Hi my name is Trish, we just bought a 2 year old female bearded dragon for our son, I have a few questions....first of all the temp in her tank seems on the low side only about 80 we have a dome light with a 150 w bulb, she is eating but very little she ate 1 cricket this morning and some veggies last night she hasn't touched her veggies today, and looks at the super worms like they are a nuisance rather than something to eat, she is also very still, I am assuming that she is cold therefore a little lethargic and as the temp in her home increases so will her appetite and movement. At this point any advise would be greatly appreciated.
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Hello from Canada
- Thread starter Triciag
- Start date
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- 1,122
- Location
- Mungi's World- Dayton,Ohio
Welcome to the BDF Community! Glad to have you aboard!!
- Messages
- 1,122
- Location
- Mungi's World- Dayton,Ohio
@Trish
Will need some more information from you in order to assess the situation and get you the best advice.
I am going to give you some very informative links for you to read through that will contain most of the answers on what your dragon requires and how you can properly care for her.
One thing to remember is that bearded dragons are very sensitive to environmental changes. Sometimes even the slightest change in there environment will stress them out. The first thing they and most reptiles do when stressed is to be still and not eat. It can take 10 or more days for a dragon to acclimate to that change and resume "normal" behaviors.
You stated that ya'll had recently just gotten her so that could be part of the problem. During the acclimation period handling and disturbing your dragon has to be kept to a minimum. A lot of new owners make the mistake of handling them too much in the beginning and it only makes the acclimation period harder and longer.
What type and size enclosure are ya'll housing her in. An adult dragon requires a minimum of a 40 gallon Breeder Tank enclosure.
You dragon will need a basking spot temperature between 100-105 degrees and a cool side temp between 80-85 degrees during the day. These temps need to be maintained accurately and the best way is to purchase 2 digital thermometers that have remote probes. These are inexpensive. If you have a PetSmart near you look in the Aquarium section and you can find them for 9 dollars a piece. The same basic one in the Reptile section runs about 15.
You will need to take one of the thermometer probes and attach it directly to your dragons basking spot and the the other probe attach at the coolest spot in her enclosure. Again..she needs 100-105 degrees at the basking spot and 80-85 at the coolest spot. Here daytime lighting should be set on timers and you can set them for 12 hours on and 12 hours off.
Does she have a UV light also? She will need a 10.0 or 10% UV bulb. The best are the tube type either ReptiGlo or ReptiSun.
At night time she will not need any lights or supplemental heat unless the ambient temps in your home drop below 65 degrees. Dragons need a chance to cool off at night which will slow their metabolism and help them sleep better. If the temps go below 65 degrees then a CHE ceramic heat emitter is the best option as they radiate heat from above and do not give off light.
Posting pictures of your dragon's enclosure and light set-up will be a great help in us helping you get things set up right for your dragon.
Hope this helps and here are those links...if you have any other questions don't be shy about asking..Our community is slam-packed with experienced and enthusiastic "Beardie Folk" that are eager to help
Basic BD Care Sheet - A Place To Start
Bearded Dragon --- Exclusive Care Info Library
Beautiful Dragons Nutrition Chart
Is Bearded Dragon Co-habitation a good plan?
How To Sex A Bearded Dragon
Enjoy!
Mungi's Buddha
Will need some more information from you in order to assess the situation and get you the best advice.
I am going to give you some very informative links for you to read through that will contain most of the answers on what your dragon requires and how you can properly care for her.
One thing to remember is that bearded dragons are very sensitive to environmental changes. Sometimes even the slightest change in there environment will stress them out. The first thing they and most reptiles do when stressed is to be still and not eat. It can take 10 or more days for a dragon to acclimate to that change and resume "normal" behaviors.
You stated that ya'll had recently just gotten her so that could be part of the problem. During the acclimation period handling and disturbing your dragon has to be kept to a minimum. A lot of new owners make the mistake of handling them too much in the beginning and it only makes the acclimation period harder and longer.
What type and size enclosure are ya'll housing her in. An adult dragon requires a minimum of a 40 gallon Breeder Tank enclosure.
You dragon will need a basking spot temperature between 100-105 degrees and a cool side temp between 80-85 degrees during the day. These temps need to be maintained accurately and the best way is to purchase 2 digital thermometers that have remote probes. These are inexpensive. If you have a PetSmart near you look in the Aquarium section and you can find them for 9 dollars a piece. The same basic one in the Reptile section runs about 15.
