urgent

Question
QUESTION: ok i am so happy ifound this site i am having real problems with my water dragon, so.. he hasnt in 4 days now. this has never happened before, i woould say he is about 2 years old now about 2 feet always heathy and happy. Now his heat lamp did die for about a week but i still had a heating pad on at all times. he has always refused to eat crickets, Do you think he just got sick of the meal worms?or can a lizard get depressed? please help me

ANSWER: Hello Micheal,

Can you go over your setup with me, so i can see if everything is good?
What sized tank is he in?  
Certainly the basking light burning out is not allowing him to be warm enough to digest his food or go to the bathroom.  
You are using an undertank heater for him along with a basking light?  You can use just a regular household bulb or a halogen light that you can get from Home Depot or Lowes.  
He doesn't like crickets huh?  Have you tried superworms, phoenix worms, butterworms, or silkworms for a change?
Yes, lizards can get depressed.  
Are you using UVB lighting?  If so, what type & brand is it a flourescent tube bulb or a compact or coil bulb?  How old is the UVB light?
What are the temps in the tank, & the humidity?  How are you measuring them?  A stick on thermometer, a digital probe or a temp gun?  

Let me know how he is doing.

Tracie

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

QUESTION: thank you for relpying tracie,well i have a 30 gallon fish tank i guess ( i know its not good but i have a background on the back). i have i new heating buld (100 watt)with a baluster and a relti-glo 5.0 15 watt uvb tube light(its about 5 months old). and i didn't actually know that they could eat other worms i will try that  for sure cause its been like 6 days now.the temps during the day are 89 (basking) 80 in the rest of the tank. the humility right now is 30 . the measure that info with 2 temp thermometer and a humility on the are circular about 2 inches across. i think i have answered all the questions. cant wait to here your response

PS he hasn't had a problem going the bathroom, well only a small amount now because he hasn't eaten but usually it is pretty normal ( i read a posting from this site explaining what it should look like)

Answer
Hello Micheal,

Ok, first you are going to need to get a better UVB light.  The flourescent tube bulbs do not last much longer than 4-5 months.  Also, the Reptiglo 5 is somewhat of a weaker UVB light.  
The Reptisun 10 flourescent tube bulb is the best UVB light you can get.   
The basking temps are pretty good, though you could bump the basking temps to 90-95 for optimal health.
The humidity needs to be up to 60-80% all of the time, so you will need to try & find some way to get that up more.
Also, the circular thermometers are not very accurate with measuring the basking spot but it primarily measures the ambient air temps & the glass temperature.  So the better choice of thermometers would be either a digital probe or a temp gun.  
Yes, he can have other worms, whatever he wants.  So definitely give some others a try if you can.  
Do you supplement with calcium?  If so, how often do you give calcium?


Tracie