Additional UV?

[lisbetha]

Hey guys,

Not my first beardie, but this enclosure is twice the average size 1200x1200x600.

I'm converting my old water dragon setup into an arid tank with two levels. Bottom will be styled as a cave/resting area with access via hammocks and a soft raised floor. Layers are separated by a plywood shelf that covers the entire tank area - access is a 200mmish square hole to one side under a basking shelf.

Can I get away with just ambient lighting down there, or should I rig it with UV too?

I'll be getting a 3 month old, so don't want to promote brumating. (Southern hemisphere, so going into fall) Viv only gets filtered light during the day otherwise.

Will the lack of UV down there promote lazy behavior or will lighting in general be enough to not throw off its circadian rhythm?

I've never tested if beardies are clever enough to self-regulate their UV exposure - I suppose I'd be less critical if it wasn't a wee one.

Temps won't be an issue - it's well insulated with 7.5 m of heat rope to raise the tank ambient. Top has an 850mm T5 14% UVB within 300mm from basking point. (And a reptoglow drop light).

I've added a caged socket to the bottom, but intended to use that for heating over the winter - will add a spot UV if anything, but would rather some coloured strips and a 50w blue in that fixture. What do you guys think?

Am I just asking for baby to get jammed up somewhere down there for a nap in the middle of the day, or should it be ok?

 

[CooperDragon]

It's great that you'll have extra space available. You can certainly get away with a single basking area with high UVB. You could put a heat lamp in the spare socket and create a heat only basking area. They seem to prefer that sometimes. They can definitely regulate their intake and will move around to get what they need at a given time, so the more options you can set up, the better. You could set up a high UVB + high temp area, high temp + low UVB area, and low temp + low UVB area to create some zones to choose from. Here is a guide that Taterbug put together to help illustrate this concept https://sites.google.com/site/thelizardmadness/photogradient

If I recall correctly, her enclosure is about 120cm tall 120cm wide and 60cm deep.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Was the water dragon a Gippsland or an Eastern ?
Both are great dragons .

I concur with extra tank footprint wont go astray --- very spoil beardie you'll have.

Only things to watch are maintaining an adequate thermal gradient , I've never had any of my eastern water skinks, central bearded dragons or eastern bluetongues show any inclination to brumate ( NE end of Lake Macquarie NSW , 24/7 aircon in home , never colder than 23 degC in my house ).
Awake basking most days , wanting food , and wanting out most days.

If your tank's lighting setup worked fine for the water dragon, it'll be perfectly fine for an eastern or central bearded dragon too.

Your new spikey friend will do just fine without UV in the cave , my bearded dragons regularly take siestas inside their jumbo hubbahuts ( no UV zone ).My beardies do indeed UV self regulate. They know when they need to "sunbake".
As far as lazy goes --- it goes with territory for adult bearded dragons , who spend a lot of time pretending to be statues when they aren't in siesta mode.

I have two hides per dragon tank, one is ontop a 7W film type heat pad (sandwiched between 2 layers of ceramic tiles) , set to stay @ ~ 35 degC , the other unwarmed , two guesses where my dragons like to sleep at night …. yep = the warmed hide.

You are getting a little hatchling/juvenile , so I'd start it off in a 120L or 150L tub converted to a rearing tank for the first year or so , so it'll not be overwhelmed by all the space to start with and will have fewer problems keeping track of it's feeder insects each meal .
Once the little dragon is about 12mths old you can upgrade it to the big forever home.

 

[lisbetha]

Cheers, she was an eastern - unfortunately drowned herself in the 150mm deep pond. She'd gone to sleep on her back under the ramp and, I guess, never woke up... She wasn't wedged or stuck when I pulled her out. Water was heated, so she shouldn't have been trying to brumate and was active and friendly just that morning when I watered her plants. Happened sometime while I was at work and was too far gone for lizard cpr. :/

That tank setup was arboreal with coir matting secured to the walls, which she would regularly scale. She spent her first few years in a 1200x600x600, which was my 'old' beardie cage. Sold it when I finished the larger Viv.