You will need to take one of the thermometer probes and attach it directly to your dragons basking spot and the the other probe attach at the coolest spot in her enclosure. Again..she needs 100-105 degrees at the basking spot and 80-85 at the coolest spot. Here daytime lighting should be set on timers and you can set them for 12 hours on and 12 hours off.
Does she have a UV light also? She will need a 10.0 or 10% UV bulb. The best are the tube type either ReptiGlo or ReptiSun.
At night time she will not need any lights or supplemental heat unless the ambient temps in your home drop below 65 degrees. Dragons need a chance to cool off at night which will slow their metabolism and help them sleep better. If the temps go below 65 degrees then a CHE ceramic heat emitter is the best option as they radiate heat from above and do not give off light.
Posting pictures of your dragon's enclosure and light set-up will be a great help in us helping you get things set up right for your dragon.
Hope this helps and here are those links...if you have any other questions don't be shy about asking..Our community is slam-packed with experienced and enthusiastic "Beardie Folk" that are eager to help
Basic BD Care Sheet - A Place To Start
Bearded Dragon --- Exclusive Care Info Library
Beautiful Dragons Nutrition Chart
Is Bearded Dragon Co-habitation a good plan?
How To Sex A Bearded Dragon
Enjoy!
Mungi's Buddha
- Messages
- 4,493
- Location
- North America
What Part of Canada? Sk - here
.@Trish
Will need some more information from you in order to assess the situation and get you the best advice.
I am going to give you some very informative links for you to read through that will contain most of the answers on what your dragon requires and how you can properly care for her.
One thing to remember is that bearded dragons are very sensitive to environmental changes. Sometimes even the slightest change in there environment will stress them out. The first thing they and most reptiles do when stressed is to be still and not eat. It can take 10 or more days for a dragon to acclimate to that change and resume "normal" behaviors.
You stated that ya'll had recently just gotten her so that could be part of the problem. During the acclimation period handling and disturbing your dragon has to be kept to a minimum. A lot of new owners make the mistake of handling them too much in the beginning and it only makes the acclimation period harder and longer.
What type and size enclosure are ya'll housing her in. An adult dragon requires a minimum of a 40 gallon Breeder Tank enclosure.
You dragon will need a basking spot temperature between 100-105 degrees and a cool side temp between 80-85 degrees during the day. These temps need to be maintained accurately and the best way is to purchase 2 digital thermometers that have remote probes. These are inexpensive. If you have a PetSmart near you look in the Aquarium section and you can find them for 9 dollars a piece. The same basic one in the Reptile section runs about 15.
You will need to take one of the thermometer probes and attach it directly to your dragons basking spot and the the other probe attach at the coolest spot in her enclosure. Again..she needs 100-105 degrees at the basking spot and 80-85 at the coolest spot. Here daytime lighting should be set on timers and you can set them for 12 hours on and 12 hours off.
Does she have a UV light also? She will need a 10.0 or 10% UV bulb. The best are the tube type either ReptiGlo or ReptiSun.
At night time she will not need any lights or supplemental heat unless the ambient temps in your home drop below 65 degrees. Dragons need a chance to cool off at night which will slow their metabolism and help them sleep better. If the temps go below 65 degrees then a CHE ceramic heat emitter is the best option as they radiate heat from above and do not give off light.
Posting pictures of your dragon's enclosure and light set-up will be a great help in us helping you get things set up right for your dragon.
Hope this helps and here are those links...if you have any other questions don't be shy about asking..Our community is slam-packed with experienced and enthusiastic "Beardie Folk" that are eager to help
Basic BD Care Sheet - A Place To Start
Bearded Dragon --- Exclusive Care Info Library
Beautiful Dragons Nutrition Chart
Is Bearded Dragon Co-habitation a good plan?
How To Sex A Bearded Dragon
Enjoy!
Mungi's Buddha
Thanks, exactly what I thought really with the change of environment, she is in a 40g tank, she has all the lights, they are the dome type that sit on the mesh, and at night she has a night time bulb for heat, as I said we live in Canada and its snowing although the heating stays on all the time the temp in the house does drop at night time and also as I stated before the tempriture in her tank has not yet reached high enough levels, but I will look into getting the ceramic heater to boost those up a little. Thank you for the links, I will start reading!!!!
Calgary, Ab. We moved here from the Uk 4.5 years ago.
