MUST have a digital probe thermometer to get his basking temp place it where he sits for basking like 10 min or so and watch the temp
Next you can change out the UVB bulb the fixture is ok for now since your going to need to change it out when you get a new tank so for now get a Reptisun 10.0 T 8 bulb it will fit into the Zilla fixture that is what I did w/ mine --leave the set up the same --
When you go to a larger tank like a 40 + gallon tank you can get one of these brands
Zoo Med 24" fixture this comes w/ a 5.0 bulb those can be used for a back up but the distance and placement is different to the 10.0 bulb your going to need for a 40 + gallon tank
24" Arcadia Pro T 5 you will need a 12% bulb its basically the same as the T 5 bulb
or a 24" Sunblaster Nano this comes w/a 6400 K lamp and is considered very good
The humidity is at 40-50 at nite or during the day --- optimal is 30-40 but the range its at is ok --
please get a digital probe hygrometer -- Exo Terra sells them place the probe on the back center wall of the tank -
it will read your whole tank --
He is more than likely not liking the basking bulb your using --- what is the ambient temp at nite ? Stick ons are ok for that if you place the digital probe you have on the side of the tank at nite it will also give you the ambient temp you dont want it below 65 at nite or above 75

 

[charmander1234]

Your set up is good but we need to change some brands and yes some brands are better than others
so lets start w/ the basking bulb your using a neodymium bulb and those bulbs have a coating on them
which is a rare earth mineral, decreases the CRI or Color Rendering Index which affects the overall brightness. It does this by cutting the yellow color range out to make it appear brighter but since reptiles are very sensitive to
light & can see more of the spectrum than we can it is best to use a bright white light for basking
instead. So this came from a vet tech w/ that being said please get a bright white basking bulb like a Exo Terra Intense basking bulb go w/ a 75 watt that is what I used on my 20 gallon tank but you MUST have a digital probe thermometer to get his basking temp place it where he sits for basking like 10 min or so and watch the temp
Next you can change out the UVB bulb the fixture is ok for now since your going to need to change it out when you get a new tank so for now get a Reptisun 10.0 T 8 bulb it will fit into the Zilla fixture that is what I did w/ mine --leave the set up the same --
When you go to a larger tank like a 40 + gallon tank you can get one of these brands
Zoo Med 24" fixture this comes w/ a 5.0 bulb those can be used for a back up but the distance and placement is different to the 10.0 bulb your going to need for a 40 + gallon tank
24" Arcadia Pro T 5 you will need a 12% bulb its basically the same as the T 5 bulb
or a 24" Sunblaster Nano this comes w/a 6400 K lamp and is considered very good
The humidity is at 40-50 at nite or during the day --- optimal is 30-40 but the range its at is ok --
please get a digital probe hygrometer -- Exo Terra sells them place the probe on the back center wall of the tank -
it will read your whole tank --
He is more than likely not liking the basking bulb your using --- what is the ambient temp at nite ? Stick ons are ok for that if you place the digital probe you have on the side of the tank at nite it will also give you the ambient temp you dont want it below 65 at nite or above 75

Thanks Sadie! You’re the best!
I use a CHE 50 Watt at night for him on cool end of tank. The temperature probe reads 73 degrees at night where he sleeps. I worry he will get too chilled during the night if I don’t use a CHE.
the humidity is 40-50 during the day. Night it’s lower around 35-40. I can also take the water dish out at night if it could lower humidity a bit.
I will get to changing your the bulbs etc today. I really feel he will do better if I tweak the temperature a little. Hopefully it will help our little guy some.
Keep you posted
Thanks again
Vanessa

 

[Skybug]

A little late to this thread, but Its definitely a light issue, ur setup is clean, so its not debris, his skin does look a little “muted” so he could be shedding, ive attached pictures of things we use here on this site, if it helps, he does look a little bloated in my opinion, next time he poos get a picture if it fresh, we’ll be able to judge that, i hope it’s nothing serious and hes just shedding…

 

[charmander1234]

A little late to this thread, but Its definitely a light issue, ur setup is clean, so its not debris, his skin does look a little “muted” so he could be shedding, ive attached pictures of things we use here on this site, if it helps, he does look a little bloated in my opinion, next time he poos get a picture if it fresh, we’ll be able to judge that, i hope it’s nothing serious and hes just shedding…

he did start looking muted again the other day. he shed the last time on October 18th. maybe he is ready to shed agin which did affect his appetite last time. i will post poop pic next time also. i will be switching out light bulbs today too.
thanks for the help

