Excessive Hiding for my Bearded Dragon

[QueenPineapple]

Heyo guys,

This is a doozy that has been wildly stressing me out. I have my 4.5-year-old bearded dragon female that the past week or so has been very stubbornly hiding in her large hide.
Pumpkin (my bearded dragon) has always been the lazy sorts. Even when she gets a clean bill of health from her veterinarian she is just a lazy one. So I usually don't worry. But she has been in her hide sleeping more often than she has been awake and out basking lately.

Basic Husbandry...
The basking spot is107, the cool spot is 83. With obviously a gradient between.
Humidity stays around 32-38.
Paper towel substrate that is cleaned often.
Fed a diet of greens (sprayed with water and dusted with bee pollen) 6 times a week.
Roaches 1-2 times a week (with calcium).
She has a UVB tube light and I turned it off a few days to see if maybe it somehow was bothering her eyes despite being mounted at the recommended height, but it changed nothing.

She has no darkening marks, no marks on her belly to indicate stress, she still is eating her food but I generally have to coax her to eat her greens. Wiggle them around, encourage her to come out of her hide (which she will do if I show her the tongs I feed her with), and so forth. She still has her normal bowel movements. And she does not look like she is gravid and looking to dig/lay eggs.

The frustrating thing is I cannot go to the vet. Despite my constant quarantining for MONTHS, my father decided to go on a personal trip and got sick with COVID which he brought home to me. While I am pushing through horrible fevers, exhaustion, dizziness, and goodness you do not want to know how bad I feel... I am also worried about my bearded dragon. She is my baby girl. Do any of you guys have ideas or suggestions? It is going to be weeks before I can ever get her to a vet...

 

[Curry’s owner]

How big is her enclosure? Your lighting sounds correct but is your uvb close to her basking spot? Is the cage over all bright? I found this great blog about tank set up I’ll attach in a separate post here.

 

[Curry’s owner]

https://reptifiles.com/bearded-dragon-care-packet/bearded-dragon-temperatures-uvb/

 

[Sadie]

Heyo guys,

This is a doozy that has been wildly stressing me out. I have my 4.5-year-old bearded dragon female that the past week or so has been very stubbornly hiding in her large hide.
Pumpkin (my bearded dragon) has always been the lazy sorts. Even when she gets a clean bill of health from her veterinarian she is just a lazy one. So I usually don't worry. But she has been in her hide sleeping more often than she has been awake and out basking lately.

Basic Husbandry...
The basking spot is107, the cool spot is 83. With obviously a gradient between.
Humidity stays around 32-38.
Paper towel substrate that is cleaned often.
Fed a diet of greens (sprayed with water and dusted with bee pollen) 6 times a week.
Roaches 1-2 times a week (with calcium).
She has a UVB tube light and I turned it off a few days to see if maybe it somehow was bothering her eyes despite being mounted at the recommended height, but it changed nothing.

She has no darkening marks, no marks on her belly to indicate stress, she still is eating her food but I generally have to coax her to eat her greens. Wiggle them around, encourage her to come out of her hide (which she will do if I show her the tongs I feed her with), and so forth. She still has her normal bowel movements. And she does not look like she is gravid and looking to dig/lay eggs.

The frustrating thing is I cannot go to the vet. Despite my constant quarantining for MONTHS, my father decided to go on a personal trip and got sick with COVID which he brought home to me. While I am pushing through horrible fevers, exhaustion, dizziness, and goodness you do not want to know how bad I feel... I am also worried about my bearded dragon. She is my baby girl. Do any of you guys have ideas or suggestions? It is going to be weeks before I can ever get her to a vet...

I am sorry your so sick that is a awful illness---- I am hoping you recover soon
as far as the dragon - do you have the UVB inside the tank or on top of screen mesh -- is the tube in a fixture w/ a reflector? These are a very important things -- if you can post a pic of the tank and lighting we can better help you - what brand and bulb of UVB are you using distance plays a key role here

 

[QueenPineapple]

Thanks for the replying!

I am sorry your so sick that is a awful illness---- I am hoping you recover soon
as far as the dragon - do you have the UVB inside the tank or on top of screen mesh -- is the tube in a fixture w/ a reflector? These are a very important things -- if you can post a pic of the tank and lighting we can better help you - what brand and bulb of UVB are you using distance plays a key role here

Thank you for replying. It is on a mesh top and is 13 inches or so away. I'm using the Reptisun T5 HO pretty sure the bulb I currently have in there is the 10. I know my replacement tube I have on standby is also a 10. It is not in the typical 'hood' type holder but I do think it still has the reflective lining inside it is just a low profile holder.