What Part of Canada? Sk - here
- Messages
- 1,122
- Location
- Mungi's World- Dayton,Ohio
@Trish...You're Welcome If you will post some pics of your tank set-up and also how your lights are placed on your screen we can help you get things placed best so that she can get what she needs most efficiently. A 150 watt bulb is extremely high wattage for a 40 gallon tank. A lot of folks including myself use standard household Halogen floodlights in the 50-75 watt range on that size enclosure which is more than ample to get the temps right in most cases...I use a 75watt on our Mungi's 40 gallon Breeder but the light is actually suspended approximately 6 inches above the screen directly over his basking spot...the use of the household Halogen floodlights will also save you some money..they are much cheaper than the "Reptile Bulbs" and put out a clean brite white light and more heat per wattage which saves money on your electric bill too.
Both your UV and Basking lights need to shine down on the basking spot. The reason being that your dragon will spend the majority of it's time on that area and by placing both over that spot will get the most efficient UV which they need for digestion. Also you stated that both your UV and basking bulb are in domes. Since you are placing the UV on top of the screen you need to make sure that the UV bulb is a 26 watt UV bulb. The coil type 10.0 or 10% UV bulbs come in a 13 watt and a 26 watt but the screen will actually block up to 50% of the UV getting to your dragon so you need to use the stronger 26 watt coil bulb. Later on you may want to change and use the tube type 10.0 UV bulb. You can use those and get a cheap 18" under the cabinet mount fixture from somewhere like Walmart usually for around 10 bucks which can be hot-glued to the inside wall of the tank under the screen. This will allow you to place the bulbs to shine over the basking spot easier, will allow your dragon to get full unobstructed UV light and will save you more money again because mounted that way you wont have to replace the bulbs but once per year as opposed to every 6 months for on top of screen mounting.
Have a great day and let me know if you have any more questions...always glad to help
If you will post some pics of your tank set-up and also how your lights are placed on your screen we can help you get things placed best so that she can get what she needs most efficiently. A 150 watt bulb is extremely high wattage for a 40 gallon tank. A lot of folks including myself use standard household Halogen floodlights in the 50-75 watt range on that size enclosure which is more than ample to get the temps right in most cases...I use a 75watt on our Mungi's 40 gallon Breeder but the light is actually suspended approximately 6 inches above the screen directly over his basking spot...the use of the household Halogen floodlights will also save you some money..they are much cheaper than the "Reptile Bulbs" and put out a clean brite white light and more heat per wattage which saves money on your electric bill too.Both your UV and Basking lights need to shine down on the basking spot. The reason being that your dragon will spend the majority of it's time on that area and by placing both over that spot will get the most efficient UV which they need for digestion. Also you stated that both your UV and basking bulb are in domes. Since you are placing the UV on top of the screen you need to make sure that the UV bulb is a 26 watt UV bulb. The coil type 10.0 or 10% UV bulbs come in a 13 watt and a 26 watt but the screen will actually block up to 50% of the UV getting to your dragon so you need to use the stronger 26 watt coil bulb. Later on you may want to change and use the tube type 10.0 UV bulb. You can use those and get a cheap 18" under the cabinet mount fixture from somewhere like Walmart usually for around 10 bucks which can be hot-glued to the inside wall of the tank under the screen. This will allow you to place the bulbs to shine over the basking spot easier, will allow your dragon to get full unobstructed UV light and will save you more money again because mounted that way you wont have to replace the bulbs but once per year as opposed to every 6 months for on top of screen mounting.
Have a great day and let me know if you have any more questions...always glad to help
Thanks again, I have already started looking into the strip lights, when we got her on Monday evening we were told that she came with everything she needed, this of course was not the case so we rushed out and bought the bearded dragon starter kit from petsmart, I know from keeping other pets that these starter kits are less than desirable so started looking at upgrades straight away, one of the reasons I joined a forum was to get the low cost alternatives, I have already replaced the bulb with a halogen spot light and the uv light is right next to it, she seems to be doing well this morning and has climed down from her rock she slept on last night, I will try and get some pictures up on here for you all...
So I thought I would give you guys a little more information on Lizzy and us!!! My son George wanted a lizard after much research we decided on a BD ( with a name like George it had to be a dragon lol) so we decided that and older BD was required, a baby would have been too much work for a 10 year old, so we have been looking at classified ads for a while now and found Lizzy a two year old Dragon, the ad was very detailed she came with enclosure after a few txts back and forth with the owner we decided that she sounded perfect and my husband and George went off to get her, she arrived home in what can only be described as a glass shoe box with a log in it, no lights or heat, and of course it was a bank holiday here on Monday so there was little I could do until Tuesday morning when I rushed out and bought her a BD Starter kit from petsmart, so she has a proper home now all set up ( we had to cope Monday night with a lamp to take the chill off). So she has as I have mentioned in my intro a 40g tank with 3 dome lights, day night and uv, but her tank is yet to reach above 85 in the basking area, I have replaced the night light with another spot light so she has 1 150w 1 95w and her uv lamp all pointed directly at her basking spot, we have replaced the thermomiter that came with the set up thinking that there was something wrong with the old one, especially as from what we have read on here most of you seem to be getting away with a single 75w bulb, she has eaten a bowl of veggies and 1 cricket since we have had her, she seems alert, and moves around but not as much as I think she should, so really my question is what can we do to bump up the temp to what she needs?? Going to be changing her uv to a under mounted one ASAP! And I know that she needs at least 10 days to adjust to her new environment. Really would appreciate some advise.
