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Sadie

Bearded Dragon Veteran
3 Year Member
1,000+ Post Club
Messages
10,692
The basking light should only be during the day, correct?
Photo period should be 12 hrs on and 12 hrs off ---- NO lights on at nite -- dragons like cool and dark to sleep it metabolizes their system -- temps should not fall below 65 at nite --- if it is you would want to get a CHE - temps above 65 and in the 70's is good at nite
 

BeardieMom2

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
5
Hello! Thorn is a 3.5 year old female bearded dragon. In the past week she has exhibited bizarre behavior that I have never seen before.

She at first began digging all around her tank (which she does often), but then she started acting in other ways I can't seem to find answers to.

She began to randomly head nod in her tank and wave (I know this is normal but she's moving sooo fast and jerky) She would climb down off her basking rock and sprint toward the other side of the enclosure, straight into the wall. Moving so fast and scrammbly. Then she would change direction and run straight into another wall, then hide in that corner under a plant. This seems to be all in a panic...

She seems to act as though she no longer trusts anyone in the house who looks at her or even walks by her. She used to be very polite and love people. But now it seems like she doesn't even recognize us/ seems almost afraid of us?She hissed at me today and showed off her beard when I tried to check in on her.

Her movements seem jerky and spazzy. She seems to be extremely on edge and just sits there staring very blankly...I'm very worried as I have never seen her act this way before.

I took her to the vet last week to get a bump checked out and the vet said everything was fine but that she is overweight. I have cut back on her proteins and she has not been eating much else.

She moved into a 100 gallon tank about a month ago and was absolutely loving it. Please check out her set up in the attached photos. (She does have some new lighting in the tank.
View attachment 24073View attachment 24071View attachment 24072View attachment 24073
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It could be a couple of different things. My first thought is something in or around the tank is stressing her out. Is she able to see a reflection that wasn’t there before? Did you add any new items to the tank? It looks like you have dirt in there, if so, where did you get it? Dirt can house mits so keep an eye out for them. They are tiny like a chigger. Like mentioned before, she could be getting ready to lay eggs. Females can lay infertile eggs. Some of the behaviors she’s presenting is similar to right before she lays her eggs. She will also gain a bit of weight and look very plump. Beardies can lay up to 30 eggs. They eat more than usual then a week prior to laying, they slow down on eating so much and dig like crazy.

I agree with the red lights. Those need to be replaced with white basking bulbs. They come in the wattage you’re using. But make sure your light canister can support the combined wattage. If you exceed the max wattage, it could cause a fire. As long as her highest point she can reach in the basking area reaches around 100F, it’s ok if the bottom does not. She just needs to be able to reach the 100F if she gets to cold. She will move to it or away as she needs to. She also needs a full spectrum UVB light to absorb the calcium and prevent MBD.
 

Julee1971

Juvenile Dragon
3 Year Member
Messages
773
Hello! Thorn is a 3.5 year old female bearded dragon. In the past week she has exhibited bizarre behavior that I have never seen before.

She at first began digging all around her tank (which she does often), but then she started acting in other ways I can't seem to find answers to.

She began to randomly head nod in her tank and wave (I know this is normal but she's moving sooo fast and jerky) She would climb down off her basking rock and sprint toward the other side of the enclosure, straight into the wall. Moving so fast and scrammbly. Then she would change direction and run straight into another wall, then hide in that corner under a plant. This seems to be all in a panic...

She seems to act as though she no longer trusts anyone in the house who looks at her or even walks by her. She used to be very polite and love people. But now it seems like she doesn't even recognize us/ seems almost afraid of us?She hissed at me today and showed off her beard when I tried to check in on her.

Her movements seem jerky and spazzy. She seems to be extremely on edge and just sits there staring very blankly...I'm very worried as I have never seen her act this way before.

I took her to the vet last week to get a bump checked out and the vet said everything was fine but that she is overweight. I have cut back on her proteins and she has not been eating much else.