With my first beardie, I did halve that first cage till she was bigger, but that was more due to thermal issues - 'also a she' was tiny and that Viv was all glass and it was the middle of winter and my house was in the shadow of a volcano with no AC - NZ and their 'lovely' house stock with no heating or cooling is a challenge. Used to have her falling asleep on me with a covered hot water bottle between us that first winter.

The 1200x1200x600 is all melamine and I've added thermal insulation this time to boot. I've already run heat rope in the bottom between the outdoor chair cushion and jute mat that make up the bottom - it's real squishy - cat kept trying to use it as a bed while I had it open. And will negate any fall damage worries on my side. Will see how we go. I can always block off the bottom if it seems too much for the little one. Still need to finish foaming grouting and sealing - plan to pick up on Sunday if I can co-ordinate with the breeder.

Cricket colony is started and laying - crickets are eye-wateringly expensive here. 100 smalls = around $70nz excluding shipping. You can't just rock up and get them at a pet shop, sadly. Will be a very spoiled baby. Hopefully, I can get it eating dry and kibble eventually as that's much cheaper.

 

[lisbetha]

It's great that you'll have extra space available. You can certainly get away with a single basking area with high UVB. You could put a heat lamp in the spare socket and create a heat only basking area. They seem to prefer that sometimes. They can definitely regulate their intake and will move around to get what they need at a given time, so the more options you can set up, the better. You could set up a high UVB + high temp area, high temp + low UVB area, and low temp + low UVB area to create some zones to choose from. Here is a guide that Taterbug put together to help illustrate this concept https://sites.google.com/site/thelizardmadness/photogradient

If I recall correctly, her enclosure is about 120cm tall 120cm wide and 60cm deep.

Cheers, that's more what my water dragon Viv was like - but I get skittish around long drops with beardies. With the girl I had, I still worry that long drops might have contributed to her clutching problems (aside from her genetic issues) as she did have a burst yolk. She'd been extra adventurous that summer - was looking for a boy, I suppose, and leaping off every tall surface she could find.

 

[CooperDragon]

Yeah they do tend to leap off of things. Certainly a consideration to take seriously. Designing with nice wide, easy to use ramps and perhaps a soft flooring might be helpful. The higher areas could also be blocked off for a while until you determine the personality of your dragon. Some of them (especially young ones) think they can fly, but others are pretty reserved.

 

[kingofnobbys]

It's great that you'll have extra space available. You can certainly get away with a single basking area with high UVB. You could put a heat lamp in the spare socket and create a heat only basking area. They seem to prefer that sometimes. They can definitely regulate their intake and will move around to get what they need at a given time, so the more options you can set up, the better. You could set up a high UVB + high temp area, high temp + low UVB area, and low temp + low UVB area to create some zones to choose from. Here is a guide that Taterbug put together to help illustrate this concept https://sites.google.com/site/thelizardmadness/photogradient

<< I've seen that before - if had monitors or frillies or EWDs that's what I'd set up more or less .
I prefer lower elevated basking spot for my beardies , I wont even let mine climb off the lounge seat to the carpeted floor w/out assisting them ( at least by slowing their drop ).


If I recall correctly, her enclosure is about 120cm tall 120cm wide and 60cm deep.

Cheers, that's more what my water dragon Viv was like - but I get skittish around long drops with beardies. With the girl I had, I still worry that long drops might have contributed to her clutching problems (aside from her genetic issues) as she did have a burst yolk. She'd been extra adventurous that summer - was looking for a boy, I suppose, and leaping off every tall surface she could find.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Cheers, she was an eastern - unfortunately drowned herself in the 150mm deep pond. She'd gone to sleep on her back under the ramp and, I guess, never woke up... She wasn't wedged or stuck when I pulled her out. Water was heated, so she shouldn't have been trying to brumate and was active and friendly just that morning when I watered her plants. Happened sometime while I was at work and was too far gone for lizard cpr. :/

<< bummer !!! …. poor little girl.
<< lesson learnt the hard way , ponds that are too deep are a bad idea for bearded dragons .
<< if/when you get another bearded hatchling or juvenile , I strongly suggest nearly filling the existing pond with beach pebbled ( make sure all are too big to be swallowed ) , this way you can still have a pond in there , but I'd make sure the available water is no more the dragon side frill depth so it can drink from it and even sit in it but not drown in it.