- Messages
- 1,122
- Location
- Mungi's World- Dayton,Ohio
Trish...If you purchased the starter kit that includes the 40 gallon Breeder tank then I am assuming that it is the Zilla Deluxe XL Bearded Dragon Kit. The plus is that you have the proper size enclosure. The ReptiCarpet is fine to use as is one of the dishes for greens. And the dome fixture for the Basking light will work fine.
The Big issue is that the thermometers that come with that kit will not work and are notorious for giving inaccurate temperature readings so are totally useless to you. What you will need to purchase are two(2) digital thermometers with remote probes. You can get those at Petsmart as well but look for them in the Aquarium Section. Reason being that they are a little cheaper there than they are in the Reptile Section. They should be about 9 bucks USD each. One of these thermometers needs to be used for the Basking temp and the probe needs to be attached directly to the Basking Spot itself. If it is not mounted as such you will get an incorrect read. The 2nd thermometer's probe needs to be attached direct to the coolest spot in your enclosure.
These types of thermometers are the only ones that are feasible to use in this type of tank setup.
With a 150 watt and a 95 watt light both above the basking spot there is no way that the temperatures can be only 85 degrees and is more than likely dangerously high instead. Unless you keep your home extremely cold then normally a 50 watt standard household Halogen floodlight is sufficient to produce enough heat for the basking spot with the basking fixture directly above and sitting on top of the screen. I use a 75 watt standard Household Halogen Floodlight bulb but only because my basking light fixture is suspended approximately 6-7 inches above the screen from a light rack that I use on tank enclosures. The Halogen bulbs produce more heat per watt than the reptile bulbs so that accounts for being able to use the lower wattage. Try going to Walmart or a hardware store and getting a 50 watt standard household halogen floodlight bulb to use instead. They are cheaper and work just as well as the "reptile" bulbs. Also one you buy and attach the proper thermometers you should be able to get the temps correct.
It would also be of great help if you would post pictures of your enclosure because there may be ways to adjust the set up to be more efficient and better for your dragon.
Have a great day!
The Big issue is that the thermometers that come with that kit will not work and are notorious for giving inaccurate temperature readings so are totally useless to you. What you will need to purchase are two(2) digital thermometers with remote probes. You can get those at Petsmart as well but look for them in the Aquarium Section. Reason being that they are a little cheaper there than they are in the Reptile Section. They should be about 9 bucks USD each. One of these thermometers needs to be used for the Basking temp and the probe needs to be attached directly to the Basking Spot itself. If it is not mounted as such you will get an incorrect read. The 2nd thermometer's probe needs to be attached direct to the coolest spot in your enclosure.
These types of thermometers are the only ones that are feasible to use in this type of tank setup.
With a 150 watt and a 95 watt light both above the basking spot there is no way that the temperatures can be only 85 degrees and is more than likely dangerously high instead. Unless you keep your home extremely cold then normally a 50 watt standard household Halogen floodlight is sufficient to produce enough heat for the basking spot with the basking fixture directly above and sitting on top of the screen. I use a 75 watt standard Household Halogen Floodlight bulb but only because my basking light fixture is suspended approximately 6-7 inches above the screen from a light rack that I use on tank enclosures. The Halogen bulbs produce more heat per watt than the reptile bulbs so that accounts for being able to use the lower wattage. Try going to Walmart or a hardware store and getting a 50 watt standard household halogen floodlight bulb to use instead. They are cheaper and work just as well as the "reptile" bulbs. Also one you buy and attach the proper thermometers you should be able to get the temps correct.
It would also be of great help if you would post pictures of your enclosure because there may be ways to adjust the set up to be more efficient and better for your dragon.
Have a great day!
