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Very stressed bebe..

Not_aphrodite

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
28
Hello everyone! I’m in search of some advice for my (very stressed) approx 1y/o beardie, Cilantro. We got Cilantro at around 6 months from Petco (we always go to the local places but he was special bc he had lost his tail and nobody was adopting him) and haven’t had any issues with his health so far!

About a week ago I thought I’d be a cool mom and really upgrade his enclosure for the first time since his Welcome Home habitat. I kept the same type of substrate (I have been using - shredded reptile-safe aspens w a small corner of calcisand for digging, w no issue) and his favorite hides/woods. I went from a 20gal to a 40gal terrarium added some more fresh snake plants, hides/climbs. But my dude is NOOOT happy!
I’m having a hard time telling what’s going on- especially since about three days ago I noticed he’s going through a shed. Not sure what behaviors are grumpy shed boy behaviors and what to be worried about, but for sure his stress marks are making me nervous!
After moving him he explored his new habitat confidently, but went into hiding for a while (i assumed for shed), but I took him for bath to spend some time w him and encourage a poo and I noticed dark stress marks on his belly. I’ve read this is totally normal for a new enclosure and usually last two weeks, but it’s coming up on two weeks and there is not improvement. He is hiding most of the time and will only bask or eat if I take him for a bath and encourage him a snack (dusted super worms/Dubias/fresh salad always). I feed him from a container with zero issues but since moving him he hasn’t had an appetite at all.

I got him to eat a tiny amount of super worms and two days ago he gave me the TINIEST poo with no urate. This has never happened before. He’s been hiding/no poop since. I thought maybe it was small because he hasn’t been eating but the no urate was worrisome. When I check on him he likes his normal pets and doesn’t act abnormal if i try to bathe him. But he definitely has lost his appetite, has dark beard/stress belly marks, is hiding, and isn’t pottying as much as he normally does.

I’m 100% prepared to find a vet to take him to but I’m worried if it’s stress related a trip to the vet might make it worse? I tried removing the backdrop of his new habitat as his old one didn’t have one, i thought maybe it was stressing him. That was two days ago with no change. I don’t want to keep messing with his environment in case it’s making things worse but I can’t help but wonder if he doesn’t like a new addition or something... any tips please??

Temperatures stay above 70+ at night and he has a new reptisun10 basking which reaches its proper 100• area.


I want to switch to the excavator clay ASAP as I know everyone hates loose substrates but again, don’t want to add more stress and make things worse if it’s too soon to swap it out. (I’ve never had a problem with him eating substrate and he eats a hearty/diverse vitamin supplemented diet) but will switch it right away if y’all say too. He just loves digging so much!

***Two days ago he had the tiny poo/no urate, yesterday he did eat a healthy amount of dubias so I gave a bath this AM and am fingers crossed for a healthy poo.. but still the stress marks ): I removed the backdrop two days ago, and the new habitat is in exact same location and his old one.

I love him to death and want nothing but the best for him! Any advice is appreciated and I will take him to the vet if recommended. Thank you!
 

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Skybug

Bearded Dragon Veteran
1,000+ Post Club
Messages
2,283
**three days ago he shed his legs/arms! When being handled he has normal strength/energy
Are u using coil bulbs? His stress marks dont look abnormal to me, but the other things you mention are cause gor concern, his skin looks very weird to me how has his past 5 poos been excluding the tiny one, he looks dehydrated to me , and loose substrate should be fine as long as you know for 100% fact hes not eating it(i have bark chips in with my beardy) but the calcium sand ive heard thats a big nono from alot of people, if ur dusting ur bugs and offering d3 you dont need calcium sand, i dont know how other people feel about it, but id take that out to start ruling things out, Heating light and diet go hand and hand if ones off they all are off
 

Skybug

Bearded Dragon Veteran
1,000+ Post Club
Messages
2,283
You’ll want to get a bar light aswell, his whole left side of the tank needs uvb, uvb is what helps perk them up to move along with the heat, he might be acting like that cause you dont have light hiting where he resides
 

