Pygmy bearded dragon help

[Althine]

Hi there
I've very recently bought a pygmy bearded dragon (around four days ago) and I'm not sure what to do with a few things and i have a few questions...

I'm not sure how old she is? the people I got her from said that she was born late December to early January maybe, but she is quite small, how big would she be at this age usually?

She's not eating.. I managed to get her to eat some carrot today, and some veggies and insects yesterday but i had to force feed it to her as I was getting worried. Is this normal? what can I do to get her to eat properly?

Also, I've noticed her spending quite a bit of time in the cool end of the enclosure during the day and when I brought her out tonight she was cold to the touch, and she has been a few times when I picked her up, is this normal? what should i do?

Thankyou!!

 

[dragonlover1]

First up , what are your temps? You should have near 40 at the basking spot and 28-30 at the cool end. Put up some pics

 

[Althine]

yeah my basking spot is around 40 and the cool end stays from 27-30 and she's spending more time basking and she has started eating which is a relief,

I'm still wondering about the sizes of the pygmy's though, I'm just not sure if she's too small or if she's just younger than what the people i got her from said she is

 

[nuttylizardguy]

Are you weighing the little dragon weekly ?
> show us the weight graph .
> how much does it currently weigh ?

What exactly are you using for a UV source ?
> you need a source with at least 10% UVB output ( compact globe no less than 25W , T5 tube )

How how is the UV source mounted ( a photo is worth a 1000 words ) ?

How far from the basking spot ?

How long are the basking globe and UV source on each day ?

Diet ( what kinds of insects ? size ? when each day ( each meal ) ? and how many each meal ? )

 

[Althine]

I've only had her for just over a week, I weighed her the day after i got her and she was less than 1 gram, and i weighed her again and she was 1.3 grams

For a UV source, I'm using an Exo Terra reptile 150 UVB bulb, 18W, it is a long one that goes across the tank .

The basking globe and UV lights are on from 7:00am until 7:50pm at the moment

She's eating small crickets - anywhere from 6-10 in a day, and she's eating more every day which is good. I feed her crickets in the morning and afternoon and it just depends on the day for how many she'll eat per meal.
Also some veggies but she mostly just spits them out whenever I've tried to get her to eat more than two little pieces - mostly carrot, cucumber and cos lettuce. I try get veggies in her before the crickets. I also give her some during the day usually around midday.

I attached a couple of images, they aren't great quality, and I can upload more different ones if that would help?

 

[reptileandsodaz]

i think that you are doing what we all would....worry worry worry...
if your pigmy refuses to eat for to long you may have to start feeding it foods that would be classified as a treat such as superworms but this shouldnt be done unless absoulutly nesesary otherwise have you thought if your pygmy has impaction coz if it does then that is serious.

 

[nuttylizardguy]

Hard to see , is the tube in a domestic fitting ?
is that the plastic cover that came with it over covering the light tube ?
>> if so remove the plastic cover - will block 100% of the UV , this will explain why the lizard has no interest in food.)
or it's sitting on top a fine mesh lid ( not as bad but bad enough because that gauge mesh will black about 50% of the UV , I can supply links to studies that prove this).

A good reflector inside the hood or mounted behind the tube will concentrate the UV ( focus it ) where you need it and essentially double the UV where you need it

, same way as solar concentrator works, only reversed , the more or less parabolic shaped highly reflective metallic ( Aluminised ) surface redirects the UV to where you want it ( under the tube ) in a nicely focused wide beam.

Slip on reflectors are available that make a retrofit quick and easy and will instantly increase the UV by about 2x.

Tube ,Exo Terra reptile 150 UVB bulb, 18W , this makes it inadequate because
1) it's a T8 tube
2) it's only rated 5% UVB
3) it's too far away for the dragon to get sufficient UVA and sufficient UVB.
I don't see any evidence of a reflector inside the linear fitting .

How far from the tube to the basking spot ?
This is important

shows effect.
Your tube is 5%UVB T8, so the graph for the 12%UVB T8 with UV reduced by 5/12 the values graphed is a good estimate to go off.
Even with no obstruction , and a reflector, you dragon needs to get within 10cm of the tube to get enough UVA and UVB.

I also suggest increasing the "photoperiod" to about 15 hours per day. This will give more time for the little dragon to metabolise it's food.

I wouldn't worry too much of getting her to eat any veg or greens for now, simply gut load the crickets with high calcium high protein greens ( so they are improved nutritionally ).

By small , what size do you mean , Piscus brand small, Biosupplies brand small ?
Try to get crickets about the length of the distance between her eyes.

 

[Althine]

I have the plastic covering on the lights! I've taken that off now and the UV bulb is just over 10cm away from any logs - so ill figure out a way to get it closer

The Pisces brand small - I made sure they were the length of the distance between her eyes

I'll increase the time that the light is on during the day hopefully this will help as well!

 

[nuttylizardguy]

I have the plastic covering on the lights! I've taken that off now and the UV bulb is just over 10cm away from any logs - so ill figure out a way to get it closer

The Pisces brand small - I made sure they were the length of the distance between her eyes

I'll increase the time that the light is on during the day hopefully this will help as well!

The increase from zero to some UVA ( likely between 600 to 900 microW UVA / sqcm will likely help inside a week or so as her metabolism increases .
Hopefully you've made the improvement soon enough to avoid MBD due to lack of UVB and inability to create VitD3 in her skin using any dietary calcium you've given , synthetic vitD3 in fortified calcium or multivitamins is not near as good or effective as the isomer of vitamin D3 made via photosynthesis in the skin .

If it's a brand new tube and you still have the invoice and packaging, I'd return it for an exchange to 10% UVB or 12% UVB T8 tube of the same length.
If there's no reflector in the light fitting, a slip onto the tube type reflector will fit ( most likely) and give an instant doubling of the UV .
The vendor should never have sold you that tube for a hatchling pygmi bearded dragon.

 

[Althine]

The increase from zero to some UVA ( likely between 600 to 900 microW UVA / sqcm will likely help inside a week or so as her metabolism increases .
Hopefully you've made the improvement soon enough to avoid MBD due to lack of UVB and inability to create VitD3 in her skin using any dietary calcium you've given , synthetic vitD3 in fortified calcium or multivitamins is not near as good or effective as the isomer of vitamin D3 made via photosynthesis in the skin .

If it's a brand new tube and you still have the invoice and packaging, I'd return it for an exchange to 10% UVB or 12% UVB T8 tube of the same length.
If there's no reflector in the light fitting, a slip onto the tube type reflector will fit ( most likely) and give an instant doubling of the UV .
The vendor should never have sold you that tube for a hatchling pygmi bearded dragon.

I'm pretty sure that there is a reflector in the light, and she's already seeming better - when I replace the bulb I'll look at some other ones, and if she doesn't improve enough I'll take it back and exchange it - thanks for your help!