Reptisun lighting and Picky Eating help?

Hi there,

If your reptisun HO is in a fixture with a reflector, you want to bulb to be 12-15 inches from the basking surface unobstructed. If you can't make that distance, for instance if your basking surface is tall or your tank is short, then mounting it ontop of the mesh becomes necessary.

Most typical meshes will only filter out around 30%, so if you are placing the reptisun with a reflector fixture ontop of the mesh, you will want it to be around 9 inches from the basking site.

It all depends on your individual setup

-Brandon

Getting to eat his greens-------------- here is what I did and do mine is a 4 month old now---- first feed his salad --- http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html----- in the morning w/ some BSFL https://symtonbsf.com/ and a 1-3 supers on top in a glass bowl so the worms cant get out --- the movement will get him to the bowl ----make sure he sees you adding these worms to the salad--- let him eat from the bowl for around 30-45 minutes or so then add your staple feeder in w/ the vegies -- I use dubia roaches - they cant get out of it either ----- this way he is eating both --- try that and see if that works--- Blaze is eating his salad real good --- make sure hes good and warmed up before you feed him--- it usually takes about an hr or so before they eat ---- the BSFL do not need to be dusted -- butter worms should only be used as treats or to get him to the bowl like 3--- same w/ supers or they will become addicted--- the BSFL are a good staple feeder but you need to feed alot as they are tiny- and yes the staple feeders like dubias and crickets do need to be dusted 5 x per week w/ he D3 and 2 x per week w/ vitamins - I use Reptivite as it does not have synthetic vitamin A -- a good variety of worms and bugs are good --- but the staple feeder I like most is the dubias--- depending on where you order the BSFL they seem to come in different substrates - symton uses a sand and you need to shake that off of them they can be rinsed and www.dubiaroaches.com uses a dirt --- they need to be rinsed as well --- but not dusted --they are full of calcium
Karrie

claudiusx":fy1x0lgq said:

Hi there,

If your reptisun HO is in a fixture with a reflector, you want to bulb to be 12-15 inches from the basking surface unobstructed. If you can't make that distance, for instance if your basking surface is tall or your tank is short, then mounting it ontop of the mesh becomes necessary.

Most typical meshes will only filter out around 30%, so if you are placing the reptisun with a reflector fixture ontop of the mesh, you will want it to be around 9 inches from the basking site.

It all depends on your individual setup

-Brandon

Click to expand...

thank you so much. thank you so much for the reply! Yes, the reptisun does have the reflector built in so, i’m Going to want it to be 12-15 unobstructed from his basking log and rock?

Dreamaliens":o3xbyc4w said:

claudiusx":o3xbyc4w said:

Hi there,

If your reptisun HO is in a fixture with a reflector, you want to bulb to be 12-15 inches from the basking surface unobstructed. If you can't make that distance, for instance if your basking surface is tall or your tank is short, then mounting it ontop of the mesh becomes necessary.

Most typical meshes will only filter out around 30%, so if you are placing the reptisun with a reflector fixture ontop of the mesh, you will want it to be around 9 inches from the basking site.

It all depends on your individual setup

-Brandon

Click to expand...

thank you so much. thank you so much for the reply! Yes, the reptisun does have the reflector built in so, i’m Going to want it to be 12-15 unobstructed from his basking log and rock?

Click to expand...

If it's unobstructed, you want it no closer than about 12", and no farther than about 15" is my understanding of that. If your tank was too short to have that distance between the light and the basking spot, that's when you'd want the light on top of the mesh, and shoot for around 9". :0)
There are several ways to hang the light from the cover. Your options would depend on the design of your cover. Mine is a zen habitat so the top has support bars inside, and I connect small guage chain to those, and use cable ties to hang the light fixture on the chains. Some people use picture-hanging wire or strong fishing line.

JumpinJellyfish":2ktte9vc said:

Dreamaliens":2ktte9vc said:

claudiusx":2ktte9vc said:

Hi there,

If your reptisun HO is in a fixture with a reflector, you want to bulb to be 12-15 inches from the basking surface unobstructed. If you can't make that distance, for instance if your basking surface is tall or your tank is short, then mounting it ontop of the mesh becomes necessary.

Most typical meshes will only filter out around 30%, so if you are placing the reptisun with a reflector fixture ontop of the mesh, you will want it to be around 9 inches from the basking site.

It all depends on your individual setup

-Brandon

Click to expand...

thank you so much. thank you so much for the reply! Yes, the reptisun does have the reflector built in so, i’m Going to want it to be 12-15 unobstructed from his basking log and rock?

Click to expand...