That tank setup was arboreal with coir matting secured to the walls, which she would regularly scale. She spent her first few years in a 1200x600x600, which was my 'old' beardie cage. Sold it when I finished the larger Viv.

With my first beardie, I did halve that first cage till she was bigger, but that was more due to thermal issues - 'also a she' was tiny and that Viv was all glass and it was the middle of winter and my house was in the shadow of a volcano with no AC - NZ and their 'lovely' house stock with no heating or cooling is a challenge. Used to have her falling asleep on me with a covered hot water bottle between us that first winter.

The 1200x1200x600 is all melamine and I've added thermal insulation this time to boot. I've already run heat rope in the bottom between the outdoor chair cushion and jute mat that make up the bottom - it's real squishy - cat kept trying to use it as a bed while I had it open. And will negate any fall damage worries on my side. Will see how we go. I can always block off the bottom if it seems too much for the little one. Still need to finish foaming grouting and sealing - plan to pick up on Sunday if I can co-ordinate with the breeder.

Cricket colony is started and laying - crickets are eye-wateringly expensive here. 100 smalls = around $70nz excluding shipping.
<<< I've been told this …. consider getting hold of a few hundred silkworm eggs ( if you an find someone in NZ who has silkworms ) , and some silkworm chow ( in dry powder form , 500g is a good starter , IF YOU can't find any local mulberry trees that still have leaves - her in Lake Macquarie NSW my black mulberry sapling ( in a pot still ) still has leaves and berries growing on it , so I expect mulberries in NZ should still have leaves on them .
If you can get fresh mulberry leaves , but them by the 100 and set aside the newer softer leaves for the baby silkworms , you can blanch and freeze mulberry leaves , they are fine when thawed as needed .
I've kept mulberry leaves in the crisper in a big open ziplock for up to 3 months - trick is to allow them to transpire and not compact them together too much.
I have a few threads on mulberries , raising silkworms and blanching to freeze large surplus silkworms and surplus mulberry leaves ( for when they are out of season ).

Raising silkworms is dead easy , but involved good worm keeper housekeeping (daily).

My beardies all love silkworms , I raised them from 6 weeks old on a mix of
BSFL
1" - 1.5" long home farmed silkworms
and 1/4 then 1/3 size crickets.

They loved the moths too !!

I've thousands of silkworm eggs in the fridge ( dormant in ziplocks ) . I've taken a yr off raising silkworms while my wife and I were in voluntarily self iso , didn't want to risk receiving regular consignments of 200 leaves in the priority post which might come with covid19 on their surface.

Fortunately you can get silkworm eggs in NZ
https://www.etsy.com/nz/listing/502635496/silkworm-eggs-bombyx-mori
she probably sells fresh leaves too , and silkworm chow ( powder ).

Advise with the chow , only make up small batches as needed , I tend to do 2 or 3 sausages about 32g of chow per batch .


If you buy from her , ask for 400 eggs , and then you can be sure you will be able to let 50 - 100 to go full life cycle , each female moth lays 300 eggs , and the eggs (once they harden and go grey/blueish can be chilled at about 7 degC for up to 3 yrs and still be viable enough to hatch when allowed to rewarm to room temperature - you'll never need to buy silkworm ever again !! and maybe can sell surplus worms, unhatched cocoons and eggs to others in NZ .



You can't just rock up and get them at a pet shop, sadly. Will be a very spoiled baby. Hopefully, I can get it eating dry and kibble eventually as that's much cheaper.

