Am I missing something?

[Buschman]

Hello all, I joined this forum mainly to ensure that my beardie gets the best possible care that I can give him/her. I recently moved Zeke into a 75G aquarium. He was at first very inquisitive and was seemed to be enjoying his new accommodations. But recently his activity has slowed down. He is almost never out of his hide. I know he comes out sometimes because when I get back from work he's eaten some of his greens. I just want to know if I'm doing something wrong? So what do you guys/gals think? Could it be his lights? I realize his temps might not be as hot as they were when he was in his smaller cage due to the increase in height. Would it be too much trouble to ask what watt bulbs I need to get? He's got a 10.0 uvb bulb as well as two 60watt bulbs for heat. What am I missing? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[Germ]

Sounds like setup & heat issues. You need to get 2 digital thermometers, the type with the wired sensor/probe (Similar to the type shown below), attach/place the sensor of one directly to/on the top of the basking spot, the area closest to the heat bulb, which should be the hottest accessible spot in the enclosure & needs to be in the vicinity of 110F. I fail to see how 2 60W bulbs could possibly heat a 75 gal enclosure to that temp, unless the basking spot is dangerously only a few bare inches from the bulb. The second thermostat sensor needs to be placed low, near or on the floor, on the cool side, the area furthest from the heat bulb, which should be the coolest area of the enclosure & needs to be 80-85F. These are all daytime temps. The Day/Night schedule needs to be consistent, on/off at the same time of the day, every day. An electronic timer is invaluable in controlling this when we can't be around, sleep in or are forgetful. Most of us have found that 12 On, 12 Off works the best for them. Night temps can drop safely as low as 65F. Proper temps are seriously important to enable the proper digestion of their food, along with their overall health & wellbeing.

It appears like you may possibly have other potential setup issues, also. Please post pics of your setup, showing your lighting orientation in relation to the rest of the setup, along with as much accurate specific info about your setup & husbandry as possible. For example, accurate temps - both basking & cool side, type/brand/wattage of the UVB bulb, distance of the UVB bulb from the basking spot, screen or no screen, type of substrate, diet & feeding schedule, Day/Night schedule, Night light/heat or not, ambient room temps at night, etc,etc. The more info that you can provide, the more helpful the advice will be. This will help give members a feel for the situation, to help pinpoint existing &/or potential undesirable issues.

Please attentively read over the links provided to you in your introduction thread a few times. There is a wealth of info there, that will give you a better understanding of their needs & care, your BD will thank you for it.

Good Luck

 

[Buschman]

Wow. Thanks for the quick responce. Honestly didn't expect anything until tomorrow afternoon at the earliest. That shows me I'm in the right forum! Thank you very much for your detailed responce I truely appreciate it. Right now he's in a 75G aquarium as previously stated. He's on repticarpet for now but I was contemplating going with play sand after reading the care sheet on this site. There is a mesh screen lid on top of the cage as of now. Which I'm also second guessing. I think what I'm going to do is a lot of research then update this thread after I go out tomorrow and buy higher watt bulbs, sand etc. Thanks again for your speedy and very helpful reply

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Germ]

I have been using everyday Halogen Flood Bulbs for basking light/heat, that I purchase at Home depot, for over a decade. Halogen bulbs provide whiter, brighter light (BDs thrive on bright, White light), more heat per Watt (so are also cheaper to run), great heat penetration into the enclosure. There are so many variables that come into play, but at a guess, with average ambient room temps, a 75W Halogen Flood should bring you into the ball park in a 75 Gal enclosure. Be sure to get some accurate thermometers to monitor your temps with. Proper, accurately measured temps, can not be stressed enough.

You are really lucky to have had your BD survive this long in a 10 gal enclosure. We have had several young BDs die, on this forum alone, from being improperly housed in such a small enclosure that does not allow for a proper heat gradient for them to get in & out of the heat/UVB when needed.

Please post pics of the setup configuration as it is now ...

 

[Buschman]

Here's a picture from last weekend while we were in the process of setting up his cage

 

[Buschman]

The thermometer that's on top ran out of batteries a while ago and I was going to get a replacement(now 2) tomorrow

 

[Buschman]

My Beardie is about the size of the two you see in the first part of your video

 

[Germ]

A 75 gal tank is a tall enclosure, from the pic, I would say that your BD is getting very little UVB if any at all. I would also say that with 60W bulbs that it is not getting any where near the heat needed as setup.

What wattage UVB bulb are you using? When using compact UVB bulbs, it is the 25-26W 10.0 bulb that is required to provide sufficient coverage & even at that, the BD does not appear to have access anywhere near enough to the bulb to be effective.

