# Bearded dragon Guidance!



## Bizzo (Mar 19, 2013)

So i recently purchased a lovely bearded dragon off a friend of mine who will be moving away over to america. I've had her for about 2 weeks now. For whatever reason this week she hasn't eaten alot, A few nibbles of veg here and there. And very few hoppers compared to when i had her the first week. 

Also noticed a change in her behavior this current week. She's been insanely active running around up and down the vivarium and she sits at the glass looking at me. I get her out every night at roughly 6pm for about an hour for her to get some exercise but i've never seen her this active before. 

On a side note inside the vivarium i have a Long 24 inch Fluorescent lighting(reptile specific), 150w Basking light and this Purple light. Is this purple light a Night light (Provides heat without being too bright to cause stress/stop the bearded dragon from sleeping or is this a UV A/B bulb)


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## Hardy87 (Apr 7, 2011)

Alright mate,
Temps? Basking/Warm Side/ Cool Side?


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## Bizzo (Mar 19, 2013)

The basking bulb is on a thermostat called "microclimate" Model b1 and its set to 35 Degrees. Its kinda cold in my room right now. About 8 inchs away using a digital thermometer its at 35 degrees and on the other end its at 29degrees (Note: the purple bulb isnt on) Below is the picture of the vivarium lighting and size.


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## Hardy87 (Apr 7, 2011)

Temps seem pretty good, how old if your beardy if it's only a baby i would put his temps up to 110-115 in the basking, not sure what it is in celsius (I'v been turned to using fahrenheit)


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## Bizzo (Mar 19, 2013)

Shes 3 years old or so i've been told. The temp under the bask is about 98F (rough estimate). That purple bulb, is that for day or night? I've kept the bulb timers how he gave them too me. Also advice at night? The fluorescent bulb turns off and that purple turns on and the basking light stays on too but wouldnt that stress my dragon out? (Shes called puff)


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## tomcannon (Jan 2, 2008)

Bizzo said:


> Shes 3 years old or so i've been told. The temp under the bask is about 98F (rough estimate). That purple bulb, is that for day or night? I've kept the bulb timers how he gave them too me. Also advice at night? The fluorescent bulb turns off and that purple turns on and the basking light stays on too but wouldnt that stress my dragon out? (Shes called puff)
> 
> image


Rough estimates are no good when dealing with any reptile. Place your thermometer probe directly under your spot bulb in the basking zone (the hottest part) and get the reading back to us. If it is 35c 8" away and you have a cold ambient room temp then I imagine the basking temp could be far too high which could be a reason for wanting out of the viv. Do you find she is basking much? 

You shouldn't have any light sources on at night. You shouldn't need any nighttime heat source unless your house is really cold, as long as its above 10c it'll be fine. If you do need night time heating I'd advise getting a ceramic in place for the blue bulb, stat it at 15c.

What make and percentage is your uv and when was it last changed?

Welcome to the forum.


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## Bizzo (Mar 19, 2013)

Alright so putting the digital thermometer about 8 inch directly below the basking bulb i reads at 33 Degrees. And no she's not basking much, she spends alot of time in the middle on a climbing rock (Not heated just a rock). Shes been acting weird lately just constantly running up and down the vavarium and under the basking light she keeps digging away the sand in one corner. Never seen her do this before


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## tomcannon (Jan 2, 2008)

Bizzo said:


> Alright so putting the digital thermometer about 8 inch directly below the basking bulb i reads at 33 Degrees. And no she's not basking much, she spends alot of time in the middle on a climbing rock (Not heated just a rock). Shes been acting weird lately just constantly running up and down the vavarium and under the basking light she keeps digging away the sand in one corner. Never seen her do this before


Oh my apologies. By "8" away" I thought you meant to the left or right of the basking spot, not 8" from bulb! In that case your basking temps are too low and need to increase your temps by roughly 10c, you're aiming for 41-43c roughly at the basking spot. This however probably doesn't relate to this behaviour however I don't think high activity levels is specifically anything to worry about if your setup is sound. Are you sure this isn't her natural behaviour and before this she was simply more lethargic as she was settling in?

Lack of appetite could well be down to the cooler than needed temps to digest food properly. Lack of basking and digging could well be signs of something else though. It could possibly be brumation but you shouldn't assume this until everything is covered first. Knock those temps up and see if there's any change in activity, feeding and basking. Be sure that your cool end temp doesn't increase at all though, 29c is in my opinion a little high anyway, not necessarily dangerous but you wouldn't want it any hotter and if anything would be better dropping it by a couple of degrees. 

As I said what make and percentage is your uv and when was it last replaced?


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## Bizzo (Mar 19, 2013)

Well its pretty hot in there now as its reading 38 degrees. On the cool side its still pretty warm for whatever reason still sitting at 29 degrees. I contact my friend through facebook and he said they were both changed (Fluorescent and the purple bulb were changed about3 months ago) and i have no idea on percentage.


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## tomcannon (Jan 2, 2008)

Bizzo said:


> Well its pretty hot in there now as its reading 38 degrees. On the cool side its still pretty warm for whatever reason still sitting at 29 degrees. I contact my friend through facebook and he said they were both changed (Fluorescent and the purple bulb were changed about3 months ago) and i have no idea on percentage.


Ok, how come its increasing in temp then? Have you moved anything around or just waiting for the temp to settle on the thermometer? Like I said you want roughly 41-43 under basking down to a gradient of roughly 25c in the cool end. How large is your viv? You could try moving your basking spot closer to the bulb to increase basking temps while maintaining cool side temps and also add more ventilation to the cool side to bring temps down. Also decreasing the output via the stat will bring the cool side temp down. You can then move your basking spot closer to the bulb as suggested as your basking temp Will too be affected by this. What wattage bulb is it?

The uv should say make and percentage on the tube. You want at very least a 10% with a bearded dragon, where is it mounted? Does it have a reflector?


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## Bizzo (Mar 19, 2013)

If you take a look at the image abit above you can see where the bulbs are placed (Note: the purple bulb is not turned on its the camera making the light) and the heat/basking bulb is on the far right, 24 inch flourescent and the bulbs are exo-reptile


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