If it's unobstructed, you want it no closer than about 12", and no farther than about 15" is my understanding of that. If your tank was too short to have that distance between the light and the basking spot, that's when you'd want the light on top of the mesh, and shoot for around 9". :0)
There are several ways to hang the light from the cover. Your options would depend on the design of your cover. Mine is a zen habitat so the top has support bars inside, and I connect small guage chain to those, and use cable ties to hang the light fixture on the chains. Some people use picture-hanging wire or strong fishing line.

Click to expand...

awesome! Thanks for the info. I just got his tank set up and it is about 12.5 inches from the basking. I ended up being able to tie it with wire to the top of the mesh screen. However the screen I have is meant for a snake, so it’s heavy and a pain in the butt to lift and open but it’s doable for now. I’m new here. Is there a way to post a photo so I can show you guys my set up and see if i’ve Done everything correctly?

Dreamaliens":385kq6wl said:

Is there a way to post a photo so I can show you guys my set up and see if i’ve Done everything correctly?

Click to expand...

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/
Upload there, and then copy and paste the XIMG code to your post

-Brandon

claudiusx":3vd6x95w said:

Dreamaliens":3vd6x95w said:

Is there a way to post a photo so I can show you guys my set up and see if i’ve Done everything correctly?

Click to expand...

https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/
Upload there, and then copy and paste the XIMG code to your post

-Brandon

Click to expand...

Thanks for that. I tried using the upload form and click the blue button to upload it but nothing is happening. I’m a little worried about my dragon. He isn’t eating right. I have only had him for 9 days, he had a few days when he was eating good in his old tank but I just moved him into a 55 gallon with the correct lighting yesterday and when he first went in there he was very active moving a lot and now today he is way more lazy, kind of staying in one spot after he gets under his basking light. When the basking light is off he is moving around more. Unfortunately the power went out for 45 minutes today and he was moving around like crazy. Now that the power is back on he is just lazily sitting on his basking spot. He hasn’t eaten much since i moved him into his new tank under new lights. I have the reptisun 10.0 t5 ho uvb bulb about 12.5in from his basking spot. Temps on the hot side are 95-103 and the cold side 80-85. At night under the Che is temps are 78 at the most 82. On the other side it’s 68-73 degrees. If I don’t run the Che temps at night run below 65. I’m worried about him. He was surrendered to petco because someone found him on the side of the road. He was showing signs of mbd and for the first 7 days I had him he was under a t8 uvb. (petco sold me all the wrong lighting and after research and talking to people on this wonderful website I got his temps, calcium, salad, lights, everything to where it needs to be. I have seen an improvement since I first got him but today it seems like he fell a couple steps back. Is this normal? Is he stressed and not eating because of being moved for a 3rd time In a matter of 2 weeks? How can I get him to eat? I’ve offered crickets, dubias, butter worms. And bsfl. I can get him to eat like 1 cricket maybe 3 butterworms but that’s it. And today he won’t even touch the crickets or butter worms he only ate 1 butterworm this morning. I have offered him crickets, dubias, bsfl, and butterworms in his old tank because his new tank is such a pain in the butt to fish live feeders out and they hide from him or are too quick and he gets frustrated and gives up.

Its probably relocation stress - he is eating so thats a good sign - if he stops eating completely then there is a issue- get yourself and glass bowl that feeders cant get out of ---- that way your not having to chase down those bugs --- how are you taking those temps? infrared heat gun stick ons or a digital probe? On top of message box click on XIMG pics will come up click on pic and it should post in your message box
Karrie

KarrieRee":6zitc6dg said:

Its probably relocation stress - he is eating so thats a good sign - if he stops eating completely then there is a issue- get yourself and glass bowl that feeders cant get out of ---- that way your not having to chase down those bugs --- how are you taking those temps? infrared heat gun stick ons or a digital probe? On top of message box click on XIMG pics will come up click on pic and it should post in your message box
Karrie

Click to expand...

Okay thanks so much karrie. His feeder bowl comes in the mail tomorrow. I ordered that right away after you told me on a previous thread to do that to get him into his salad. I'm taking the temps with an infared heat gun and there's also a stick on exo Terra that is a 3 degrees off tops I just use it to get a basic idea of the temp but am checking temps every 45 mins or so because of the new tank and wanting to make sure we have the correct temps for his hot and cold side. My heart is a little relieved now. I did just look at him and he does have a few stress marks on his side. So that's probably from the relocation. He was moved from previous owner to outside to Petco to my house to a bigger tank so I can see why the relocation would stress him out. Thankfully he won't be moving or relocating any time soon so he can get used to his surrounsings. I will try that picture thing again. Thanks ?