MariosDad
Hatchling Member
Hi, Everyone!
First, I want to thank you all for making this an amazing, helpful, kind, and just plain fun place to hang out on the internet! When Mario arrives I will be sure to introduce him (and my daughter) properly in the Introductions forum. The TLR is that after months of proving herself responsible enough to care for her own pet, I think we may finally be ready for Mario!
I wanted to ask you all if everything is looking good for the enclosure, and if you had any last minute advice/criticisms/suggestions. Also, this home will be temporary. My wife and I are going to rearrange the living room (hopefully with some good garage sale finds!) this summer, and I will be trying my second attempt at an enclosure for the new space: a good 'ol 4x2x2!
Mario is coming from a chain store, where all the beardies are all around 5". Yes, my daughter named the (hopefully) male dragon a while ago. We don't even have him yet but he has already stolen our hearts! :lol:
Inside wdh
-36.5" x 14" x 22" - calculates to roughly 48.5 gallons. Also the part of the build I am least happy about, specifically the 14" depth. Luckily, I'm eager to get more melamine and start number two...
Substrate
-Tile, nicely textured. It's grouted, but after reading some more DIYs I think the tile for number two will be closer fitting and with no grout.
Lights and Heat
-Temperatures taken with an IR gun, and ambients with digital thermometer/hygrometer.
-24" ZooMed Reptisun T5 hood with 10.0 tube. More on my UV concerns later...
-100watt incandescent household bulb.
-60watt CHE for night. (It drops to 55-60 degrees at night right now, but we probably won't need it after the winter. This keeps the cool end right around 70 degrees, the hot around 78.)
-The ambient temp at the hot end, near the basking spot, sits around 90 degrees.
-The ambient temp at the cool end is 77-78 degrees in the shade, 82ish in the open.
-Basking spot has a gradient of 102-112 degrees, shot from 2-3" away. The lighter spots on the rock are 104 and 107 degrees when shot at 10-12", respectfully, while the darker center reads 110 when shot from 10-12" away.
-The wood pieces (baked to sanitize) are cooler, reading at around 100 degrees when shot.
-Humidity is usually between 30-35% on the hot side and 20-22% on the cool side.
Food
-Started a Dubia colony about 3 weeks ago and just received 500 more of the 1/4" little buggers yesterday to split between the colony and the smaller feeder keeper.
-Going to start with (ahem, throw away a lot of...) collard greens and squash, with occasional bell peppers.
-Reptical vitamin mix tub, and calcium tub.
-wax worms for treats and training.
-Will definitely be looking into BSFL. There seems to be a consensus of them being a great staple, especially to change things up from the Dubias.
Pictures
Questions/Concerns
-Regarding UV and the reflector possibly adding nothing to its output: The unit is 20" to the floor, 14" to the basking surface, and between 6-12" to the hammock, depending on where Mario chooses to position himself. I've based the distances on this chart: https://sites.google.com/site/thelizardmadness/lighting-guides. On Chart A, the difference between the readings of Reptisun 10.0s with and without the reflector are vastly different, so I've decided to split the distance until I can borrow a UV reader. Maybe from a local "grower" around here.
-I'm guessing my reflector is one of the bad ones, but I don't want to risk overexposure, especially when it seems there is a good gradient right now for Mario to choose between. The reflector has the "scratch" marks and has a clear mirror image, as opposed to the blurrier pictures I've seen on the forum, leading me to that conclusion. I'm very eager to get my hands on a UV reader just to be positive, and will happily make any necessary changes.
-The UV gradient: I know it's not perfect, as the tube is basically in the middle of the enclosure. I want to build a 4x2x2 this summer with the correct gradient, but as for now do you think this will provide a few different areas with low-to-zero UV? I figure that under the hammock will have at least a 30% reduction of UV (making it .3 on the UV scale, according the linked chart), while under the basking spot, logs, and hide it should theoretically be 0.
-Do the above observations seem reasonable, totally off base, or somewhere in between?
-The Nintendo characters are printed, then adhered to super thin plastic with non-toxic spray adhesive. Then they're sticky-tacked (again, non-toxic) on the paper side to the melamine. Is this going to be dangerous in any way to Mario?
-Ventilation is 4, 3" round soffits, plus the 1.5" hole the Sunblaster cord runs through. The Plexiglass doors have 1/8" of gap between them and the sides and top of the melamine, plus 9, 1/8" holes drilled near the bottom. Does that seem adequate?
-Feeding chart. Would you change anything?
Conclusion
If you made it this far on this saga of a post, thanks for reading! I welcome all comments, advice, and criticisms. It has taken me a while to convince myself that keeping a living thing in a box is not somehow cruel or immoral, but this website (and the people, dragons, and stories) have totally changed my mind!
-Big thanks to all the Moderators for their hard work and patience.
-Shout out to the other forum members, especially opaquelace and DorgEndo for their highly entertaining stories of new dragons!