She moved into a 100 gallon tank about a month ago and was absolutely loving it. Please check out her set up in the attached photos. (She does have some new lighting in the tank.
View attachment 24073View attachment 24071View attachment 24072View attachment 24073
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Hi; First of all REMOVE the red light ASAP; it blinds them and destroys their vision. U should never ever use colored bulbs ever and at nite NO lights just pure Dark. If temp drops below 70 at nite; buy a ceramic heat emitter 60 watt and place it on the side she sleeps on, either to the the left or right of her body because it gets warm/hot. 2ndly, remove the sand or coconut substrate; shes prolly ingesting it; use white terry cloth towels buy a bag from Home Depot or ZenHabitats has an amazing flooring substrate like a matt for $34. Next & most importantly the beardie needs UVB and the only proper one is the Reptisun 10.0 T5 which covers 70 percent of the tank it’s a long tubular bulb placed in the back and the zoomed clear Heat Lamp more in the front right side which is the basking area. The tank should have a 100 watt zoomed CLEAR basking bulb & the Reptisun UVB 10.0 T5 & that’s it. Tremors and running & shaking is MBD, bumping into stuff is impaired vision due to red lights and she also she mite be gravide she needs to lay eggs but tyoically that happens In the summer; you need to buy a white lay plastic container from Lowe’s and play sand and organic soil with little to no fertilizer mix both in the container ans place water ans make it digable like u r gonna build a sand castle so she can lay her eggs; read up on it. Also, Find a new Vet he is not a reptile vet if he did not educate you!! Also diet, only feed large crickets and Dubia roaches sprinkled with RePCAL calcium powder & Herptivite vitamin powder; u sprinkle some of each one 2-4 times a week once per day over the proteins. I place the crickets in a zip lock, make a 1/2 inch slit on the top of calcium & herptivite container and sprinkle over the proteins and shake the bag till they are lightly dusted. DONOT over calcium e Beardie that causes crazy insane health behaviors too. Also; Meal worms destroy their tummy and horn and super Worms are good once in a while but are high in fat content. Also 2 plates of mixed veggies and greens: mustard greens, collard greens, endives, yellow squash, snap peas, and butternut squash are the everyday staple greens/veggies. Fruits once a week or twice; blueberries, papayas ans mangoes only. Fruits are very high in sugar & can be very bad for Beardies. Lastly minimum 2 baths per week for 15min or more in like warm “Dechlorinated” water, chlorine destroys their skin, dries it out and makes them itch like crazy. Buy REPTISAFE and place a few drops for every cup of water in both drinking and bathing water. This will help solve the Beardies issues. If u need more help pleases reach out ASAP & of no improvement find a reptile vet ASAP. Oh and lastly make it comfy in their so basking spot is inder the basking. Light like a soft thick cat pillow or a flat raised basking. Log so he can lay flat and bask oh and get digital thermometers and digital hygrometers. Temp should be 95-98 or so that’s how adult Beardies like it after 1year of age. Humidity 30-40 never ever any higher. Here are pics of my 2beardie tanks. My uvb light covers the entire cage because the last owners gave her no uvb amd I corrected her MBD. I ordered a bigger cage now so bulb will cover 70percent of it. My right dude is basking area and hammock in the back so they have lots of areas to bask high amd low u can get those stuffed animals too from petco jist wash in hot water first.
 

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Julee1971

Juvenile Dragon
3 Year Member
Messages
773
Thank you so much, I just bought these bulbs and will be installing tonight. Any info you have on putting the T8 inside the tank would be great, I do have a spot on the side of the tank where wires can go through but don’t know how to mount the light.
Thanks again so much.
Please read what I posted we rehome & rescue. U can buy the T5 10.0 reptisun amd can place it on top of the enclosure it’s better than the T5; provides more brightness and more uvb which she needs ASAP.
 

Emmadilemma25

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
2
You should get rid of the red light; it will cause eye problems. What do you use for your lighting? Are you certain shes female? Sometimes females get like this when they have eggs in them
I was going to say the same thing with the red light, it just didn’t seem to do allot for our beardie.
Hello! Thorn is a 3.5 year old female bearded dragon. In the past week she has exhibited bizarre behavior that I have never seen before.

She at first began digging all around her tank (which she does often), but then she started acting in other ways I can't seem to find answers to.

She began to randomly head nod in her tank and wave (I know this is normal but she's moving sooo fast and jerky) She would climb down off her basking rock and sprint toward the other side of the enclosure, straight into the wall. Moving so fast and scrammbly. Then she would change direction and run straight into another wall, then hide in that corner under a plant. This seems to be all in a panic...

She seems to act as though she no longer trusts anyone in the house who looks at her or even walks by her. She used to be very polite and love people. But now it seems like she doesn't even recognize us/ seems almost afraid of us?She hissed at me today and showed off her beard when I tried to check in on her.

Her movements seem jerky and spazzy. She seems to be extremely on edge and just sits there staring very blankly...I'm very worried as I have never seen her act this way before.

I took her to the vet last week to get a bump checked out and the vet said everything was fine but that she is overweight. I have cut back on her proteins and she has not been eating much else.