The reason I am skeptical thattl the light is the issue is she has used this light for nearly an entire year with no issue. Even when she climbs to her highest point on her UVB side I do not notice her to be squinting.

However, I may have been overzealous in my worrying as so far all of today she has been out and hanging out on her hammock and even ate her greens all on her own.

I do have some pictures ofthe enclosure attached.

 

[QueenPineapple]

https://reptifiles.com/bearded-dragon-care-packet/bearded-dragon-temperatures-uvb/

That is extremely helpful thank you! I do believe I read this before through the forum here. I posted pictures above ofthe tank but she has been out all day today and ate on her own so maybe she was just being moody for a few days.

Since I have been sick I haven't been cuddling her... maybe she was sulking. I do not think her lighting is cause for the hiding since she has had it for so long and I've never noticed her squinting or hiding from it before.

It could be I was overzealous in my worrying.

 

[Sadie]

Thanks for the replying!


Thank you for replying. It is on a mesh top and is 13 inches or so away. I'm using the Reptisun T5 HO pretty sure the bulb I currently have in there is the 10. I know my replacement tube I have on standby is also a 10. It is not in the typical 'hood' type holder but I do think it still has the reflective lining inside it is just a low profile holder.

The reason I am skeptical thattl the light is the issue is she has used this light for nearly an entire year with no issue. Even when she climbs to her highest point on her UVB side I do not notice her to be squinting.

However, I may have been overzealous in my worrying as so far all of today she has been out and hanging out on her hammock and even ate her greens all on her own.

I do have some pictures ofthe enclosure attached.
View attachment 23217
View attachment 23218

If your uvb is a year or older it is worn out--- T 5's need to be changed out every year usually a month before- and if that screen is a fine mesh-- like a screen door it's blocking 30% of the rays-- if it's wide holed like a dime it's fine but the distance should be 8-10 inches-- if you haft to get it in the tank distance should be 12-15 inches--

 

[QueenPineapple]

I double checked my calendar and you're right my phone just didnt notify me I should change my bulb. (I put a notification to go off every 6 months)

I will change out to my new tube but do you think mounting it inside the tank (or on the bottom of the mesh) will help? I was worried about the light being too much or too bright for her so I've always left it on top of the mesh.

 

[Sadie]

I double checked my calendar and you're right my phone just didnt notify me I should change my bulb. (I put a notification to go off every 6 months)

I will change out to my new tube but do you think mounting it inside the tank (or on the bottom of the mesh) will help? I was worried about the light being too much or too bright for her so I've always left it on top of the mesh.

How tall is your tank?

 

[QueenPineapple]

How tall is your tank?

Roughly.20 inches tall not counting lid/sliding mesh top.

 

[Sadie]

Roughly.20 inches tall not counting lid/sliding mesh top.

So you have room- 12-15 inches directly above the basking decor-- if you need help w/ hanging it let me know I can post things to hang

 

[QueenPineapple]

I already have some fixtures, actually, that I had got when I first purchased the light and thought about mounting it in the back. But then got nervous about it being too much/too bright and didn't. So I will use that when I change the bulb. Hopefully she continues to remain out and in better spirits like today!

 

[Sadie]

I already have some fixtures, actually, that I had got when I first purchased the light and thought about mounting it in the back. But then got nervous about it being too much/too bright and didn't. So I will use that when I change the bulb. Hopefully she continues to remain out and in better spirits like today!

There is a reflector on the fixture correct ? It will be the shiny thing behind the bulb looks like tinfoil

 

[QueenPineapple]

There is a reflector on the fixture correct ? It will be the shiny thing behind the bulb looks like tinfoil

Yes, it has a reflector.

 

[Curry’s owner]

The bulb should be mounted inside her tank. I just poked holes through the mesh and used zip ties to hold it in place.
I’ve read that bearded like it bright. Ours is in a 55” tank with a22” t5 10.0, a basking bulb of 150 watt next to a bulb of 50 Watt. Then another 59 watt on the other side an a 60 watt just led lightbulb.
her basking spot should be stone also to heat up her belly.
before this set up our bear dies would have days that he’s hide all day and really wasn’t very active. Now he spends lots of time digging in his clay!!

 

[QueenPineapple]

The bulb should be mounted inside her tank. I just poked holes through the mesh and used zip ties to hold it in place.
I’ve read that bearded like it bright. Ours is in a 55” tank with a22” t5 10.0, a basking bulb of 150 watt next to a bulb of 50 Watt. Then another 59 watt on the other side an a 60 watt just led lightbulb.
her basking spot should be stone also to heat up her belly.
before this set up our bear dies would have days that he’s hide all day and really wasn’t very active. Now he spends lots of time digging in his clay!!

