How do I know if my girl is pregnant

[Billie]

I have a femal bearded dragon, and I honestly can’t tell you how old she is, she is around 9-10 months old though. She was eating very good and eating a lot, and sleeps on these leaves suction cuped to the wall. Starting today, she didn’t eat anything, I fed her in the morning, she didn’t eat any of it for hours i emptied it and gave her more and she still didn’t eat it. About an hour before her light turned off for the night, she was laying flat on the ground, which she never does, she is always on her basking branch or her leaves. Then the light turned off and she starts trying to dig at her carpet. I looked up signs of pregnancy, and it says these are signs but how am I sure?

 

[Billie]

Just in case it matters these are the lights I’m using

 

[PatsyB]

So the UVB is the problem. Coil bulbs are horrible for bearded dragons, they don't provide enough coverage, your dragon would have to be about 2 inches from the bulb for any benefit and they can cause eye problems. I recommend the T5 size tube bulbs.

What size tank is she in? What are her temps and what are you measuring them with?

 

[Hdrydr31]

Having the proper UVB is very important as stated above. With the proper UVB her appetite should pick back up.
All dragons will dig at their flooring especially at night time as they are "digging" as in nature they would dig a hole to sleep in. So your dragon could just be doing that.

 

[Billie]

So the UVB is the problem. Coil bulbs are horrible for bearded dragons, they don't provide enough coverage, your dragon would have to be about 2 inches from the bulb for any benefit and they can cause eye problems. I recommend the T5 size tube bulbs.

What size tank is she in? What are her temps and what are you measuring them with?

She has a 20 gallon tank, she’s not that big yet but I plan on getting a bigger one soon. Her temps are 100-105 degrees and I’m measuring them with a digital thermometer mounted inside the tank https://reptileslounge.com/products/zoo-med-digital-combo-thermometer-humidity-gauge. And could you give me a link to the correct uvb bulbs please. Thanks

 

[Billie]

Having the proper UVB is very important as stated above. With the proper UVB her appetite should pick back up.
All dragons will dig at their flooring especially at night time as they are "digging" as in nature they would dig a hole to sleep in. So your dragon could just be doing that.

Tjank you for the help. And I know the uvb bulb is very important, its just she started doing all this stuff out of the blue, I haven’t changed the lights or anything, but I will definitely pickup a new uvb bulb.

 

[Hdrydr31]

Tjank you for the help. And I know the uvb bulb is very important, its just she started doing all this stuff out of the blue, I haven’t changed the lights or anything, but I will definitely pickup a new uvb bulb.

Also when was the last time you had her fecal tested for parasites?

 

[Billie]

Also when was the last time you had her fecal tested for parasites?

We haven’t yet, she was handed down to us by a family member, we plan to go sometime in December though.

 

[PatsyB]

Here are some online links to good UVB bulbs. Most people use the Reptisun brand they are rated second to the Arcadia brand. As far as the fixture goes, for my dragons I have the ZooMed T5 fixtures that I bought back before I know what I know now. I really like the fixtures from Reptile Basics. They take up very little space and they can be connected together so if you have multiple tanks near each other you can tether them and then just use one plug to plug them in to the outlet.

Just remember that T5 bulbs are smaller than T8 bulbs or T10 or T12 so you need to buy a fixture to fit the diameter of the bulb you are going to use. T5 bulbs are better because you can mount them on top of mesh so you don't have to figure out how to mount them inside your tank like you do with a T8.

https://www.pangeareptile.com/store/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-uvb-t5.html
https://www.pangeareptile.com/store/arcadia-12-uvb-t5-reptile-bulb.html
https://www.pangeareptile.com/store/t5-uvb-light-fixture.html
https://www.reptilebasics.com/t5-light-fixtures/

 

[Billie]

Here are some online links to good UVB bulbs. Most people use the Reptisun brand they are rated second to the Arcadia brand. As far as the fixture goes, for my dragons I have the ZooMed T5 fixtures that I bought back before I know what I know now. I really like the fixtures from Reptile Basics. They take up very little space and they can be connected together so if you have multiple tanks near each other you can tether them and then just use one plug to plug them in to the outlet.

Just remember that T5 bulbs are smaller than T8 bulbs or T10 or T12 so you need to buy a fixture to fit the diameter of the bulb you are going to use. T5 bulbs are better because you can mount them on top of mesh so you don't have to figure out how to mount them inside your tank like you do with a T8.

https://www.pangeareptile.com/store/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-uvb-t5.html
https://www.pangeareptile.com/store/arcadia-12-uvb-t5-reptile-bulb.html
https://www.pangeareptile.com/store/t5-uvb-light-fixture.html
https://www.reptilebasics.com/t5-light-fixtures/

They only had T8 bulbs at my pet store so picked a couple of those up aswell as a new basking light and lamp.

I have another question tho, sorry I’m kinda new to owning a dragon, I know the critical information but I’m kinda new on behaviours of the dragon. But when I first got her, I bought a uvb and heat lamp kit, and they weren’t the best so she would have to get pretty close to the lamp to get her temp right, I just bought a way more high quality one, will she get stressed out if I redo her tank? I’d remove one thing and add one new thing. She usually uses a log but I bought her a nice sized rock that she can spread out on.

 

[PatsyB]

She shouldn't get stressed with you changing your light. In fact it should be the opposite, she will probably love having the better lights.