 

[lisbetha]

Cheers, she was an eastern - unfortunately drowned herself in the 150mm deep pond. She'd gone to sleep on her back under the ramp and, I guess, never woke up... She wasn't wedged or stuck when I pulled her out. Water was heated, so she shouldn't have been trying to brumate and was active and friendly just that morning when I watered her plants. Happened sometime while I was at work and was too far gone for lizard cpr. :/

<< bummer !!! …. poor little girl.
<< lesson learnt the hard way , ponds that are too deep are a bad idea for bearded dragons .
<< if/when you get another bearded hatchling or juvenile , I strongly suggest nearly filling the existing pond with beach pebbled ( make sure all are too big to be swallowed ) , this way you can still have a pond in there , but I'd make sure the available water is no more the dragon side frill depth so it can drink from it and even sit in it but not drown in it.

That tank setup was arboreal with coir matting secured to the walls, which she would regularly scale. She spent her first few years in a 1200x600x600, which was my 'old' beardie cage. Sold it when I finished the larger Viv.

With my first beardie, I did halve that first cage till she was bigger, but that was more due to thermal issues - 'also a she' was tiny and that Viv was all glass and it was the middle of winter and my house was in the shadow of a volcano with no AC - NZ and their 'lovely' house stock with no heating or cooling is a challenge. Used to have her falling asleep on me with a covered hot water bottle between us that first winter.

The 1200x1200x600 is all melamine and I've added thermal insulation this time to boot. I've already run heat rope in the bottom between the outdoor chair cushion and jute mat that make up the bottom - it's real squishy - cat kept trying to use it as a bed while I had it open. And will negate any fall damage worries on my side. Will see how we go. I can always block off the bottom if it seems too much for the little one. Still need to finish foaming grouting and sealing - plan to pick up on Sunday if I can co-ordinate with the breeder.

Cricket colony is started and laying - crickets are eye-wateringly expensive here. 100 smalls = around $70nz excluding shipping.
<<< I've been told this …. consider getting hold of a few hundred silkworm eggs ( if you an find someone in NZ who has silkworms ) , and some silkworm chow ( in dry powder form , 500g is a good starter , IF YOU can't find any local mulberry trees that still have leaves - her in Lake Macquarie NSW my black mulberry sapling ( in a pot still ) still has leaves and berries growing on it , so I expect mulberries in NZ should still have leaves on them .
If you can get fresh mulberry leaves , but them by the 100 and set aside the newer softer leaves for the baby silkworms , you can blanch and freeze mulberry leaves , they are fine when thawed as needed .
I've kept mulberry leaves in the crisper in a big open ziplock for up to 3 months - trick is to allow them to transpire and not compact them together too much.
I have a few threads on mulberries , raising silkworms and blanching to freeze large surplus silkworms and surplus mulberry leaves ( for when they are out of season ).

Raising silkworms is dead easy , but involved good worm keeper housekeeping (daily).

My beardies all love silkworms , I raised them from 6 weeks old on a mix of
BSFL
1" - 1.5" long home farmed silkworms
and 1/4 then 1/3 size crickets.

They loved the moths too !!

I've thousands of silkworm eggs in the fridge ( dormant in ziplocks ) , would offer to send some to you by post only I don't BF would let them into NZ.

Fortunately you can get silkworm eggs in NZ
https://www.etsy.com/nz/listing/502635496/silkworm-eggs-bombyx-mori

If you buy from her , ask for 400 eggs , and then you can be sure you will be able to let 50 - 100 to go full life cycle , each female moth lays 300 eggs , and the eggs (once they harden and go grey/blueish can be chilled at about 7 degC for up to 3 yrs and still be viable enough to hatch when allowed to rewarm to room temperature - you'll never need to buy silkworm ever again !! and maybe can sell surplus worms, unhatched cocoons and eggs to others in NZ .



You can't just rock up and get them at a pet shop, sadly. Will be a very spoiled baby. Hopefully, I can get it eating dry and kibble eventually as that's much cheaper.

