Expert Advice on wtf I’m doing wrong

[derp the herp]

My bearded dragon, derpy, is close to one year old and he’s our first dragon but have had him all of his little life. The past few months we have been concerned with his behavior, eating habits, sheddings, and bowel movements. This summer we upgraded him to a 125 gallon tank and since then things have been going down hill. He hasn’t done a full shed since, jeez, I dont even remember when it’s been so long. His eating habits have decreased greatly to the point he’s BARELY eating anything right now. He’s been not having regular bowel movements. He’s been to the vet twice since this summer for lack of bowel movements and they relieve him but nothing really changes when he’s back home. he’s not very active because of everything going on with him. I’m worried and dont know what I’m doing wrong and wanted some help with his environment since that’s what its looking like the issue is. Any advice anyone can provide would be a tremendous help. I’ll tell you about the set up and post some pictures.

Diet: superworms + hornworms. He was eating dubia roaches but for some reason he started to refuse them completely he is also very picky when it comes to veggies and will only eat romaine lettuce but like I mentioned he won’t eat much these days. We sprinkle flukers calcium with d3 on his foods but honestly with the lack of eating he probably hasn’t gotten much of it.

Enclosure: 125 gl. Tank we had to make a lid for it. It’s got three sections, one mesh side with 1/2 inch holes so it’s not blocking too much I hope, and 2 plexiglass sides. On the left side, his hot side, has a 100w mercury vapor bulb in a wire cage sitting on top the meshing and derpy’s basking light because the mercury bulb alone wasn’t keeping his old 40gal tank warm enough and it wouldn’t keep an even bigger tank warm enough either.

We had a 22 inch t5 uvb hanging inside the cage to cover the middle section and on the far right no lighting but we recently decided to move the t5 onto the furthest right side because that’s the only spot he would be on all day and we wanted him to still be getting uvb exposure.

Both bulbs are not very old plus we have a decor item that lets us know if the uvb isn’t working so it’s not bad bulbs.

The hot side stays at about 100 degrees , the middle and cold side about 80-85 degrees. Humidity is anywhere between 30-40 % on all sides.

His substrate is a mixture of sand,soil, and bark. All of them being made for reptiles. I know sand and other loose substrate isn’t a lot of peoples favorite but hes not ingesting it. If I get him to eat it’s by tweezers anyway.

He gets bathed 3+ times a week like his vet said because of dehydration. I can sometimes get him to go to bathroom if he sits in there for a little bit and maybe a gentle tummy massage to help but that doesn’t always work. Not even a little watery fruit gets him going.

I’ve never once seen him go to his water bowl for a drink. It’s always fresh bottled water changed daily. We have to get him hydrated other ways, like baths and using a syringe thing to drop water droplets on his nose. But he never really wants it but I can see him barely open his mouth to test out what it is. He’s very leery of anything in a syringe because we ONE time tricked him to get a medication administered for pinworm parasites but that has since been cleared up and retested again recently.

Ok sorry for the information dump, i tried to cover everything I could think of and probably overshared a little instead but any confusion with what I’ve said can be cleared if you get in touch with me. I really hope someone can help I’ve done everything I could possibly think of.

I can post better pictures later on today but that one is all I had in my album and all lights are out as of now for him.

 

[Sadie]

My bearded dragon, derpy, is close to one year old and he’s our first dragon but have had him all of his little life. The past few months we have been concerned with his behavior, eating habits, sheddings, and bowel movements. This summer we upgraded him to a 125 gallon tank and since then things have been going down hill. He hasn’t done a full shed since, jeez, I dont even remember when it’s been so long. His eating habits have decreased greatly to the point he’s BARELY eating anything right now. He’s been not having regular bowel movements. He’s been to the vet twice since this summer for lack of bowel movements and they relieve him but nothing really changes when he’s back home. he’s not very active because of everything going on with him. I’m worried and dont know what I’m doing wrong and wanted some help with his environment since that’s what its looking like the issue is. Any advice anyone can provide would be a tremendous help. I’ll tell you about the set up and post some pictures.

Diet: superworms + hornworms. He was eating dubia roaches but for some reason he started to refuse them completely he is also very picky when it comes to veggies and will only eat romaine lettuce but like I mentioned he won’t eat much these days. We sprinkle flukers calcium with d3 on his foods but honestly with the lack of eating he probably hasn’t gotten much of it.

Enclosure: 125 gl. Tank we had to make a lid for it. It’s got three sections, one mesh side with 1/2 inch holes so it’s not blocking too much I hope, and 2 plexiglass sides. On the left side, his hot side, has a 100w mercury vapor bulb in a wire cage sitting on top the meshing and derpy’s basking light because the mercury bulb alone wasn’t keeping his old 40gal tank warm enough and it wouldn’t keep an even bigger tank warm enough either.