Not_aphrodite

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
28
Are u using coil bulbs? His stress marks dont look abnormal to me, but the other things you mention are cause gor concern, his skin looks very weird to me how has his past 5 poos been excluding the tiny one, he looks dehydrated to me , and loose substrate should be fine as long as you know for 100% fact hes not eating it(i have bark chips in with my beardy) but the calcium sand ive heard thats a big nono from alot of people, if ur dusting ur bugs and offering d3 you dont need calcium sand, i dont know how other people feel about it, but id take that out to start ruling things out, Heating light and diet go hand and hand if ones off they all are off
Thank you for replying! Could you explain what you mean by his skin looks weird? Sometimes it is very bright, but I thought it was dull looking because he was going to shed? I agree it varies a lot in what it looks like recently so I have increased his baths to 1-2x daily.. up until the habitat change he was eating (around 20?)superworms or dubias every other day and always munching on salad. He has only eaten 2x since the tank change (5 worms about a week ago and about 20 roaches yesterday) plus munching on his snake plants..


every poop before this was very regular, every other day, a healthy amount and texture with a good ratio of poo:urate. It was never runny has all been a consistent color and everything up until this little one.. I wish I had taken a picture of it but I destroyed it to examine it

the first few pictures attached previously are from this morning. After his bath his color has changed a little but he recently went back to his hide..

I have a ZooMed double bulb lamb... BUT I honestly didn’t think to increase it with the tank increase because the temperature has been OK!!! I feel so stupid.. I can upgrade the lighting and substrate immediately is there anything that you recommend?
 

Not_aphrodite

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
28
You’ll want to get a bar light aswell, his whole left side of the tank needs uvb, uvb is what helps perk them up to move along with the heat, he might be acting like that cause you dont have light hiting where he resides
Yeah I just realized I didn’t upgrade the lighting with the habitat.. I am omw to the reptile store and feeling incredibly stupid! Any specific lighting you recommend? Thank you for replying.
 

Not_aphrodite

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
28
I’m so embarrassed and feel so bad! Apart from picking up the right lighting ASAP is there anything I can do to help him feel better quickly? Did I make him sick? or just some really good lighting and hopefully he will perk up? I’ll take him to a lizard spa idc whatever he needs
 

Skybug

Bearded Dragon Veteran
1,000+ Post Club
Messages
2,283
His beards not black so that is a good sign, a bath a day? U need to back off the baths ur drying his skin out , his skin color is fine its the texture that caught my eye, have u ever seen him drink during a bath? Ur substrate is fine, id get rid of the calcium sand, if u want sand in his thank get “play sand” play sand falls through a clenched fist thats the difference where as other sands can be compacted in a clenched fist.
 

Not_aphrodite

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
28
Okay, totally will do luckily it’s just one corner of his enclosure! No, he doesn’t drink water during baths. I give him fresh salad daily and make sure his feeders are veggie-loaded to try and keep his hydration proper— I have only done the daily baths the past three days in hopes of increasing his activity! I’ll back off of those, too. Thank you!
 

Skybug

Bearded Dragon Veteran
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Bulbs are like opinions everyone has one, please stay away from anything that says coil bulb, id get a bar light that offers uvb, and a 100watt basking bulb, i cant recomend a specific brand as i use them all and haven’t had a negative experience with any of them, I believe “powersun” are the standard , id get some more opinions on your lighting
 

Not_aphrodite

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
28
Bulbs are like opinions everyone has one, please stay away from anything that says coil bulb, id get a bar light that offers uvb, and a 100watt basking bulb, i cant recomend a specific brand as i use them all and haven’t had a negative experience with any of them, I believe “powersun” are the standard , id get some more opinions on your lighting
Okay! I’ll head over/talk to the local reptile shop and see what they think. I really appreciate the advice!
 