That was an EWD that drowned - they require a swimming area and at 150mm, it was pretty shallow - no pond for beardie. With my first, she didn't even get a water bowl as she was getting plenty of water from my washing her greens before feeding, so I just left it out. She did drink more as a baby. I have a rock/look bell waterer coming from overseas for this one. Will offer it my 'small' dish for water while we wait for it to get here, though my new two socket thermostat just came in today.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Cheers, she was an eastern - unfortunately drowned herself in the 150mm deep pond. She'd gone to sleep on her back under the ramp and, I guess, never woke up... She wasn't wedged or stuck when I pulled her out. Water was heated, so she shouldn't have been trying to brumate and was active and friendly just that morning when I watered her plants. Happened sometime while I was at work and was too far gone for lizard cpr. :/

<< bummer !!! …. poor little girl.
<< lesson learnt the hard way , ponds that are too deep are a bad idea for bearded dragons .
<< if/when you get another bearded hatchling or juvenile , I strongly suggest nearly filling the existing pond with beach pebbled ( make sure all are too big to be swallowed ) , this way you can still have a pond in there , but I'd make sure the available water is no more the dragon side frill depth so it can drink from it and even sit in it but not drown in it.

That tank setup was arboreal with coir matting secured to the walls, which she would regularly scale. She spent her first few years in a 1200x600x600, which was my 'old' beardie cage. Sold it when I finished the larger Viv.

With my first beardie, I did halve that first cage till she was bigger, but that was more due to thermal issues - 'also a she' was tiny and that Viv was all glass and it was the middle of winter and my house was in the shadow of a volcano with no AC - NZ and their 'lovely' house stock with no heating or cooling is a challenge. Used to have her falling asleep on me with a covered hot water bottle between us that first winter.

The 1200x1200x600 is all melamine and I've added thermal insulation this time to boot. I've already run heat rope in the bottom between the outdoor chair cushion and jute mat that make up the bottom - it's real squishy - cat kept trying to use it as a bed while I had it open. And will negate any fall damage worries on my side. Will see how we go. I can always block off the bottom if it seems too much for the little one. Still need to finish foaming grouting and sealing - plan to pick up on Sunday if I can co-ordinate with the breeder.

Cricket colony is started and laying - crickets are eye-wateringly expensive here. 100 smalls = around $70nz excluding shipping.
<<< I've been told this …. consider getting hold of a few hundred silkworm eggs ( if you an find someone in NZ who has silkworms ) , and some silkworm chow ( in dry powder form , 500g is a good starter , IF YOU can't find any local mulberry trees that still have leaves - her in Lake Macquarie NSW my black mulberry sapling ( in a pot still ) still has leaves and berries growing on it , so I expect mulberries in NZ should still have leaves on them .
If you can get fresh mulberry leaves , but them by the 100 and set aside the newer softer leaves for the baby silkworms , you can blanch and freeze mulberry leaves , they are fine when thawed as needed .
I've kept mulberry leaves in the crisper in a big open ziplock for up to 3 months - trick is to allow them to transpire and not compact them together too much.
I have a few threads on mulberries , raising silkworms and blanching to freeze large surplus silkworms and surplus mulberry leaves ( for when they are out of season ).

Raising silkworms is dead easy , but involved good worm keeper housekeeping (daily).

My beardies all love silkworms , I raised them from 6 weeks old on a mix of
BSFL
1" - 1.5" long home farmed silkworms
and 1/4 then 1/3 size crickets.

They loved the moths too !!

I've thousands of silkworm eggs in the fridge ( dormant in ziplocks ) , would offer to send some to you by post only I don't BF would let them into NZ.

Fortunately you can get silkworm eggs in NZ
https://www.etsy.com/nz/listing/502635496/silkworm-eggs-bombyx-mori

If you buy from her , ask for 400 eggs , and then you can be sure you will be able to let 50 - 100 to go full life cycle , each female moth lays 300 eggs , and the eggs (once they harden and go grey/blueish can be chilled at about 7 degC for up to 3 yrs and still be viable enough to hatch when allowed to rewarm to room temperature - you'll never need to buy silkworm ever again !! and maybe can sell surplus worms, unhatched cocoons and eggs to others in NZ .



You can't just rock up and get them at a pet shop, sadly. Will be a very spoiled baby. Hopefully, I can get it eating dry and kibble eventually as that's much cheaper.

