Beardie does weird things in new enclosure

[ObtuseFrog]

Hello! A little background if needed. My dragon Butcher is around 6/7 years old now and I got him months ago from a coworker after she had gotten him from a neighbor that neglected him and stuck him in the garage for the past 1-2 years. His whole life until december, when I could finally afford to get him a new tank, he has been stuck in a crappy 40 gallon glass tank. He had been fed once a week just a couple of meal worms, bur once my coworker got him and then me its been a salad a day and then 3 superworms because he is skinny.
I now have him in a wooden vivarium which is 4x2x2 that has a drop down screen mesh door. I chose this because when he was in the glass tank the humidity was too high and we are able to manage it much better now. I find that he likes to climb the mesh a lot which is weird because I have never seen him "glass surf" in his old tank. I can't tell if he finds enjoyment out of this or not and if this is something I should really be worried about. He gets out of his tank a lot and I let him just roam my room every couple days so I'm not sure if this is just boredom. He climbs up it and then just slides down back to the ground.
Would it help to build another level in the cage to keep this from happening? or get one of those ladders and a hammock? I also find him to be stressed a bit does anyone have any tips to decrease that in his new home?

 

[Skybug]

Hello! A little background if needed. My dragon Butcher is around 6/7 years old now and I got him months ago from a coworker after she had gotten him from a neighbor that neglected him and stuck him in the garage for the past 1-2 years. His whole life until december, when I could finally afford to get him a new tank, he has been stuck in a crappy 40 gallon glass tank. He had been fed once a week just a couple of meal worms, bur once my coworker got him and then me its been a salad a day and then 3 superworms because he is skinny.
I now have him in a wooden vivarium which is 4x2x2 that has a drop down screen mesh door. I chose this because when he was in the glass tank the humidity was too high and we are able to manage it much better now. I find that he likes to climb the mesh a lot which is weird because I have never seen him "glass surf" in his old tank. I can't tell if he finds enjoyment out of this or not and if this is something I should really be worried about. He gets out of his tank a lot and I let him just roam my room every couple days so I'm not sure if this is just boredom. He climbs up it and then just slides down back to the ground.
Would it help to build another level in the cage to keep this from happening? or get one of those ladders and a hammock? I also find him to be stressed a bit does anyone have any tips to decrease that in his new home?

Hes got you , how many times have you opened it to get him to stop? He wants out, id definitely add another level if possible or change the screen to something he cant get his nails caught in, can we see his setup please? What bulbs do you use? Coil bulbs are a big no-no and how are you battling humidity? Do u live in Florida? If so remove any water bowls from the tank

 

[ObtuseFrog]

Hes got you , how many times have you opened it to get him to stop? He wants out, id definitely add another level if possible or change the screen to something he cant get his nails caught in, can we see his setup please? What bulbs do you use? Coil bulbs are a big no-no and how are you battling humidity? Do u live in Florida? If so remove any water bowls from the tank

I only started to open it to get him to stop recently and it's worked pretty well. My boyfriend just let me know that he actually did glass surf more than I originally thought, but I didn't know because he was in his office before we moved him upstairs to the bedroom so I was never really around him except to feed and play with him. The enclosure picture I have attached is pretty much how it looks right now without the light set up. It's impossible to see, but on the top there are two circle cut outs like there are around the entire enclosure that I rest some heat lamps on that are non coil. I believe they are the reptisun or whatever they're called. The UVB light is on the inside and basically middle top of the enclosure. I'm sorry I don't have the a picture of the set up how it looks right now. I can add one in the morning when his tank lights are actually on. The UVB is also not coiled its just one of those long straight ones. The humidity never gets up past 40% now since we moved it up stairs and got the new tank. Before it was probably getting into the 80s before I added another heat lamp to try to manage it better with a dehumidifier. I don't live in Flordia, I'm actually in Texas and a dry part to so I was surprised it was getting so high. I can try to change the screen to something else, but he hated seeing his reflection when he was in his glass tank so I'm scared to try the alternative plexiglass everyone loves. The only thing in his enclosure that we bought thats new is the skeleton on the right side and we are planning on getting him a new rock since he likes sleeping in it and it's a bit too small for him. I know the set up can be better., but I'm just not sure how to do that. Thank you so much for your reply.