In that tall enclosure I would suggest getting a cheap under the cabinet fluorescent fixture to fit a UVB tube & mount it inside the enclosure. This way, the BD would have closer access & the screen would not be reflecting/blocking/filtering 50% or so of the useable effective UVB. UVB bulbs have a very limited effective range, not effective as far as the visual light is seen & this limited effective distance dissipates quickly as the bulb ages with use & is why the bulbs must be regularly replaced.

 

[Buschman]

Wow, it's only a 13watt... Ok so, a 75W halogen flood light bulb. Play sand (does it matter the grit? how coarse it is I mean) and a fluorescent light fixture with a 26W uvb bulb.

 

[Noella]

Play sand has large pieces of gravel and grit. It's best to sift the play sand first before letting him into the tank using the tank top. Some heat playsand in the oven. That way no big pieces of gravel and big pieces of grit goes into the tank. (I normally use paper towels and newspaper.) I use play sand in a different container that I'm using as a laybin in case she's ready to lay eggs. (She hasn't shown any restless signs or getting ready to dig.)

 

[Buschman]

Here's the tank setup now. I think it looks tons better now. And I did go ahead and sift the sand. Good thing I checked here before I dumped the whole bag in xD edit: there is going to be a uv light, the bulb I bought today didn't work, I think it was broken due to the rattling when I shook it...

 

[Noella]

Depending on how hot it is in your area, is there a way you can take your dragon outside for natural sunlight? That's the best source of UVB for him and he'll love it.

I get all of my supplies from petmountain.com. They've got reasonable prices for everything there. I use Reptisun 10.0 and Allie seems so happy with her UVB and 75 watt halogen bulbs. (I've got a 45-55 gallon critter tank.) I've been using a combination of infrared light and halogen bulb. I've got to get another halogen bulb soon and waiting for payday as well.

 

[Buschman]

I probably could take him outside. I just would be a nervous wreck the whole time simply because he is (my best guess) a juvie. Should I wait until he get's older/bigger? And at the risk of sounding dumb. How would I keep him from escaping? I have his old 10G tank. Would that work or would it get too hot in there? What with light refracting and all that jazz(I don't know, I barely passed the lighting portion of class )

 

[Buschman]

Now just a quick question, his tail has been up for a while now after putting him in his new enclosure. Is this just a "Hey what's this new place" behavior or should I be concerned?

 

[Noella]

I probably could take him outside. I just would be a nervous wreck the whole time simply because he is (my best guess) a juvie. Should I wait until he get's older/bigger? And at the risk of sounding dumb. How would I keep him from escaping? I have his old 10G tank. Would that work or would it get too hot in there? What with light refracting and all that jazz(I don't know, I barely passed the lighting portion of class )

I had Allie fitted with a small harness at Petland. I don't go there anymore. She'll need a new one soon because the rope's starting to look a little frazzled.

Germ has some on his new site for sale and you might find one for sale on ebay and maybe somewhere on here.

The glass to your tank may filter out the important UVB.

 

[Noella]

Now just a quick question, his tail has been up for a while now after putting him in his new enclosure. Is this just a "Hey what's this new place" behavior or should I be concerned?

Stressed from moving from one tank to the next. He's probably going through some relocation stress so you'll have to give him time to acclimate to his new enclosure before touching him or moving him around. I'd hold off taking him outside then until he's used to his new home.

 

[Buschman]

Ah. He seems to be settling in, I came in to him basking atop the stones. Basking temps are about 97-98 degrees. Is that ok or do I need to look at getting him closer to the light? Also, any tips on how to get a deep dome bulb to fit in a regular light housing without buying a new fixture? Would I be able to but some of the mesh top and stick the bulb in through that? Does that make sense? I'm sorry if it doesn't lol.

 

[Noella]

Ah. He seems to be settling in, I came in to him basking atop the stones. Basking temps are about 97-98 degrees. Is that ok or do I need to look at getting him closer to the light? Also, any tips on how to get a deep dome bulb to fit in a regular light housing without buying a new fixture? Would I be able to but some of the mesh top and stick the bulb in through that? Does that make sense? I'm sorry if it doesn't lol.

The temps are still too low. Up the temps with a halogen flood bulb from GE or Philips. (I had to buy two new fixtures because the deep dome I had burned out the elements inside the lamps. It was horrible.) I went out and bought those metal clamp lamps found at WalMart. Since they're silver and reflective, I get a hot basking spot that Allie loves.

I've seen some homemade enclosures that have the fixture inside the tanks and they're pointed directly at the basking spot. I don't really have my fixtures in Allie's tank, but on top of the mesh.

 

[Noella]

I've propped up the basking log up on a habba hut to get her as close to the basking lights as possible. She's not looking too pleased when I took this photo either. And she pushes the basking log off the habba hut when she's annoyed. It's fixed.

I've got an Infrared Light and a Halogen flood Lamp on the right side and the UVB across the tank, on her hotside.

 

[Noella]

Top Lights and Basking Log