That was an EWD that drowned - they require a swimming area and at 150mm, it was pretty shallow - no pond for beardie. With my first, she didn't even get a water bowl as she was getting plenty of water from my washing her greens before feeding, so I just left it out. She did drink more as a baby. I have a rock/look bell waterer coming from overseas for this one. Will offer it my 'small' dish for water while we wait for it to get here, though my new two socket thermostat just came in today.

The EWD drowned , must have been too cold in the water and fell asleep .

My eastern bluetongues are very thirsty skinks, but I make sure their water ponds are never more than 10mm deep in water.

My central bearded dragons don't have water dishes. I do give a drink sometimes by dripping water on their head which drains naturally to their lips. Cleo will guzzle water from an old Bega Peanut Butter lid , but I keep a very close eye on her when drinking .

My eastern water skink LOVES her little pool , goes absolutely nuts in it , and obviously has a ball playing microcrocodiles in it ( completely submerges herself , only her nose poking out ).
Her pond is warmed - never cooler than 24 degC.

Another silkworm egg seller
https://www.facebook.com/hungrycritters/

Locusts avail in NZ too
https://www.facebook.com/Otago-locusts-794741043963578

Other live insects in NZ by bulk by mail
https://www.facebook.com/commerce/products/5178566888852677/?ref=page_home_tab&referral_code=page_shop_card
https://inzectdirect.co.nz/collections/live-insects/products/live-larvae?variant=37208001609894
Med crickets look like 79c / insect
BSFL look like 12c / insect …. essentially 1 medium cricket is equiv mass to 2-3 LGE WHITE BSFL.

 

[lisbetha]

Oh and the pet shops do actually have silkworms here on occasion - I've gotten them there before, but BSF are a really cheap feeder - and a goog lean protein. I just thinking they may be too big for a baby. I'll see how big the wee one is and go from there. My first was like 2-3" snout to vent when we brought her home.

Also, silkworms tend to be fatty, right? I only ever offered them as treats, refrigerated and cut them from their cocoon to feed.

They've recently started offering Gisborne roaches (direct from supplier, not in shops) here - looked into those, but I can't see how you could feasibly contain them and don't want to deal with escapees.

Crickets aren't too bad - got a farm started for my EWD when I brought her home only to find out she was a poor feeder and wouldn't go for live food. She prefered freeze-dried and lizard kibble - was bad on greens too. I could 'occasionally' get her to snap up a live mealworm, but she much preferred me to hand feed her the dry ones.

The EWD pond was heated - with a temp control heater that was OP for her setup. Water wasn't cold when I scooped her out. Had that thing on a huge cannister filter that had amazing bio-filteration. I know they lack a diaphragm and don't do well on their backs, so thought the sleeping position might have had something to do with it. I know with birds, they can pass out on their backs, thought it might have been similar.

Only other thing I could think was that she fell and smashed herself on the way down (she was known to just 'let go' of the wall and drop when she wanted to go for a splash, but the position I found her in doesn't really support that. She was known for sleeping in weird positions and getting herself wedged under things too, but she didn't seem trapped.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Oh and the pet shops do actually have silkworms here on occasion - I've gotten them there before, but BSF are a really cheap feeder - and a goog lean protein. I just thinking they may be too big for a baby. I'll see how big the wee one is and go from there. My first was like 2-3" snout to vent when we brought her home.
<<< I started off Cleo and Caesar on large white BSFL + 1/4 size crickets + 1 to 1.5" long silkworms when they were only about 15g.
No issues eating the soft bodied squishy BSFL and silkworms at all.

Looking at the nutritional content , BSFL are the BEST feeder available here , closely followed by silkworms.

A lot of the breeders here start off their hatchings on these.