She moved into a 100 gallon tank about a month ago and was absolutely loving it. Please check out her set up in the attached photos. (She does have some new lighting in the tank.
View attachment 24073View attachment 24071View attachment 24072View attachment 24073
View attachment 24071View attachment 24072
I was going to say the same thing with the red light, it just didn’t seem to do allot for our beardie. Also, maybe try giving her a nice long bath to help her settle down? Maybe check to see if the cool side is cool enough as well, maybe she’s too warm or the opposite?
 

Cayla_hobbes

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
10
Hello! Thorn is a 3.5 year old female bearded dragon. In the past week she has exhibited bizarre behavior that I have never seen before.

She at first began digging all around her tank (which she does often), but then she started acting in other ways I can't seem to find answers to.

She began to randomly head nod in her tank and wave (I know this is normal but she's moving sooo fast and jerky) She would climb down off her basking rock and sprint toward the other side of the enclosure, straight into the wall. Moving so fast and scrammbly. Then she would change direction and run straight into another wall, then hide in that corner under a plant. This seems to be all in a panic...

She seems to act as though she no longer trusts anyone in the house who looks at her or even walks by her. She used to be very polite and love people. But now it seems like she doesn't even recognize us/ seems almost afraid of us?She hissed at me today and showed off her beard when I tried to check in on her.

Her movements seem jerky and spazzy. She seems to be extremely on edge and just sits there staring very blankly...I'm very worried as I have never seen her act this way before.

I took her to the vet last week to get a bump checked out and the vet said everything was fine but that she is overweight. I have cut back on her proteins and she has not been eating much else.

She moved into a 100 gallon tank about a month ago and was absolutely loving it. Please check out her set up in the attached photos. (She does have some new lighting in the tank.
View attachment 24073View attachment 24071View attachment 24072View attachment 24073
View attachment 24071View attachment 24072

Those little bulbs are likely not enough for such a large enclosure. That could be part of it.
If she isn't eating her greens she can cause organ failure within herself.
The vet can give you a critical control mix you have to force feed with a needless syringe.
I lost one because he did the same. He got really stressed and quit eating properly.

Does she poop at least once a week?
 

Bad Decision

Hatchling Dragon
Messages
32
The basking light should only be during the day, correct?
yes, the basking light only should be on when it is day, I recommend turning it off at around dusk and turning it on either when you wake up(if you wake up after the sun rises) or at dawn(if you wake up before the sun rises). The heat should be on overnight ONLY IF your house/terrarium gets below 65 degrees.
 

Sadie

Bearded Dragon Veteran
3 Year Member
1,000+ Post Club
Messages
10,692
Photo period should be 12 hrs on 12 hrs off -- that is for UVB and basking - feeding should be 2-3 hrs prior to lights being shut off if feeding in the evenings
 

M.J.

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
8
Location
Northeast Philadelphia
Hello! Thorn is a 3.5 year old female bearded dragon. In the past week she has exhibited bizarre behavior that I have never seen before.

She at first began digging all around her tank (which she does often), but then she started acting in other ways I can't seem to find answers to.

She began to randomly head nod in her tank and wave (I know this is normal but she's moving sooo fast and jerky) She would climb down off her basking rock and sprint toward the other side of the enclosure, straight into the wall. Moving so fast and scrammbly. Then she would change direction and run straight into another wall, then hide in that corner under a plant. This seems to be all in a panic...

She seems to act as though she no longer trusts anyone in the house who looks at her or even walks by her. She used to be very polite and love people. But now it seems like she doesn't even recognize us/ seems almost afraid of us?She hissed at me today and showed off her beard when I tried to check in on her.

Her movements seem jerky and spazzy. She seems to be extremely on edge and just sits there staring very blankly...I'm very worried as I have never seen her act this way before.

I took her to the vet last week to get a bump checked out and the vet said everything was fine but that she is overweight. I have cut back on her proteins and she has not been eating much else.

She moved into a 100 gallon tank about a month ago and was absolutely loving it. Please check out her set up in the attached photos. (She does have some new lighting in the tank.
View attachment 24073View attachment 24071View attachment 24072View attachment 24073
View attachment 24071View attachment 24072
Sounds like she is gravid (with eggs) try giving her warm baths and massaging her belly, might help, had same problem with Sunny, tried sand, no help, finally warm baths did took a few days but worked. Good luck , hope she improves soon....
,
 

Julee1971

Juvenile Dragon
3 Year Member
Messages
773
Hello! Thorn is a 3.5 year old female bearded dragon. In the past week she has exhibited bizarre behavior that I have never seen before.

