Bearded Dragon questions...

Question

40 Gallon Terrarium wi   QUESTION: I have a 40 Gallon Terrarium for my Juvenile Beardie named Dante... I used to use a 75 watt on him, but quite oddly this noon, he was twitching his legs constantly, so I took him in the backyard for a bit in a medium container and consulted/Called via-cellphone "Bob" from the MegaRay website; I asked him, "Should I buy a 100Watt Lamp from your website for a twitching Beardie?"  He told me, "No, don't buy a lamp in my website, but BUY ONE ASAP at any nearby retailer!  Your lizard will probably die in a week or less without proper UVB light and D3 exposures.  Go buy a Mercury Vapor Bulb from T-Rex."

So I went to Petco, but they didn't have the T-Rex bulb, but they had the ZooMed PowerSun 100Watt UVA/UVB/Heat lamp for 80 bucks and I bought it along with an extended aluminum interior dome from ZooMed and placed it in the middle of my 40 gallon Terrarium which measred about 98.9 degrees of heat.  And after three hours, my Beardie didn't twitch anymore.  

The main question is...  Do I need a stand or support for my PowerSun Lamp and position it a few more inches away from the top of the terrarium, because I have it touching and on top of the screen like in the picture I attached.  The way I positioned it... it's not going to fry my lizard now is it?  Besides, Beardies love heat - 98-100 degrees, for which I measured on the bottom.

ANSWER: Hello James,

That tank setup is fine, no problem.  
Well, good for you talking with Bobmac.  He is an excellent person to consult with regarding that.  It just shows you he doesn't care so much about the money if he sent you to a local store to get a light.  Too bad though they didn't have the T-rex MVB.  The Powersun is ok, but in a few months, if you can afford it, I highly recommend upgrading either to the Megaray or the T-rex as the quality of the UVB output is so much better.  This will do for now to get him improving.  Are you using D3 calcium supplementation?  I would use Repcal calcium with D3 5 times per week right now.
Had you not ever used any UVB on him before?  
What other light are you using, right beside the Powersun?  What I do recommend though is moving the MVB over to one side of the tank along with the other light, which would give him more of a cooler end to thermoregulate.  If you leave it there in the middle, the heat is going to radiate through the tank more which wont give him enough of a cooler area to seek if he desires to.  
It does need to be at least 10 inches from him, anyway.  The box probably states 12, but it is not as strong as the T-rex or the Megaray so you can get away with a 10 inch distance.  It is a 100 watt bulb, right?  
The basking spot should be 95-110 right directly underneath the basking area, & a few inches around, but there needs to be a cooler spot of around 78-82.  What are you measuring the temps with currently?

Let me know how things are going.  
Tracie

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

QUESTION: Things are doing great now and he's not twitching, though he stopped eating crickets..?  He used to eat them without any problems but he won't eat - but he ate som Mustard Greens and Hawaiian Papaya I gave him.  Maybe I'll get mealworms to take the cricket's place...

But I spent a lot of money already for my Dante and I think I'm alright with my PowerSun lamp.  But I also have an extra small 75 watt lamp after usage of the PowerSun and I do 75 watt moonlight at night over my lizard.  And the type of calcium I use once a week is the T-Rex BONE AID Microstick Powder.  Are these conditions fine?

ANSWER: Hello James,
That is good he is not twitching now.  You will need to use calcium more often than that right now.  The bone aid is fine.  I would use it 3-4 times per week though as his calcium levels are very low.
He needs complete darkness at night so he can sleep more soundly.  If his head is covered, then he should be fine with the moonlight over him.  
No, do not switch to the mealies they are not very nutritious & are too fatty as well.  I think one reason he is not eating crickets is he lacks the energy to go after them possibly.  Are they too fast for him?  If so, pop them in the fridge for a few minutes to slow them down & he can get them better.
Try butterworms, phoenix worms or silkworms for some variety.
I hope he starts doing better!

Tracie

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

QUESTION: It's not that he's lethargic nor the crickets were too fast for him, one thing that I did notice is that a cricket just passed him(literally touching his legs, walking slowly) and he looked at it and ignored it after a few seconds.  I offered him one of my brother's mealworms and he ate that one, and I'll try to position the moonlight away from him as I didn't know he could sleep better darker :P

And the way he falls asleep is somewhat adorable; he'd walk around and hug the tank's glass, waiting for me to pick him up.  Then, he'll find a nice position on my hand and sleep - at times, I'd let him drink from a small container while he's lying on his belly on my finger.  In the morning though, he acts completely opposite from night-time and rather, he avoids me as much as possible and is VERY alert even when my fingers approach him.  Still, I'm worried of his eating habits and his personality in daytime...

Thanks again for answering my many questions

Regards,

James

Answer
Hello James,

Does he bask normally?  Doublecheck the temps & make sure that they are correct.  
He probably still does not feel 100% since he has not had UVB so he has an adjustment period to go through.  Does he appear to like the Powersun?  I hope he does.  
Does he run from you?  When you pick him up try to go from the side so he can see you & then scoop him up from underneath.  They don't always like someone coming from overhead because we look like predators coming at them.  
Sometimes they just want a change from crickets.  So mix in some worms so he has some variety.  Can you get another type of worm other than the mealies that would be more nutritious?  


Tracie