 

[charmander1234]

he did start looking muted again the other day. he shed the last time on October 18th. maybe he is ready to shed agin which did affect his appetite last time. i will post poop pic next time also. i will be switching out light bulbs today too.
thanks for the help

Picture of poop 10/30/21 at 3pm

 

[charmander1234]

Thanks Sadie! You’re the best!
I use a CHE 50 Watt at night for him on cool end of tank. The temperature probe reads 73 degrees at night where he sleeps. I worry he will get too chilled during the night if I don’t use a CHE.
the humidity is 40-50 during the day. Night it’s lower around 35-40. I can also take the water dish out at night if it could lower humidity a bit.
I will get to changing your the bulbs etc today. I really feel he will do better if I tweak the temperature a little. Hopefully it will help our little guy some.
Keep you posted
Thanks again
Vanessa

Ok just purchased the new bulbs.
got the Reptisun 10.0 UVB T8
Also Exo Terra intense basking spot 75 W

Temperatures are
103.5 basking
78.6 cool side
Should I warm up the cool side wide a low watt day bulb or is 78.6 ok?
please check out my setup in the attached pictures
Also I purchased 2 stones for cool side. Are they ok or should I remove those?

 

[Skybug]

Stones are great, he needs to be closer to the heat though, see his head how its up in the air? He wants to be closer, also you have a t8 uvb light fixture? That needs to be unobstructed and closer than a t5 would need to be, if it was my enclosure,…. Id move the slate rock to the right side put the little green thing on top of those, the slate rock will heat up and give u a better gradient.

 

[Skybug]

For reference Heres the two enclosures my dragon has been in, the smaller of the two was her first enclosure she grew up in, shes been in the big enclosure about a year now.

 

[Skybug]

You want to see two behaviors regarding heating, him opening his mouth (meaning he’s reached optimal heat and hes regulating) and him “laying out” “sunning himself” basically they’ll kick out their back legs and sleep under the light, if hes head up all day long=not hot enough, if he’s moving all around the heating spot =too hot

 

[Sadie]

Ok just purchased the new bulbs.
got the Reptisun 10.0 UVB T8
Also Exo Terra intense basking spot 75 W

Temperatures are
103.5 basking
78.6 cool side
Should I warm up the cool side wide a low watt day bulb or is 78.6 ok?
please check out my setup in the attached pictures
Also I purchased 2 stones for cool side. Are they ok or should I remove those?

Cool side is ok at 78-- the stones are ok but you do want a distance of 6-8 inches directly under the UVB bulb and him w/ his head up is fine -- they often sit like that -- normal stance for a babie-- and I would look around for some more decor for him check out Petsmart they have great decor for dragons and think big dont buy something hes going to outgrow -- eventually you will want to get a bigger tank for him --- 75-120 is what is recommended for a adult dragon --

 

[charmander1234]

You want to see two behaviors regarding heating, him opening his mouth (meaning he’s reached optimal heat and hes regulating) and him “laying out” “sunning himself” basically they’ll kick out their back legs and sleep under the light, if hes head up all day long=not hot enough, if he’s moving all around the heating spot =too hot

For reference Heres the two enclosures my dragon has been in, the smaller of the two was her first enclosure she grew up in, shes been in the big enclosure about a year now.

Ok very nice tank and setup.
Thank you for the tips

 

[charmander1234]

Cool side is ok at 78-- the stones are ok but you do want a distance of 6-8 inches directly under the UVB bulb and him w/ his head up is fine -- they often sit like that -- normal stance for a babie-- and I would look around for some more decor for him check out Petsmart they have great decor for dragons and think big dont buy something hes going to outgrow -- eventually you will want to get a bigger tank for him --- 75-120 is what is recommended for a adult dragon --

 

[charmander1234]

Ok he is 8 inches from the UVB right now . I will raise him up 1” to the bulbs.
I can see he is already more alert since installing the new bulbs today. I will keep an eye on his stance.
I also have a bunch of decor for the tank but I’m just waiting until the baby is more stable.
Thank you so much helping me get our little guy in optimal health.

 

[Skybug]

Idk why i didnt think of this either, It may even be the plastic green thing itself, it might be emitting toxic fumes by getting heated up,…. Just something to consider : /