Info here on comparative nutritional content of insects viewtopic.php?f=76&t=234999&p=1847457&hilit=nutritional+content+insects#p1847457

extract

Also, silkworms tend to be fatty, right? I only ever offered them as treats, refrigerated and cut them from their cocoon to feed.
<< you gave silkworm pupae .
I've never given those. I give the worms and the surplus male moths.

http://moonvalleyreptiles.com/files/Feeder-Nutrition-Common-Reptile-Feeders-v1.0.pdf

A medium sized silkworm will be about 2in long and is a lot of protein cf a medium sized cricket

A 30mm long silkworm is 0.5g = 2-3 medium crickets (12x MED = 3g)
A 40mm long silkworm is 1.3g = 5-6 medium crickets
a 2 inch long silkworm is 1.8g
a large silkworm about 3in is 2.3g = 8 - 10 medium crickets


They've recently started offering Gisborne roaches (direct from supplier, not in shops) here - looked into those, but I can't see how you could feasibly contain them and don't want to deal with escapees.

Crickets aren't too bad - got a farm started for my EWD when I brought her home only to find out she was a poor feeder and wouldn't go for live food. She prefered freeze-dried and lizard kibble - was bad on greens too. I could 'occasionally' get her to snap up a live mealworm, but she much preferred me to hand feed her the dry ones.

The EWD pond was heated - with a temp control heater that was OP for her setup. Water wasn't cold when I scooped her out. Had that thing on a huge cannister filter that had amazing bio-filteration. I know they lack a diaphragm and don't do well on their backs, so thought the sleeping position might have had something to do with it. I know with birds, they can pass out on their backs, thought it might have been similar.

Only other thing I could think was that she fell and smashed herself on the way down (she was known to just 'let go' of the wall and drop when she wanted to go for a splash, but the position I found her in doesn't really support that. She was known for sleeping in weird positions and getting herself wedged under things too, but she didn't seem trapped.

My water skink sleeps in strange positions too …. she's a bit a weirdo and an extravert , a real goofy skink.

Fluffy asleep the other night

2hrs later

She shared with another adult female water skink til August 2020 in a converted 120L tub , her tank mate was older and died of old age , so I moved her into the 29L converted "hospital tub" while I F10ed the big tub ( JIC ) , which is more convenient anyway , and plenty big enough for her by herself.
She likes it enough to put herself back in when she's had enough "daddy funtime" , water skinks are cleavour little skinks , kept them for over 12 years and they are great interactive pets.

 

[lisbetha]

Thought about doing one this time, but my husband is under the impression they are dumb. He didn't like how skittish our EWD was.
She was outside hatched and 6 Mo when we got her, so essentially wild. And she'd picked up worms and protozoa from her outdoors time and didn't take well to being given meds, so we started out on the bad foot and it took about a year for her to really settle down. She was happy to be held as long as it was 'inside' her Viv. She was not an adventurous soul, though she'd let you know when she was ready for scratches - especially when she was moulting - and would happily eat from your hand.

 

[kingofnobbys]

Fluffy having "fun time" , crawls all over me , the coffee table , laptop and the lounge next to me ( I'd let he roam on the floor but she is very adventurous and inquisitive likely to accidently get lost under something big and heavy) .

We also get wild eastern water skinks coming inside ( for frequent visits and to freeload - yes I give them crickets and mealworms because I'm a soft touch ) , some get so game they''ll take insects from my fingers and open up held hand , and even let me pet them .

We also have a colony of wild g.dudia geckos living inside too who regularly churp at each other and us, who occasionally take a peak at the big pet lizards ( centrals and eastern bt skinks ) and at us , and are regularly spotted on kitchen benchtop, on the shelves in the kitchen's underbench cabinets and on the kitchen & bathroom floor.

I regularly loose crickets at feeding time, who vanish ( never to be heard or see again ), the resident wild skinks and geckos are making short work of them I expect.

One of my friendly wild water skinks visiting

We also have regular visits in garden and yard from some wild eastern water dragons, there's a creek only 200m away in an area of remnant woodland ( and area the local kids tell me has a wild colony of eastern water skinks and a large colony of eastern water skinks ).

 

[lisbetha]

All I've ever seen wild here are rainbow skinks. We like to usher them outside when they squeeze under the door.

It's all about the birds here, and I do help out with bird rescue, just wish there was a tuatara rescue where I could handle those guys all day - they're sooo pretty. They look like painted fibreglass dinosaurs up close.