Sadie

Bearded Dragon Veteran
3 Year Member
1,000+ Post Club
Messages
10,690
Okay! I’ll head over/talk to the local reptile shop and see what they think. I really appreciate the advice!
NO advice from the pet store people --- they often do not know what they are talking about and are only out to sell things that make money and often hurt the dragon
you need this for a UVB please ditch the coil they are inadequate and cause too many health issues
please get a Zoo Med 24" UVB hood w/ a Reptisun 10.0 T 5 22" bulb ASAP--- when you get it please let me know so I can help you place it in the tank --------------- they have certain placement and distances requirements
 

Not_aphrodite

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
28
Okay! I’ll head over/talk to the local reptile shop and see what they think. I really appreciate the advice!
NO advice from the pet store people --- they often do not know what they are talking about and are only out to sell things that make money and often hurt the dragon
you need this for a UVB please ditch the coil they are inadequate and cause too many health issues
please get a Zoo Med 24" UVB hood w/ a Reptisun 10.0 T 5 22" bulb ASAP--- when you get it please let me know so I can help you place it in the tank --------------- they have certain placement and distances requirements
I had this experience in the past when asking about brumation but it’s a family owned local place so I thought maybe they were better /: Is this lighting that I can purchase at petsmart/petco or do I have to order online?
 

Not_aphrodite

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
28
NO advice from the pet store people --- they often do not know what they are talking about and are only out to sell things that make money and often hurt the dragon
you need this for a UVB please ditch the coil they are inadequate and cause too many health issues
please get a Zoo Med 24" UVB hood w/ a Reptisun 10.0 T 5 22" bulb ASAP--- when you get it please let me know so I can help you place it in the tank --------------- they have certain placement and distances requirements
Will the hood work with a terrarium like this?
 

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Sadie

Bearded Dragon Veteran
3 Year Member
1,000+ Post Club
Messages
10,690
I had this experience in the past when asking about brumation but it’s a family owned local place so I thought maybe they were better /: Is this lighting that I can purchase at petsmart/petco or do I have to order online?
It depends on the store itself -- I have had people get this from those stores but most time it is purchased on line - my go to place for ordering is out of stock they have a hard time keeping that fixture and bulb in stock as they really good and I recommend them all the time - I would try Amazon if you cant find it there but these I recommended are the best on the market at this time
 

Skybug

Bearded Dragon Veteran
1,000+ Post Club
Messages
2,283
I had this experience in the past when asking about brumation but it’s a family owned local place so I thought maybe they were better /: Is this lighting that I can purchase at petsmart/petco or do I have to order online?
Some pet shops are good, most dont even know what they’re selling half the time, sadie knows what bulbs and lights to get go off of her advice its good, other than ur lighting issue and him being a little banged up he should bounce back, keep an eye on him, and id put the background back up it’ll make him feel more secure, and if possible put it inside the tank so he cant see his reflection on any of the sides, he might be thinking there’s something in there with him.
 

Not_aphrodite

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
28
It depends on the store itself -- I have had people get this from those stores but most time it is purchased on line - my go to place for ordering is out of stock they have a hard time keeping that fixture and bulb in stock as they really good and I recommend them all the time - I would try Amazon if you cant find it there but these I recommended are the best on the market at this time
Ok! Went to the reptile store- there is one guy there who has always been really helpful who was there today and said all the same stuff as you! I got a hood/reptisun10.0 UVB bulb as well as a new large dome with their fanciest 160w basking bulb, and he told me exactly what temps I should be looking for/expect in different parts of the tank.. my guy is definitely in need of some sun!!

thank you so much for your help, I’ll keep everybody updated!
 

Sadie

Bearded Dragon Veteran
3 Year Member
1,000+ Post Club
Messages
10,690
Ok! Went to the reptile store- there is one guy there who has always been really helpful who was there today and said all the same stuff as you! I got a hood/reptisun10.0 UVB bulb as well as a new large dome with their fanciest 160w basking bulb, and he told me exactly what temps I should be looking for/expect in different parts of the tank.. my guy is definitely in need of some sun!!

thank you so much for your help, I’ll keep everybody updated!
Ok the distance and placement is crucial here what UVB bulb did you get? The T 5 or the T 8 there is a difference here I need to know so I can help you place it --- the basking bulb MAKE SURE you have a digital probe thermometer for that bulb you dont want to burn him up --- place that probe where he sits for basking wait 10 minutes
 
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