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 TL R 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 TL
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: