Hide

Hello all,

My little guy Diablo has been spending a lot more time in his hide recently. I changed it out with a different one and he seems to like it which is good, but he’s also been in it a lot. I just changed out the basking bulb from a 100 W Zoo Med to a 75W Zoo Med. I also have a Reprisun 10.0 T8 bulb for my UVB and it is inside of his tank. I took him to the vet on Saturday and the vet said he looks great and that I didn’t have anything to worry about, but that was before he started spending time in his hide more and napping. The hot side is usually around 93 and the cool side is around 83. I also just ordered a dimming thermostat so that I could place the probe in the basking surface and keep it around 103.

Has anyone else has any experiences like this?

I can't point you to a specific thread, but I try to read/learn as much as I can here, and it sounds very familiar. Possible brumation? I'm not familiar with Diablo, his age, or how long you've had him. Another possibility is that he's just settling down and more comfortable in his surroundings. Others may have other ideas/thoughts.

Have you tried using the search facility (the magnifying glass in the upper right corner)? I find that almost/pretty much everything has been discussed here before.

I'd also put more confidence in your vet (providing they have some experience with reptiles). Yesterday, I was chatting with a vet friend who used to treat exotics. Her experience is that it takes a LOT longer for reptiles to crash than you would think; IOW, they're usually (except in a few rare circumstances) not going to die on you within a few days, weeks, or even months. They're pretty hardy, especially BDs (which is why they're on so many beginning reptile lists).
Top 5 Reptiles For Beginners
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2-foCd0k2o

Several of them are acting this way now and it could just be the start of brumation to some extent. Keep a close eye on his weight and as long as that remains pretty stable I wouldn't worry about it too much and just let him be.