I got Zeke about 4 days ago, and all he seems to do is sleep. He wakes up a few minutes after I put him in the feeding tank to hunt crickets and mealworms. But when I pick him up, he keeps his eyes closed and keeps them closed till after I put him in the feeding tank. is he just tryin' to hide from me? It seems odd. I checked the temps earlier today, he hangs out mostly on the hot side of the tank, his basking spot gets to about 100 and the cool side is about 85 during the day. at night the temps drop down to about 75 on the cool side and 80 on the hot side. I'm going to pickup a heating pad tomorrow but I was just wondering if there was anything else I needed?

Thanks in advance.

Oh and he's about 6 months old too, I almost forgot.

I suppose he could be trying to play dead when you pick him up :/ If he really is sleeping basically all the time, you might want to take him to the vet, just to be safe. I can't remember my Bearded Dragons ever sleeping that much.

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Critters Owned

2 Bearded Dragons (1 Male/1 Female) (Il Duce & Guenevere)
6 Fire Belly Toads
Several Tropical Fish
3 Cats (2 males/1 Female) (Garfield, Tiger, & Avalon)
1 Cockatiel (Female ) (Hinky)

Critters Wanted

2 Horned Lizards (Horny Toads) (1 Male/1 Female)

Let us know more about how you are keeping him. Do you have a UVB bulb? If so what kind and what strength? What is the diet like? What size tank are you using? Does the dragon have any hides in the tank? What kind of substrate? And what are you taking the temps with?

Part of the issues are probably resulting in it still trying to adapt to its new home, but if you tell us more about your setup, we can tell ya if there is anything that should change and anything you can do to make it more comfortable.

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He's currently in a 20g Long tank, I am using a UVB bulb. it's the zilla brand that came with the "Deluxe Bearded Dragon Kit" I know a 20g Long is nowhere near big enough, but I bought that setup as I figured I might need the extra tank and fixtures and such later for my geckos should I either have to separate them or if luck smiles on me, I get to breed them. I am working on building a larger enclosure for Zeke, it'll be about the size of a 40G long at which time I will be getting a MegaRay bulb for him. As for the substrate, I am using slate tiles. I check the temps periodically with an IR thermometer. Humidity this morning was about 38% that's with the AC and dehumidifier running. As for diet, he loves crickets and meal worms, but I can't get him to touch his veggies. And he hasn't poo'd since I got him either. I'm thinking about giving him a nice warm bath soon to see if that might help things along.

Try the bath. If that doesn't seem to help get him going, you might want to think about a vet visit (herp vet). The lethargy and lack of feces could be suggesting an impaction. It could also still be him trying to get used to new surroundings, but I personally would rather get a vet's opinion.

If you can get him to poo you can take the poo to the vet and ask them to do a fecal. (just a fecal can be any vet) That way you know if he has any parasites.

The 20L for right now is fine for now. He would probably feel lost in something bigger right now. Does he have anywhere to hide?

Also, what type of top do you have? If it is screen, are the holes at least 1/4"?

Where did you get him from? Do you know what kind of substrate he was on prior to you getting him?

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A warm bath will work. Are you feeding him veggies as well? You can also bump up the basking temps to about 105-110. Temps play a vital roll in their life in digestion and also makes them more active. As Shell said, he is adjusting to his new enviroment so give him about a week or more to get used to things.

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MARSHA

:D I'm smiling because I have no idea whats going on!

I just checked out the Zilla kit, it doesn't say anything about a UVB bulb on their site anywhere. Look at the bulb and tell us what it say on the bulb.

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the zilla bulb indicates both UVA and UVB on the base.

the temps are right at 105 on the basking spot, but he doesn't get up there unless I put him there.

He does have a hide, it's right under his basking spot. As for conditions at the pet store, they had him in a 5.5 gallon tank filled with calci-sand. they have all the Bearded Dragons on calci-sand. the babies (5 of em) are all in a 10 gallon tank, but the juvies are in 5.5's? go figure. I did at least let the guy at the pet store know that the calci sand was more or less rolaids in powdered form. he was surprised to learn that cuz he's got a couple Leopard Geckos and a Bearded Dragon all on calci-sand and they haven't had any troubles. he also asked where I saw this and I told him "herpcenter.com" he said he'd check it out, and also talk with the store manager about it. as for the tank like, it's just a wire mesh screen. do those also block UV? i sure hope not,

as for the veggies, i did manage to tong feed him a string bean, i did put a salad out with him and even put some mealworms in the bottom to help peak his curiosity towards it. i haven't been back to check it yet but i'll let you know in a little bit if he eats any of it.

Thanks so much again.

Zac
Zeke's daddy :P

well i've got him in the bathtub now, he's been sitting in the water for 10 minutes now, hasn't moved, and he won't open his eyes. he is breathing tho. i'm starting to wonder if he might be brumating? is that possible at such a young age? oh and he has yet to poo, he's had about 10 crickets and a piece of a string bean today, in fact, in the last 3 days he's had about 40 crickets and 10 meal worms, but refuses the veggies. any ideas?

alrighty, i left him in the tub for about 30 minutes total, he has yet to defecate, in fact he's once again sleeping on the slate tiles just above the heating pad. the temps there are at 103, just checked with my little temp gun. i felt around his belly while he was in the tub and, while I don't know what I was feeling for, i didn't feel any real hard lumps. i'm at a total loss, when I put him back in the viv after the bath, i put him on the basking rock, about 10 minutes later he was up moving around, then settled over in the corner. this is really getting me frustrated. and I dunno what to do. i already know i'm not gonna be able to take off any this week as we've got a major departmental audit coming up. and the nearest herp vet that I can find so far is 2 hours away in st louis.

please help,

frustrated in southeast missouri