# Eric(a) the Bearded Dragon closing his eyes a lot



## airasay (Apr 4, 2013)

Hi there,

Just a quick question - our 13 week old Bearded Dragon Eric has settled in well since we got him a week ago, he's friendly, active, pooping and eating well and sleeping well at night (~12 hours) - the only thing we have noticed is he closes his eyes a lot - often just one eye and only momentarily (4-5 seconds). Any ideas why? 

It doesn't seem to be just when we're nearby - he does it when he's just hanging out on his own and does it when he's hunting and out of the viv (so we don't think it's the lighting). 

Could it be the beginning signs of a shed perhaps? His eyes work well - he focuses on us and he hunts crickets well. They look generally bright and healthy....

Any advice gratefully received, as we're newbies we want to make sure s/he's happy as possible!

Many thanks :2thumb:

Here he is: Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting 

*His set up*: 10.0 UVB Exo Terra strip light (33% UVA, 10% UVB). The basking temperature is about 115F today, with the warm end of the tank at about 100F, the cool end is about 84F, dropping to slightly lower than 90 degrees in the warm end and 64 degrees in the cool end at night. He seems happy with the temps as far as we can tell... basks on a rock under the heat lamp to warm up then rests slightly further away on a log most of the day.


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## vgorst (Sep 27, 2011)

Whereabouts is the light (i.e. at the top of the viv, half way down the wall etc)?

Are cricket left in with him?


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## airasay (Apr 4, 2013)

No crickets left with him, we make sure we get rid of them out if he hasn't eaten or found them. 

The UVB light is on the back of the viv on the ceiling, usually about 6-8 inches away from where he rests. And the heat lamp is at one end of the viv - about 9-10inches away from where he rests. It ends halfway down the wall and is in the middle of the wall side. 

Here is a pic of his viv: http://tinypic.com/r/inco6o/6 

He occassionally puffs his eyes out too...

Any ideas?


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## tomcannon (Jan 2, 2008)

All sounds good. It could well be beginning signs of shed. My boy does this, blinks a lot, then the next day he has a ring of flaking shed around his eye. Some bulge their eyes too which can be a scary occurrence! 

Keep an eye on it (excuse the pun!) but if he isn't acting too differently and is active and alert I wouldn't say there's anything to be worrying about just yet. :2thumb:

Edit: just seen the pic. Are you using those dial thermometers to measure temps or do you use a digital thermometer too? Reason I ask is those dial thermometers are often useless being wildly inaccurate so should only be used as a guide.


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## airasay (Apr 4, 2013)

Thanks for your help, yeah we use digital thermometer as well just in case the dials are wrong. 

He is still closing his eyes a lot and no sign of a shed but will keep watching him... 

Funny little fella he is!


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## airasay (Apr 4, 2013)

Hi there,

He's got his eyes closed a lot more today and for longer periods and is more sluggish than usual too - he's not feeding (he ate around 50 crickets yesterday tho) - eaten nothing today. His eyes still look okay when they are open tho. No obvious signs he is shedding...

He did a bowel movement this morning which is good (only his second in a week). 

We are using a Repti Glo 10.0 UVB (33% UVA and 10% UVB) but have heard these can be damaging and Repti Sun is better? We've switched it off briefly now to see if it makes a difference, but he still has them closed at the moment. 

Thanks


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## airasay (Apr 4, 2013)

p.s: here is a pic of him with his eyes closed... Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting

Any advice on him gratefully received. The pet shop we got him from said he should eat more like 10 crickets a day not up to 50! So we're worried he's overeaten now but advice we keep seeing elsewhere says they'll eat as much as they can in a 10-15 min period which is what we've been doing.... eek so confused! :?


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## tomcannon (Jan 2, 2008)

airasay said:


> p.s: here is a pic of him with his eyes closed... Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting
> 
> Any advice on him gratefully received. The pet shop we got him from said he should eat more like 10 crickets a day not up to 50! So we're worried he's overeaten now but advice we keep seeing elsewhere says they'll eat as much as they can in a 10-15 min period which is what we've been doing.... eek so confused! :?


Where are all your lights mounted? Is it possible he's scared of something? 

Don't worry about him eating 50, if he wants 50 let him have 50. He's young and growing! However, it would probably explain why he hasn't eaten today and could be the reason for the added lethargy.


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## airasay (Apr 4, 2013)

The UVB is fitted on the ceiling of his viv at the very back and the heat lamp hangs in the middle of the side (4ft viv) - here's a pic: Image - TinyPic - Free Image Hosting, Photo Sharing & Video Hosting

(we haven't got the sand in there anymore - took it out on the first day when we read a lot about it being dangerous for little ones)

H'es nothing to be afraid of - we have no other pets and it's just me and my boyfriend live here and we're both out at work between 9am & 1pm and 2pm & 4.30pm every day so he gets a fair bit of rest time away from us gawping at him! He's not really skittish at all and is fairly comfortable being handled, he even glass danced a bit last weekend... Just seems particularly out of sorts today and more closed eyes than ever... Beginning to suspect our type of UVB might be wrong....

He went to bed at 'normal' time - 8pm (he's usually up at 8am - we put lights on at 7am-ish).