Thank you! I will mount her light inside the tank and see if it helps her. Her basking spot is stone and she also has some nice natural slate to sprawl on too. But she still seems to enjoy her natural fiber hammock the most.

 

[REX-BEARDY]

Thank you! I will mount her light inside the tank and see if it helps her. Her basking spot is stone and she also has some nice natural slate to sprawl on too. But she still seems to enjoy her natural fiber hammock the most.

yes, my dragon Rex loves his hammock too.

 

[Curry’s owner]

No problem. It has taken me this year and a half to finally figure this all out! By the alway, your dragon looks just like ours!!

 

[Julee1971]

Heyo guys,

This is a doozy that has been wildly stressing me out. I have my 4.5-year-old bearded dragon female that the past week or so has been very stubbornly hiding in her large hide.
Pumpkin (my bearded dragon) has always been the lazy sorts. Even when she gets a clean bill of health from her veterinarian she is just a lazy one. So I usually don't worry. But she has been in her hide sleeping more often than she has been awake and out basking lately.

Basic Husbandry...
The basking spot is107, the cool spot is 83. With obviously a gradient between.
Humidity stays around 32-38.
Paper towel substrate that is cleaned often.
Fed a diet of greens (sprayed with water and dusted with bee pollen) 6 times a week.
Roaches 1-2 times a week (with calcium).
She has a UVB tube light and I turned it off a few days to see if maybe it somehow was bothering her eyes despite being mounted at the recommended height, but it changed nothing.

She has no darkening marks, no marks on her belly to indicate stress, she still is eating her food but I generally have to coax her to eat her greens. Wiggle them around, encourage her to come out of her hide (which she will do if I show her the tongs I feed her with), and so forth. She still has her normal bowel movements. And she does not look like she is gravid and looking to dig/lay eggs.

The frustrating thing is I cannot go to the vet. Despite my constant quarantining for MONTHS, my father decided to go on a personal trip and got sick with COVID which he brought home to me. While I am pushing through horrible fevers, exhaustion, dizziness, and goodness you do not want to know how bad I feel... I am also worried about my bearded dragon. She is my baby girl. Do any of you guys have ideas or suggestions? It is going to be weeks before I can ever get her to a vet...

Hi; a Temp of 107 for an adult Beardie is way too high; needs to be 100 is actually perfect either raise the light or get a lower basking platform and get the temp down to 100 maximum 102 but not any higher. Remember in the summer it gets sky high the temp so u have to monitor. If she doesn’t bask she can’t eat they need to be warm for at least an hour before feeding. Try that and this will help and most importantly your Beardie needs calcium ASAP dusted on her protein or greens 5 times a week. Calcium is what gives them strong bones, otherwise she will get MBD and needs a vet ASAP. In the meantime give her a bath twice a week or more to get her to poop and hydrate her and give her lots of water. Never heard of bee pollen that’s just to get them to eat their greens. Also she needs more protein that only 1-2 times a week. Protein everyday; at least 20 large crickets per day minimum and or Dubia Roaches w/calcium. U can also give her a hornworm a day a big one or some super worms 5-6 or more per day she will love those and will eat. It’s highbin fate so maybe give the hornworms 1-2 per day for a few weeks after u get the temp downa dm age basks. To get her to eat, she has to have the heat temp correct and then place her in her basking spot after u get it to 100. The uvb needs to be the long tubular Reptisun 10.0 T5 & should be placed at the back of the tank beginning with that hot side & should cover 70 prcnt of the tank. The heat lamp should be a clear bulb tyoically ZooMed and placed more to the front at least 8 inches away so when she basks she gets UVb but her basking spot should not be closer than 12inches from the uvb. Also, NO colored bulbs it burns their eyes; of u have any remove it and at nite they like pure dark so no bulbs ever at nite unless in the winter it gets cold u can buy a ceramic Heat emitter. Greens should be dandelions, mustard and collard greens With snap peas and yellow squash and endives. If you are doign spinach-Stop it binds to the the calcium in her body and is horrible for them.

 

[Julee1971]

How big is her enclosure? Your lighting sounds correct but is your uvb close to her basking spot? Is the cage over all bright? I found this great blog about tank set up I’ll attach in a separate post here.

The temp of 107 is insane for adults; 100 is perfect maximum 102 also Beardie needs calcium 5times per week and way more protein and no spinach it binds to the calcium. And no colored bulbs ever it burns their eyes did u read whats she wrote?