Bearded dragon behaviours.

Question
QUESTION: Hi Tracie,

My bearded dragon is about 8-9 months old. The age is a little uncertain, as I bought him from someone who got him in a pet store. Anyway, in the past couple of weeks, my beadie has had extremely wet and slimy poop. He will start to go... and just brown liquid will come out of him. His urate usually comes out right after this liquid, then he'll have a wet slimy poop after. It is not just a little bit of liquid, but enough to soak a whole paper towel. :(

Also, I changed the lighting in his tank to a all-in-one bulb a couple of days ago. This decreased the temperature quite drastically, because before we had a few bulbs, one of which was a super basking light. It was making the tank a couple degrees too hot, and we thought this might be the cause of the poop. My beardie responded to this change by closing his eyes, almost all day long. He was still eating his crickets and salad, but after that would lug around with his eyes closed. Some points I would see him and he would actually have his head down... sleeping! He also didn't poop for about four days (despite me bathing & misting him frequently!). I switched his lights back to his old ones (with the basking bulb that is slightly too warm...) just yesterday and he finally pooped this morning, yet it was not in nice conditions. After his poop, he was more alert... and actually had his eyes opened and was responding to me and my movements.

He has spent most of his life with a Repti 10 UVB light and then a 150 WATT basking light. I just bought him the 100 WATT all-in-one light, but like I said, the temperature wasn't quite high enough. I tried adding just a regular light bulb for a bit more heat, and it seemed to do close to nothing. The terrarium I have for him right now has long height, and a short boxy width. I'm going to buy him his 40 gallon next week, as I can see he is out-growing his starter tank.

I will tell you a bit about his eating habits, incase the poop has to do with that. Daily, he gets about 10-12 crickets
(sometimes 4 week,  sometimes 5 week... depending on what's in store). I dust them in calcium powder every day. Also, every day, he gets an organic field green salad (minus the spinach). I spray distilled water on his salad every day as well. I also mist him daily (sometimes twice) and give him a bath about 2 times a week.

I took some of his poop from today into a baggie, and into my fridge... as I want to take it into the vet to be looked at.

Any help/suggestions/peace of mind you can offer would be great.

Thank you so much for listening, and for being part of such a great site.


ANSWER: Hello Erin,

It sounds like you are taking great care of your little one.  
What are the temperatures in the tank, & what type of thermometer do you use?  Is it a stick on type, a digital probe or a temp gun?
The recommended basking temperatures are 95-110 & the cooler end around 78-82.
Which Reptisun 10 are you using, is it a long tube bulb, or a compact/coil light?  So you do not use it anymore then?  Which mercury vapor bulb do you use, a Megaray, a T-rex active UV heat, or a Powersun?  How close is the mercury vapor lamp to him?  A 100 watt has a 12 inch recommendation for safety.
The food intake is pretty good, you could increase that a bit for a few more months since he is still growing.  How much does he weigh & how long is he?  If he is under 1 year, he can have as many feeders as he wants.  Once they become adults they do not need near as many feeders, only 40-50 per week.  Great he is eating his greens!  
What type of substrate do you use, sand, tiles, paper towels?   
****If you are using the Powersun mercury vapor bulb 100 watt, & it is the newer model meaning there is a red bearded dragon on the front, that is a huge possibility it has caused his behavior & him closing his eyes.  There have been some problems with that particular bulb recently.  The phosphor coating was incorrect on it & there was some inconsistent wavelengths of UVB it was emitting.  

Let me know how he is doing.
Tracie

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Tracie,
Thank you so much for your response, I really can't thank you enough for this service and the help!

That is the EXACT bulb I recently bought him. Powersun mercury vapor bulb, 100 watt, with a big red dragon on the front. :(
The bulb I was using before, was the same brand, "Zoo Med", but it was the Repti Basking Spot Lamp. It is 150 watts. I was also using a coil Repti-glo 10 bulb for UVB.
Anyway, I'm going to just rapid fire answer your questions here, so I don't miss anything!
-I have a temp gun to take the temperature inside his terrarium.
-The temperature in his cool area is about 81 degrees. The temperature in his basking spot with the OLD basking spot lamp  is about 100-102. With the new lamp (the powersun mecury bulb) it was only reaching about 92.
-the heat lamp is about 11 inches away from the top of his basking rock.
-I'm not sure how much he weighs, but his length is 8 inches from nose to right before his tail starts.
-I am using paper towel as his substrate.

So, what I'm gathering from the information you have sent... aside from the fact that this bulb is likely causing him to close his eyes and have sluggish behaviour... is that 100 watts should have 12 inches of space for safety. So likely the 150 Watt I was previously using, is dangerous. The 100 Watt seems like the right amount of space for safety, but does not get his cage warm enough.
What do you recommend for bulbs? Which types, brands, amounts, etc. I am really struggling with this part. I can't seem to get it quite right, and I've been trying different set-ups over his short 8 months with me.

Thanks again for your help,
Erin



ANSWER: Hello,

Wow that is too bad.  The light is exactly the problem then unfortunately.  The light will cause symtpoms the same or similiar to photo kerato conjunctivitis which will cause eye problems & health problems.  The Reptiglo 10 coil bulb does the same type of thing.  There are not very many good UVB lights I am afraid.
The best UVB light you can get is the Reptisun 10 tube bulb or the Megaray MVB or the T-rex active UV heat MVB.  
The temp gun is perfect so your temps should be fine if you are measuring directly below the basking light.  
You can continue to just use a bright white basking light right now until you get another light.  It is not your fault that there are so many junk bulbs out there, I am sorry.  It is sad.
A bright white halogen flood light is a great basking light to use with the Reptisun 10 flourescent tube bulb.  You can get it cheap at:
http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-fluorescent-bulbs/504983/zoo-med-rept
Let me know how he is doing.

Tracie

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hi Tracie,
I got my beardies a new tank, and a new bulb! His behaviour is much better. He isn't closing his eyes all the time. Thanks for the heads up about that previous light bulb! Now I just need to get his pooping situation under control. I just wanted to ask you one more question. I was looking online and came across a product called "parazap" it's apparently a parasite control for pets. Have you heard anything about this product? the web address is:  http://www.parazap.com/

Thanks again so much!!
Erin

Answer
Hello Erin,

Great that he is doing so much better now & is not closing his eyes all of the time, too.  Poor guy.
So how does he like his new tank now?  Did you get it all setup for him ok?
Parazap is an all natural herbal remedy that gently cleans out their GI tract & colon by helping expedite their stools & clean out undigested fecal matter.  While it does not actually kill any parasites or worms, by expediting the excretion of stools it will lower their levels naturally without drugs.  You will need to keep him well hydrated while he is on the parazap because it can dehydrate them.  I would give it for around 5-7 days, at the longest.
Keep me posted on him.

Tracie