Thanks for the help


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## tomcannon (Jan 2, 2008)

Hhhmm, its a tough one. By the sounds of things you're ready to give up on that brand of uv, I don't blame you. Rept Sun, may well be better, I wouldn't know. But what I can tell you is for BD's the Arcadia T5 12% D3+ would be a far superior choice over all of them, the best money can buy currently. You can then use this uv source in a way which is called a photogradient or light & shade (click the link!). This will provide a more natural setting and allow him to escape uv if necessary down the cool end. 

This may however have no effect on his eyes but it will certainly improve his general setup and would be a far better purchase than any repti Sun. You can always PM Arcadiajohn, he's very helpful and may be able to shed more light (ahem) on the situation.

Edit: take a look at this!


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## AlanK (Jan 4, 2013)

I had that bulb to start with for 2 weeks and noticed him shutting his eyes so done a bit of googling and found other simmilar comments.

Ditched it for an Arcadia T5 set up - no problems ever since. 

May be that his basking spot is possibly too close to the tube also? (tho isnt the heat lamp at another area from the tube?)


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## daisyleo (Nov 23, 2006)

I have used repti glo 10.0 for the whole time I have been keeping and never had any problems 

I will say in my experience (having bred dragons) they often close their eyes when young to 'ignore' you are there so maybe just don't worry so much and don't keep looking in so often and with time he will get used to you being there.

He seems perfectly fine in any other way, when you say 50 crickets....what size are you using as this does seem a bit excessive I know opinions vary as for how to feed whether amount or timing but I would do a little less crickets and leave a dish of veg in permanently for him


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## airasay (Apr 4, 2013)

Great - thanks everyone.

We'll definitely change our UV. We rang a different pet shop to the one we got his set up form and they strongly recommended the new Arcadia T5 ones too. Those are really interesting links about UVB, thanks :smile: 

He had a much better day yesterday - really very active and because of that less eye closing - he appears to have slowed down again today and more eye closing again so I wonder if it's linked to his energy levels, tho I am not sure why they fluctuate so much but perhaps it's because he's so young? :hmm: 

His eating habits can range between 1 cricket to nearly 50 too - but we're going to hope he evens out at around 10-20 crickets... Such mixed advice on the web but I guess we'll just have to respond to what works best for him. He's been eating small crickets, should be the right size for his age.

The heat lamp is at the end of the viv in the middle of the side wall and the UVB is in the middle of the back. Should it be nearer the UVB?

We'll keep a close eye on him (not too close tho - from a distance so as not to freak him out!). Really trying to avoid a stressful trip out for a check up just yet tho. Hopefully a new UVB will help. 

Thanks again, advice much appreciated. :2thumb:


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## tomcannon (Jan 2, 2008)

airasay said:


> Great - thanks everyone.
> 
> We'll definitely change our UV. We rang a different pet shop to the one we got his set up form and they strongly recommended the new Arcadia T5 ones too. Those are really interesting links about UVB, thanks :smile:
> 
> ...


If he's eating more towards the 50 mark then depending on his size you may want to increase the size of food, something to think about. 

If your temps are correct then the bulb is fine where it is, if you wanted to increase the cool side temp moving the bulb further from the hot end side wall would do this but it isn't necessary. I would however move your uv in to the hot side. You want your hotside to be a uv high index area and your cool side to drop off in to shade. Have a look at this about light & shade, photgradients matching thermogradients, if you haven't already.


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## airasay (Apr 4, 2013)

Thanks very much for the advice. Really appreciate the help. 

We've installed an Arcadia UVB now - tho it hasn't made a difference today - he's still generally quite sleepy looking - he does get up every so often for a brief scratch about the viv walls & look around but doesn't usually last very long he spends the majority of the time lying on his log looking sleepy - sometimes in 1 spot for 4 hours! 

The good news is when he's out the viv he's keen to explore tho (mainly running away, looking for mischief!) which I guess is good. 

I am still concerned about his eye closing and seeming sleepiness in the viv tho - it's been three days running he has lacked much energy. 

Not sure what the signs of dehydration are? We've been trying to get him to drink water but failing mainly - he never attempts to drink - tho we do bath regularly and spray him in the bath and occasionally he will take a bit of veg which is wet and today a cricket went in the water bowl which he ate! 

Humidity is generally around the 40% mark, we don't leave the water in there for too long for fear of it getting too humid.

Just not sure if it's normal behaviour to close eyes so much when he is relaxing? Perhaps it's normal for babies/juveniles to be active some days and sleepy other days? Or should he be running about most of the time? Perhaps he just gets very tired out from his adventures out of the viv... He sleeps well at night - usually 12 hours.

His poop is a normal consistency - so hopefully he's not go parasites or any sickness...

We'll keep close eye on him. Perhaps it's just his natural behaviour, but would hate to think it's because he's uncomfortable in his home... :?


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## airasay (Apr 4, 2013)

p.s: one thing we have thought is that perhaps the red night bulb we use could be disturbing his sleep thus making him tired in the day? We need to use it otherwise his night temps would likely drop below 65degrees. They stay at around 70 with the red bulb (we have a particularly cold flat in winter/spring). Any thoughts? thanks


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## Rottalma (Dec 20, 2012)

airasay said:


> p.s: one thing we have thought is that perhaps the red night bulb we use could be disturbing his sleep thus making him tired in the day? We need to use it otherwise his night temps would likely drop below 65degrees. They stay at around 70 with the red bulb (we have a particularly cold flat in winter/spring). Any thoughts? thanks


Ceramic heater. Pulse thermostat. No noise, no light.


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