New 3 month old beardie hiding all day

[Fujimom]

Hi, I am new to the reptile world and we got a 3 month old baby beardie. He lives in a 40gal tank sectioned off so he lives in 3/4 of it. Other side is empty with just reptile carpet. I have checked multiple times and we have the correct uvb bulb and 100 watt heat lamp, the basking and cool temps are appropriate. We are feeding veggies and Dubia roaches dusted in calcium vitD. The first 2-3 days I moved him to the empty side to feed him his roaches so I could see how many he ate and watched him eat 3-4 twice a day. I also gave him a soak twice in the first week. By day 4-7 he would no longer eat the roaches in front of us on the empty side so we would leave the room and come back to less roaches so assumed he was eating them. He was also basking. He didn’t touch his veggies until day 3 or 4 but then started nibbling them in secret. He was pooping also. On day 7 I put him to soak in order to clean his tank and discovered like 25 roaches living under his ceramic tiles. (They crawled over the barrier) So apparently he wasn’t eating nearly as many as I thought.
Only thing I can think of is we handled him too much the first week. I didn’t know we weren’t supposed to touch them. The last 2 days I have not touched him at all and he has hid in his cave all day. He has not basked at all. I saw him eat one single roach and some of his veggies look picked at. There are about 3 roaches in his decorated side of the tank that ran and hid. How do you feed them in their tank and get the uneaten roaches out??

We are worried because He does not want to come out of hiding. We’ve had him 8 days. Can anyone tell me if this is normal? Or any tips? Do I reach in and remove him from his cave again to feed and bask or just leave him alone?

 

[Sadie]

Hi, I am new to the reptile world and we got a 3 month old baby beardie. He lives in a 40gal tank sectioned off so he lives in 3/4 of it. Other side is empty with just reptile carpet. I have checked multiple times and we have the correct uvb bulb and 100 watt heat lamp, the basking and cool temps are appropriate. We are feeding veggies and Dubia roaches dusted in calcium vitD. The first 2-3 days I moved him to the empty side to feed him his roaches so I could see how many he ate and watched him eat 3-4 twice a day. I also gave him a soak twice in the first week. By day 4-7 he would no longer eat the roaches in front of us on the empty side so we would leave the room and come back to less roaches so assumed he was eating them. He was also basking. He didn’t touch his veggies until day 3 or 4 but then started nibbling them in secret. He was pooping also. On day 7 I put him to soak in order to clean his tank and discovered like 25 roaches living under his ceramic tiles. (They crawled over the barrier) So apparently he wasn’t eating nearly as many as I thought.
Only thing I can think of is we handled him too much the first week. I didn’t know we weren’t supposed to touch them. The last 2 days I have not touched him at all and he has hid in his cave all day. He has not basked at all. I saw him eat one single roach and some of his veggies look picked at. There are about 3 roaches in his decorated side of the tank that ran and hid. How do you feed them in their tank and get the uneaten roaches out??

We are worried because He does not want to come out of hiding. We’ve had him 8 days. Can anyone tell me if this is normal? Or any tips? Do I reach in and remove him from his cave again to feed and bask or just leave him alone?

The dragon should be basking at least 4 hrs a day if not longer - I see only stick on gauges - are you using any other temp readers? Surface basking temps should be taken w/ a digital probe thermometer- and they should be 100-110 - uvb should be a long tube fixture placed in the tank directly over a piece of basking decor - I can recommend 3 good uvb's not all are good ones

 

[Fujimom]

We also used a digital thermometer my husband uses for greenhouse (not a probe) and it was in that range at the top of his stick perch. UVB is a slimline bar with this bulb .but it is on top of the screen as pictured. Not sure how to even have it inside enclosure. I know that he needs to bask but trying to figure out why he is hiding. Trying to see if he’s scared. Do they hide or they are handled too much?

 

[Sadie]

We also used a digital thermometer my husband uses for greenhouse (not a probe) and it was in that range at the top of his stick perch. UVB is a slimline bar with this bulb View attachment 37450 .but it is on top of the screen as pictured. Not sure how to even have it inside enclosure. I know that he needs to bask but trying to figure out why he is hiding. Trying to see if he’s scared. Do they hide or they are handled too much?

Ok the UVB is ok but it has to be in the tank - the screen is blocking 30% of those rays and if there is a cover on the fixture its blocking even more - please get it moved into the tank use these https://www.homedepot.com/p/Commerc...Zip-Ties-20-Pack-UV-Black-GT-200STH/315487230
it needs to be 6-8 inches directly above the basking decor piece - he should not be hiding -- does he bask at all? And hes not eating it sounds like this is not good - he will go thru relocation stress but he should be eating something--- please no more bathing him its stressing him out too much - drop water on his nose see if he will lick keep offering water to him every few days but we need to get him to eat -- and the only way to do that is to get his UVB on par and his surface basking temps on par please get a probe temp - you can find them at PetSmart/ Petco Zoo Med makes them - I would open that 40 gallon tank up so he can go to a side where its cooler the way its set up he has no cool area - daytime 80ish cool side -- hot side ambient around 100 and surface basking temps 105-110-- he needs time to acclimate to his tank and surroundings I would suggest only handling him in the tank for like 5 min at a time - start hand taming him w/ BSFL you can use them as salad lures - but until you get all the temps and UVB on par he wont eat - the UVB is what helps him absorb/ synthesize the calcium he is going to get from the UVB and dusting his insects 5 x per week ONCE per feeding lightly coated please no insects should look like powdered donuts - the roaches are a good staple insect - here are some websites for you
salad bowl good for the BSFL https://www.amazon.com/Reptile-Food-Bowl-Dish-Anti-Escape/dp/B07VRQ369N?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
BSFL www.symtonbsf.com
nutrition website http://www.beautifuldrahgons.com/Nutrition.html ignore the kale info its outdated
he also needs vitamins w/ beta carotene 2 x per week ONCE per feeding lightly coated on his insects

https://www.petsmart.com/reptile/environmental-control-and-lighting/humidity-and-temperature-control/zoo-med-reptile-terrarium-digital-thermometer-14914.html