Going to go out in a bit and see about another thermomiter, yes it was the Zilla delux we bought her. Should I be concerned about her not eating a great deal or is that just part of the adjustment period? As for the house being cold no chance, we moved from the Uk to Calgary, as far as I'm concerned I may as well live in the Arctic so being a cold blooded female myself heating is on 24/7...
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- 1,122
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- Mungi's World- Dayton,Ohio
Her not eating much is probably due to a combination of being in a new environment and her temps being off..once you get the temps correct and she has time to get adjusted to her new home and to her new family she should be fine.
Post the pics when you get the chance and like I said there may be some additional adjustments I can suggest to make things better and easier for her. A picture of her set-up inside her enclosure and a picture of how you have her light positioned on to would help immensely
Enjoy your Saturday and I will watch your thread for updates!
Post the pics when you get the chance and like I said there may be some additional adjustments I can suggest to make things better and easier for her. A picture of her set-up inside her enclosure and a picture of how you have her light positioned on to would help immensely
Enjoy your Saturday and I will watch your thread for updates!
Really appreciate all of your advise, will see if I can steel the kids I pod tomorrow to upload some pics for you, went out to pet smart and got a digital thermomiter and it went up to 89 :-(, also purchased a new bulb in the hope that would help, on a plus note she seemed to eat a few more veggies today although she only seems to eat them when I add a little coriander to them, clearly she is all about the presentation and garnishing, she also ate a cricket, she is yet to poop???? Could this be down to temp as well??? I know from reading up that a bath would help with that but do not want to cause her any more stress during her adjustment period.
- Messages
- 1,122
- Location
- Mungi's World- Dayton,Ohio
Yes the temps being off will definitely contribute to her not pooping...the proper heat is an essential part of their digestion process..I wouldn't be overly concerned about her not pooping yet as she has not really eaten a lot and it can take up to three days for food to process even when their temps and stuff are right. It is also not unusual for them to go several days without pooping.
Once I see your light set-up and enclosure set-up I feel certain that we will be able to get the temp situation fixed.
Once I see your light set-up and enclosure set-up I feel certain that we will be able to get the temp situation fixed.
- Messages
- 1,122
- Location
- Mungi's World- Dayton,Ohio
Trish...I don't see any thermometers inside the enclosure. The 2 digital thermometers with remote probes need to be gotten and installed as soon as you can in order to get correct temperature readings.
Try a different arrangement with your furnishings..I would suggest that you swap places with the rock and the driftwood. Place the driftwood directly under the basking and UV lights on the right side of the tank. Then place the rock on the left side . The driftwood will serve as a better basking spot perch and will allow her to get a bit closer to the heat and light.
Also if there is water in that water dish it is not needed in her enclosure and will only serve to raise the humidity level in there which is not good for them.
Once you have the furniture rearrange and you have the digital thermometer I want to to attach one of the thermometer's probes directly to the basking spot where the light directly hits. I use ordinary zip ties to mount them to the perch. Mounting the probe like that will give you the accurate temp at the basking spot which is where you want to have 100-105 degrees Fahrenheit The second theremometer's probe you can mount on the opposite side of the enclosure where the coolest area should be. That one you want to be between 80-85 degrees farenheit.
The placement of the probes in critical to getting thing right.
Let me know what you get for temps once you have it set up like that.
Try a different arrangement with your furnishings..I would suggest that you swap places with the rock and the driftwood. Place the driftwood directly under the basking and UV lights on the right side of the tank. Then place the rock on the left side . The driftwood will serve as a better basking spot perch and will allow her to get a bit closer to the heat and light.
Also if there is water in that water dish it is not needed in her enclosure and will only serve to raise the humidity level in there which is not good for them.
Once you have the furniture rearrange and you have the digital thermometer I want to to attach one of the thermometer's probes directly to the basking spot where the light directly hits. I use ordinary zip ties to mount them to the perch. Mounting the probe like that will give you the accurate temp at the basking spot which is where you want to have 100-105 degrees Fahrenheit The second theremometer's probe you can mount on the opposite side of the enclosure where the coolest area should be. That one you want to be between 80-85 degrees farenheit.
The placement of the probes in critical to getting thing right.
Let me know what you get for temps once you have it set up like that.
Ok that makes more sense! ATM the thermomiter probe is attached to the glass on the basking side you can just make out the white wire, I used the rock on the basking side as I thought it would absurd some of the heat for her but I will take your advise and move it around, the water dishes are empty I was only using them to lift up the log and make a little cave for her if she wanted to hide ( not that she ever uses it). Will get right onto rearranging and report back... Thank you for taking time out of your weekend to help, I really appreciate it.