We had a 22 inch t5 uvb hanging inside the cage to cover the middle section and on the far right no lighting but we recently decided to move the t5 onto the furthest right side because that’s the only spot he would be on all day and we wanted him to still be getting uvb exposure.

Both bulbs are not very old plus we have a decor item that lets us know if the uvb isn’t working so it’s not bad bulbs.

The hot side stays at about 100 degrees , the middle and cold side about 80-85 degrees. Humidity is anywhere between 30-40 % on all sides.

His substrate is a mixture of sand,soil, and bark. All of them being made for reptiles. I know sand and other loose substrate isn’t a lot of peoples favorite but hes not ingesting it. If I get him to eat it’s by tweezers anyway.

He gets bathed 3+ times a week like his vet said because of dehydration. I can sometimes get him to go to bathroom if he sits in there for a little bit and maybe a gentle tummy massage to help but that doesn’t always work. Not even a little watery fruit gets him going.

I’ve never once seen him go to his water bowl for a drink. It’s always fresh bottled water changed daily. We have to get him hydrated other ways, like baths and using a syringe thing to drop water droplets on his nose. But he never really wants it but I can see him barely open his mouth to test out what it is. He’s very leery of anything in a syringe because we ONE time tricked him to get a medication administered for pinworm parasites but that has since been cleared up and retested again recently.

Ok sorry for the information dump, i tried to cover everything I could think of and probably overshared a little instead but any confusion with what I’ve said can be cleared if you get in touch with me. I really hope someone can help I’ve done everything I could possibly think of.

I can post better pictures later on today but that one is all I had in my album and all lights are out as of now for him.

I dont think your doing anything wrong but what I am gonna say is PLEASE NO MORE ENEMAS!!! I am thinking this has been the issue ---- dragons do not do well w/ enemas at all --- how long ago was this and he has had 2 of them????????? Dragons will go to the bathroom on their own w/ the proper surface basking temps - are you getting those w/ a digital probe thermometer?????????? this is what starts digestion if you want him to go to the bathroom feed him some natural laxatives like plain canned pumpkin - unsweetened applesauce or shredded raw sweet potato -- you want those surface basking temps 95-100 and ambient temp around 100 - middle of your tank in the 90's and cool side 80ish-- the UVB should be approx 12-15 inches directly over the basking decor piece -- the UVB is in a fixture w /a reflector correct??? Next please lay off the baths - dragons do need baths that often if at all unless that is the ONLY way you can get them to drink water- rinsing his Romaine before serving or offering water on his nose every 10 days to 2 weeks to see if he will lick would be good -- his urate will tell you if hes dehydrated -- dry chalky looking is a sign of dehydration -- what decor item are you using to tell you about the UVB? I am not aware of such a thing unless your talking about a solar meter-- the humidity your using a digital probe hygrometer??? Analogs are inaccurate and the probe should be placed on the back center wall of the tank -- optimal humidity 40-50 % --- this helps w/ shedding --- and dragons grow at different rates and is a sign of a healthy dragon --

 

[Sadie]

Exo Terra Digital Hygrometer | Dubia.com

Use the Exo Terra Digital Hygrometer to track the humidity levels in your reptile or amphibian terrarium, available here at Dubia.com!

dubiaroaches.com

 

[derp the herp]

I dont think your doing anything wrong but what I am gonna say is PLEASE NO MORE ENEMAS!!! I am thinking this has been the issue ---- dragons do not do well w/ enemas at all --- how long ago was this and he has had 2 of them????????? Dragons will go to the bathroom on their own w/ the proper surface basking temps - are you getting those w/ a digital probe thermometer?????????? this is what starts digestion if you want him to go to the bathroom feed him some natural laxatives like plain canned pumpkin - unsweetened applesauce or shredded raw sweet potato -- you want those surface basking temps 95-100 and ambient temp around 100 - middle of your tank in the 90's and cool side 80ish-- the UVB should be approx 12-15 inches directly over the basking decor piece -- the UVB is in a fixture w /a reflector correct??? Next please lay off the baths - dragons do need baths that often if at all unless that is the ONLY way you can get them to drink water- rinsing his Romaine before serving or offering water on his nose every 10 days to 2 weeks to see if he will lick would be good -- his urate will tell you if hes dehydrated -- dry chalky looking is a sign of dehydration -- what decor item are you using to tell you about the UVB? I am not aware of such a thing unless your talking about a solar meter-- the humidity your using a digital probe hygrometer??? Analogs are inaccurate and the probe should be placed on the back center wall of the tank -- optimal humidity 40-50 % --- this helps w/ shedding --- and dragons grow at different rates and is a sign of a healthy dragon --