I recommend you upgrade the T8 to this https://www.petsmart.com/reptile/en...-t5-100-high-output-terrarium-hood-86817.html

 

[Fujimom]

Ok the UVB is ok but it has to be in the tank - the screen is blocking 30% of those rays and if there is a cover on the fixture its blocking even more - please get it moved into the tank use these https://www.homedepot.com/p/Commerc...Zip-Ties-20-Pack-UV-Black-GT-200STH/315487230
it needs to be 6-8 inches directly above the basking decor piece - he should not be hiding -- does he bask at all? And hes not eating it sounds like this is not good - he will go thru relocation stress but he should be eating something--- please no more bathing him its stressing him out too much - drop water on his nose see if he will lick keep offering water to him every few days but we need to get him to eat -- and the only way to do that is to get his UVB on par and his surface basking temps on par please get a probe temp - you can find them at PetSmart/ Petco Zoo Med makes them - I would open that 40 gallon tank up so he can go to a side where its cooler the way its set up he has no cool area - daytime 80ish cool side -- hot side ambient around 100 and surface basking temps 105-110-- he needs time to acclimate to his tank and surroundings I would suggest only handling him in the tank for like 5 min at a time - start hand taming him w/ BSFL you can use them as salad lures - but until you get all the temps and UVB on par he wont eat - the UVB is what helps him absorb/ synthesize the calcium he is going to get from the UVB and dusting his insects 5 x per week ONCE per feeding lightly coated please no insects should look like powdered donuts - the roaches are a good staple insect - here are some websites for you
salad bowl good for the BSFL https://www.amazon.com/Reptile-Food-Bowl-Dish-Anti-Escape/dp/B07VRQ369N?tag=exoticpetnetw-20
BSFL www.symtonbsf.com
nutrition website http://www.beautifuldrahgons.com/Nutrition.html ignore the kale info its outdated
he also needs vitamins w/ beta carotene 2 x per week ONCE per feeding lightly coated on his insects

https://www.petsmart.com/reptile/environmental-control-and-lighting/humidity-and-temperature-control/zoo-med-reptile-terrarium-digital-thermometer-14914.html

I recommend you upgrade the T8 to this https://www.petsmart.com/reptile/en...-t5-100-high-output-terrarium-hood-86817.html

Thank you for the info. We opened up the entire tank to him and he has a cool cave on the other side now. The UVB I got specifically says for use on top of the screen because it’s strong enough even with the loss of rays. The temperatures are consistently in the right range. The last couple days we put him on his perch and he basked most of the day, changing positions a few times. We got the bowl that keeps things from crawling out. The problem is he doesn’t want to eat except for some veggies. I just got smaller crickets yesterday and he didn’t touch them. I also got Rapashy grub pie and he doesn’t seem interested in that either. He continues to poop however so he is eating something. I just don’t understand why he doesn’t want the bugs or the protein.

 

[Sadie]

Thank you for the info. We opened up the entire tank to him and he has a cool cave on the other side now. The UVB I got specifically says for use on top of the screen because it’s strong enough even with the loss of rays. The temperatures are consistently in the right range. The last couple days we put him on his perch and he basked most of the day, changing positions a few times. We got the bowl that keeps things from crawling out. The problem is he doesn’t want to eat except for some veggies. I just got smaller crickets yesterday and he didn’t touch them. I also got Rapashy grub pie and he doesn’t seem interested in that either. He continues to poop however so he is eating something. I just don’t understand why he doesn’t want the bugs or the protein.

T8's cannot go thru screen they are not strong enough - please get it moved into the tank - this is a good reason why hes not eating --- he cannot absorb/ synthesize the calcium your feeding him and w/ lack of correct UVB rays hes getting sick - he is developing MBD --

 

[Fujimom]

T8's cannot go thru screen they are not strong enough - please get it moved into the tank - this is a good reason why hes not eating --- he cannot absorb/ synthesize the calcium your feeding him and w/ lack of correct UVB rays hes getting sick - he is developing MBD --

Ok couple questions. Is a t5 better to go through screens? Or is 15 watt not strong enough? We can’t figure out how to get the light mounted in the tank because it needs to be over his basking area and then it will only be a couple inches above him.. that seems too close. The basking perch has to be that high to be the right distance from the basking bulb.

 

[Sadie]

Ok couple questions. Is a t5 better to go through screens? Or is 15 watt not strong enough? We can’t figure out how to get the light mounted in the tank because it needs to be over his basking area and then it will only be a couple inches above him.. that seems too close. The basking perch has to be that high to be the right distance from the basking bulb.

A T 5 is better than a T 8 and is always recommended for a 40 + gallon tank - the T 5 would need to go into the tank beings the screen looks to me like a fine mesh type - your distance for that would be 12-15 inches directly over a piece of basking decor - it is optimal to have the basking and UVB next to one another but not necessary the dragon is going to go to the light he needs - no back walls for the UVB place in the center of the tank or towards the front or have the UVB sit width wise if you like as long as he can get directly under it w/ the distance posted - here is something you can use to hang w/ https://www.homedepot.com/p/8-in-Ex...-Zip-Ties-100-Pack-Red-GT-8STHRD100/329881347 look for something like this -- the T 5 expiration date is approx 12 months I always recommend changing them out at 10-11 -- unless your using a Solar Meter then it will tell you the UVI index the bulb is putting out - I dont use them I just change my bulbs out every 10 months or so