She at first began digging all around her tank (which she does often), but then she started acting in other ways I can't seem to find answers to.

She began to randomly head nod in her tank and wave (I know this is normal but she's moving sooo fast and jerky) She would climb down off her basking rock and sprint toward the other side of the enclosure, straight into the wall. Moving so fast and scrammbly. Then she would change direction and run straight into another wall, then hide in that corner under a plant. This seems to be all in a panic...

She seems to act as though she no longer trusts anyone in the house who looks at her or even walks by her. She used to be very polite and love people. But now it seems like she doesn't even recognize us/ seems almost afraid of us?She hissed at me today and showed off her beard when I tried to check in on her.

Her movements seem jerky and spazzy. She seems to be extremely on edge and just sits there staring very blankly...I'm very worried as I have never seen her act this way before.

I took her to the vet last week to get a bump checked out and the vet said everything was fine but that she is overweight. I have cut back on her proteins and she has not been eating much else.

She moved into a 100 gallon tank about a month ago and was absolutely loving it. Please check out her set up in the attached photos. (She does have some new lighting in the tank.
View attachment 24073View attachment 24071View attachment 24072View attachment 24073
View attachment 24071View attachment 24072
You need a Zoomed CLEAR 100 or 150 Watt basking bulb and the Reptisun 10.0 T5 for UVB the length u order from Amazon should cover 70 prcnt of the tank beginning at the hot side. That’s it, they need to have a warm area in the middle and cooler area on the cold side to get away form the heat at times. Also buy digital thermometers and digital hygrometers ans place them on top of the basking spot let it sit for 15min or so and monitor the temps and see if the 100 watt or 150watt works it depends on the height of your tank too. U have to play around my Beardies amd most as adults like it around 95-97 or soo and don’t like any hotter than this starting at around 10mnths and older. Remove the colored bulbs ASAP. Is the sun red or black? No also at nite no colored lights ever. Buy a ceramic heat emitter 60 watt and place it on the side that he sleeps on but not directly over his body. Get a fluffy small dog or cat pillow or a soft blanket they love it to sleep on make it cozy for her
 

Julee1971

Juvenile Dragon
3 Year Member
Messages
773
12 hrs on 12 hrs off no lights on at nite
The clear basking heat lamp by Zoomed and the Reptisun 10.0 T5 should be on everyday for 12-14 hours in the summer & 10-12 in the winter. Try and keep the same wake up times everyday & if the Beardie looks tired put him to bed an hour or so early. At nite pure dark NO lights ever do we humans sleep w/lights? No. If temp drops below 70 at nite in the winter in his tank, then get him a ceramic heat emitter and ceramic holder for the bulb it emits heat and no light & place it on the side of the tank that he sleeps on or in the middle not directly over how body depending on the height of yoru tank it can get rather warm/hot my Beardies move to be he other side of the tank so I don’t use it In the summer at all and will place it a bit closer to the center as the winter gets colder.
 

crystalmedle

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
13
Hello! Thorn is a 3.5 year old female bearded dragon. In the past week she has exhibited bizarre behavior that I have never seen before.

She at first began digging all around her tank (which she does often), but then she started acting in other ways I can't seem to find answers to.

She began to randomly head nod in her tank and wave (I know this is normal but she's moving sooo fast and jerky) She would climb down off her basking rock and sprint toward the other side of the enclosure, straight into the wall. Moving so fast and scrammbly. Then she would change direction and run straight into another wall, then hide in that corner under a plant. This seems to be all in a panic...

She seems to act as though she no longer trusts anyone in the house who looks at her or even walks by her. She used to be very polite and love people. But now it seems like she doesn't even recognize us/ seems almost afraid of us?She hissed at me today and showed off her beard when I tried to check in on her.

Her movements seem jerky and spazzy. She seems to be extremely on edge and just sits there staring very blankly...I'm very worried as I have never seen her act this way before.

I took her to the vet last week to get a bump checked out and the vet said everything was fine but that she is overweight. I have cut back on her proteins and she has not been eating much else.

She moved into a 100 gallon tank about a month ago and was absolutely loving it. Please check out her set up in the attached photos. (She does have some new lighting in the tank.
View attachment 24073View attachment 24071View attachment 24072View attachment 24073
View attachment 24071View attachment 24072
I was told by the vet to cover the back and sides of the tank. She might be seeing things and shadows causing her to attack like that. Good luck!
 
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