I just took him to the vet and figured he was in good hands….frustrating to know that he was not. The first was in the summer and the last was a month and half ago. He’s only gone a handful of times since that last vet visit too. They are also the same ones who told me to bath him that often to get him hydrated. i don’t know who to trust anymore now with his vet care. We had a digital one but it seems to have been lost. We have two on his wall, but I do know that they aren’t the most accurate forms of reading. How can I get him to eat these things? He won’t eat right now. His mega ray bulb is 12 inches over him setting outside on the mesh and his t5 is slightly closer hanging in his cage. (it does have a reflector on it. )

As of now, baths are the only way he’s getting water, he won’t eat romaine right now. I have tried a couple new veggies this week to see if he would eat that but had no luck. His water bowl goes untouched. Not entirely sure about the urate since he's only gone in bathtub the few times he has And it doesn't look like there’s an abundance of it but there’s some still.

we don’t have a meter, I looked into sun meters and they are quite expensive. With all the vet trips i havent had the extra cash to do that For him. We have a log with a patch of something on it that turns purple when exposed to uvb light and when that doesn’t change color you know the bulb needs to be replaced. I’m prepared to hear that its bullshit and not accurate lol

ok so just to be clear can you specifically tell me what steps I need to take to ensure his environment is optimal for him.?


shoudl the uvb go across the whole thing or is the vapor bulb good on hotside and t5 across middle? I need to make it hotter for him in middle as well??

 

[Sadie]

I just took him to the vet and figured he was in good hands….frustrating to know that he was not. The first was in the summer and the last was a month and half ago. He’s only gone a handful of times since that last vet visit too. They are also the same ones who told me to bath him that often to get him hydrated. i don’t know who to trust anymore now with his vet care. We had a digital one but it seems to have been lost. We have two on his wall, but I do know that they aren’t the most accurate forms of reading. How can I get him to eat these things? He won’t eat right now. His mega ray bulb is 12 inches over him setting outside on the mesh and his t5 is slightly closer hanging in his cage. (it does have a reflector on it. )

As of now, baths are the only way he’s getting water, he won’t eat romaine right now. I have tried a couple new veggies this week to see if he would eat that but had no luck. His water bowl goes untouched. Not entirely sure about the urate since he's only gone in bathtub the few times he has And it doesn't look like there’s an abundance of it but there’s some still.

we don’t have a meter, I looked into sun meters and they are quite expensive. With all the vet trips i havent had the extra cash to do that For him. We have a log with a patch of something on it that turns purple when exposed to uvb light and when that doesn’t change color you know the bulb needs to be replaced. I’m prepared to hear that its bullshit and not accurate lol

ok so just to be clear can you specifically tell me what steps I need to take to ensure his environment is optimal for him.?


shoudl the uvb go across the whole thing or is the vapor bulb good on hotside and t5 across middle? I need to make it hotter for him in middle as well??

Ok the Mega Ray is good for heat not so much UVB since its on the screen - the further the Mega Ray is from the basking spot the less the rays for UVB--- its good you have the back up of the T 5 we always recommend a back up UVB but you MUST get it unobstructed so hes getting the adequate rays he needs - I posted earlier for what he needs --- you need to get the digital probe thermometers to get accurate surface basking temps-- he will not eat w/ out all this on par -- make a second basking area for him in the center of the tank w/ temps in the 90's - we never recommend the UVB the same length of the tank -- they need to be able to sit in the tank w/ out hiding from the UVB --- ditch the thing your using for solar ray readings --- the best way to make sure hes getting the correct UVB is placement and distance and changing the UVB bulb out every 10-11 months --- I always mark my calendar when it needs to be changed and I keep extra on hand in case the bulb is faulty--- are you using a Reptisin bulb? Brand makes a difference-- as far as vets go not all vets are good ones sadly I have seen more bad advice given and mistakes maken w/ enemas given and over medicating the dragon at times --- I am thinking he might be suffering from the after effects of the last enema given---- NO more please --- baths will hydrate the dragon IF he is drinking--- offer water on the nose and lay off the baths - see if you can get him to go w/ out bathing so you can see the urate--- this will tell you if hes hydrated -- the dark poop should be formed and moist and the white urate white formed and moist any extra water is good just means hes good and hydrated -- once you get the temps on par and the UVB correctly placed etc he should start eating like a champ unless damage was done at the last enema --- is he sporting a black beard? If so hes in distress or pain one of the two ---

 

[Sadie]

Update on the dragon please