 

[Skybug]

I only started to open it to get him to stop recently and it's worked pretty well. My boyfriend just let me know that he actually did glass surf more than I originally thought, but I didn't know because he was in his office before we moved him upstairs to the bedroom so I was never really around him except to feed and play with him. The enclosure picture I have attached is pretty much how it looks right now without the light set up. It's impossible to see, but on the top there are two circle cut outs like there are around the entire enclosure that I rest some heat lamps on that are non coil. I believe they are the reptisun or whatever they're called. The UVB light is on the inside and basically middle top of the enclosure. I'm sorry I don't have the a picture of the set up how it looks right now. I can add one in the morning when his tank lights are actually on. The UVB is also not coiled its just one of those long straight ones. The humidity never gets up past 40% now since we moved it up stairs and got the new tank. Before it was probably getting into the 80s before I added another heat lamp to try to manage it better with a dehumidifier. I don't live in Flordia, I'm actually in Texas and a dry part to so I was surprised it was getting so high. I can try to change the screen to something else, but he hated seeing his reflection when he was in his glass tank so I'm scared to try the alternative plexiglass everyone loves. The only thing in his enclosure that we bought thats new is the skeleton on the right side and we are planning on getting him a new rock since he likes sleeping in it and it's a bit too small for him. I know the set up can be better., but I'm just not sure how to do that. Thank you so much for your reply.

HOW far is his basking bulbs from the floor? it looks alot taller than 9 inches, get a digitil probe thermometer stick ons arnt reliable, if you can post more pics of him please

 

[Broly]

Hey, could you let us know the dimensions of the enclosure please? Also that updated pic would be a great start then we can offer a bit of advice!

 

[ObtuseFrog]

It is more than nine inches away because it’s a 150 watt bulb and it gets around 90 degrees on his basking rock with it being the 12 inches away. His new tanks 4ft x 2ft x 2ft. I’ve added a picture of him climbing his enclosure prior to installing the UVB lamp. The other heat lamp on the other side got knocked off and broke so that’s why it’s dark on that side. Let me know if you need more photos sorry for the late reply.

 

[Broly]

Hey! Apologies for asking for viv dimensions previously when you had actually stated them in your first msg!

I’m not a beardie-pro but I can point out a few things that are a little ‘off’ from what I do know that you could potentially improve on to help your beardie I haven’t actually seen a viv like yours before so I can’t advise specifically on the front mesh or the wood that your viv is made from. It’s a good size and looks cool however, but I wouldn’t be able to say if it’s deffo ideal.

Your UVB is a bit short, ideally it should be the length of 70% of the viv, so in a 4ft the 34” UVB bulbs are good. It should be over to one side (the side the basking bulb is on). This then gives your beardie the option to go over to the ‘cold side’ for a little break from the UVB and the heat (a couple of hides provided will be good for him). I can see you have some kind of reflector on your UVB but it looks like the light is directed towards the back / downwards? Please make sure when you get a new bulb and new reflector it’s secured to the top of the viv so that the rays reach out over the whole of the ground (remember, he’ll have hides and the cooler end to be able to get away from these rays when he needs to). The T5 is better than the T8 and Arcadia and ZooMed ReptiSun 10.0 are good brands. I have a 34” T5 Arcadia 14% in my (the 12% is also good, and I think more common?).

I’d say the temp on his basking spot should be a little higher, I think it’s advisable for an adult beardie to be around 95-100. The ambient temp in the middle around 90-95 and over at the cool end it should be around 75-80. This is why it would be good if you can make sure your basking spot over one side is correct so that you don’t need two from above. This may make it hard for him to escape from the heat and regulate his temperature etc.

I can’t see any in the pic, so if you haven’t got any, you should get two digital probe thermometers. You can rest one directly on the basking spot and it can stay there and the other over in the cool side. You will then be able to keep an eye on the temps and ensure they’re always sufficient. You can raise of lower the basking spot until it’s just right. If you can’t get it just right by raising or lowering then you can change the bulb to another watt and see if this achieves it.

Hope some of this helps for now! x