Beardie doesn't like the heat?

[Mountaingal]

We recently obtained an approximately 3-year-old bearded dragon (female?). She grew up in a 20gal tank with only a single 100w light-bulb, so I'm not sure if this is where our problem comes in. We changed her habitat to the
ZOO MED Reptihabitat Bearded Dragon 40 Gallon Terrarium Kit (from Petsmart), that comes with the ReptiSun 10.0 Compact UVB Fluorescent Bulb, and Repti Basking Spot Lamp, and we also got one of the red nightlight heating lamps. Our beardie seems perfectly content, and is a beautiful yellow color as long as ONLY the red nightlight is on or if she is hiding inside her "cave", on the cool side of her tank, but she turns black after only a few seconds under the UVB and/or basking lamp, and will retreat into her "cave" within minutes. The hottest temperature we measured (directly below the basking lamp) is barely 100F, and the average temperature on the warm side of the tank is between 85 and 90F, but she seems to be more comfortable and prefer the barely 70F temperature on the "cold" side for her tank, or even the 68F temperature we keep our home at (outside of her tank she stays yellow in color as well). We don't want to "force" her to stay in the light/heat, as she's showing no other signs of problems. She eats well and has regular bowel movements, but we're concerned that this (her avoiding of light/heat) might become a problem and affect her health. Or could this be related to the time of year (Winter) and perhaps her attempt at brumation?

 

[Valiant]

No idea what it could be. But I've heard others say not to have the red light in there at night time as they need darkness to sleep properly. She will be fine without the night time heat as long as it does not get below 65 degrees. No lights at night and see if that helps.

 

[PatsyB]

Turning black under the UVB and heat is perfectly normal! It helps them absorb the heat and D3 better. Sounds like she is just trying to take it all in.

A few things. She is an adult so she only needs a basking temperature of 95-100 degrees. You want to keep her lighting as natural as possible so don't use the red light ever. Even while sleeping if the red light is on they can still sense shadows and will think something is trying to get them which then makes for a cranky dragon during the day. Invest in a tube style UVB bulb. Compact and coil bulbs don't really cover enough area of the tank.

They also go through some "moving sickness" while they are getting used to their new homes. So she may be a little less social and not want to eat for a few days or a few weeks while she is settling in.

 

[Hdrydr31]

Yep Ditto what PatsyB said it's normal they turn black to be able to absorb all of the goodness from the lights..
Just give her some time to adjust to her new wonderful home and person

 

[Geneticjim]

Can the tube uvb style lamp sit on the screen?

 

[PatsyB]

Can the tube uvb style lamp sit on the screen?

Yes. If you get a T8 size fixture and light your dragon would need to be 6 inches away from the bulb to reap the benefits. A T5 is stronger and will penetrate your mesh and your beardie can be 18" away from it. Just know that a T8 bulb doesn't fit into a T5 fixture and vice versa.