-Special shoutout to KerrieRee; I've never seen someone answer the same question over, and over, and over again without losing their mind! Maybe you have, but if so you have hidden it well! :lol:
First, I want to thank you all for making this an amazing, helpful, kind, and just plain fun place to hang out on the internet! When Mario arrives I will be sure to introduce him (and my daughter) properly in the Introductions forum. The TLR is that after months of proving herself responsible enough to care for her own pet, I think we may finally be ready for Mario!
I wanted to ask you all if everything is looking good for the enclosure, and if you had any last minute advice/criticisms/suggestions. Also, this home will be temporary. My wife and I are going to rearrange the living room (hopefully with some good garage sale finds!) this summer, and I will be trying my second attempt at an enclosure for the new space: a good 'ol 4x2x2!
Mario is coming from a chain store, where all the beardies are all around 5". Yes, my daughter named the (hopefully) male dragon a while ago. We don't even have him yet but he has already stolen our hearts! :lol:
Inside wdh
-36.5" x 14" x 22" - calculates to roughly 48.5 gallons. Also the part of the build I am least happy about, specifically the 14" depth. Luckily, I'm eager to get more melamine and start number two...
Substrate
-Tile, nicely textured. It's grouted, but after reading some more DIYs I think the tile for number two will be closer fitting and with no grout.
Lights and Heat
-Temperatures taken with an IR gun, and ambients with digital thermometer/hygrometer.
-24" ZooMed Reptisun T5 hood with 10.0 tube. More on my UV concerns later...
-100watt incandescent household bulb.
-60watt CHE for night. (It drops to 55-60 degrees at night right now, but we probably won't need it after the winter. This keeps the cool end right around 70 degrees, the hot around 78.)
-The ambient temp at the hot end, near the basking spot, sits around 90 degrees.
-The ambient temp at the cool end is 77-78 degrees in the shade, 82ish in the open.
-Basking spot has a gradient of 102-112 degrees, shot from 2-3" away. The lighter spots on the rock are 104 and 107 degrees when shot at 10-12", respectfully, while the darker center reads 110 when shot from 10-12" away.
-The wood pieces (baked to sanitize) are cooler, reading at around 100 degrees when shot.
-Humidity is usually between 30-35% on the hot side and 20-22% on the cool side.
Food
-Started a Dubia colony about 3 weeks ago and just received 500 more of the 1/4" little buggers yesterday to split between the colony and the smaller feeder keeper.
-Going to start with (ahem, throw away a lot of...) collard greens and squash, with occasional bell peppers.
-Reptical vitamin mix tub, and calcium tub.
-wax worms for treats and training.
-Will definitely be looking into BSFL. There seems to be a consensus of them being a great staple, especially to change things up from the Dubias.
Pictures
Questions/Concerns
-Regarding UV and the reflector possibly adding nothing to its output: The unit is 20" to the floor, 14" to the basking surface, and between 6-12" to the hammock, depending on where Mario chooses to position himself. I've based the distances on this chart: https://sites.google.com/site/thelizardmadness/lighting-guides. On Chart A, the difference between the readings of Reptisun 10.0s with and without the reflector are vastly different, so I've decided to split the distance until I can borrow a UV reader. Maybe from a local "grower" around here.
-I'm guessing my reflector is one of the bad ones, but I don't want to risk overexposure, especially when it seems there is a good gradient right now for Mario to choose between. The reflector has the "scratch" marks and has a clear mirror image, as opposed to the blurrier pictures I've seen on the forum, leading me to that conclusion. I'm very eager to get my hands on a UV reader just to be positive, and will happily make any necessary changes.
-The UV gradient: I know it's not perfect, as the tube is basically in the middle of the enclosure. I want to build a 4x2x2 this summer with the correct gradient, but as for now do you think this will provide a few different areas with low-to-zero UV? I figure that under the hammock will have at least a 30% reduction of UV (making it .3 on the UV scale, according the linked chart), while under the basking spot, logs, and hide it should theoretically be 0.
-Do the above observations seem reasonable, totally off base, or somewhere in between?
-The Nintendo characters are printed, then adhered to super thin plastic with non-toxic spray adhesive. Then they're sticky-tacked (again, non-toxic) on the paper side to the melamine. Is this going to be dangerous in any way to Mario?
-Ventilation is 4, 3" round soffits, plus the 1.5" hole the Sunblaster cord runs through. The Plexiglass doors have 1/8" of gap between them and the sides and top of the melamine, plus 9, 1/8" holes drilled near the bottom. Does that seem adequate?
-Feeding chart. Would you change anything?
Conclusion
If you made it this far on this saga of a post, thanks for reading! I welcome all comments, advice, and criticisms. It has taken me a while to convince myself that keeping a living thing in a box is not somehow cruel or immoral, but this website (and the people, dragons, and stories) have totally changed my mind!
-Big thanks to all the Moderators for their hard work and patience.
-Shout out to the other forum members, especially opaquelace and DorgEndo for their highly entertaining stories of new dragons!
-Special shoutout to KerrieRee; I've never seen someone answer the same question over, and over, and over again without losing their mind! Maybe you have, but if so you have hidden it well! :lol: