Actually the Cool Side Ambient (air) Temperature should only be between 75-80 degrees at an absolute maximum, 85 degrees is too hot. The reason should make sense, in that he ALWAYS must have a place to go to that is CONSIDERABLY COOLER than the rest of the tank...Well, if the Hot Side Ambient (air) Temperature is between 88-93 degrees at all times (it has to be since it surrounds the Basking Spot, which must have a Surface Temperature between 105-110 degrees, so naturally the surrounding Air Temperature must be high enough to support this Basking Spot Surface Temperature located within it), then if you put his Cool Side Ambient (air) Temperature the whole way up to 85 degrees, then it's basically no cooler than the Hot Side of the tank, and he then has no place to go that is much cooler than anywhere else, which can create not only dehydration, but also stress. In addition, when the Cool Side Ambient Temperature is too high, what often happens is the Dragon stops basking all together and starts hiding within the Cool Side of the tank, because they are constantly, always too hot. This in-turn starts digestion problems, and then eventually a calcium deficiency, etc. because they aren't spending any time under the
UVB light or within the proper Basking Spot Surface Temperature that allows them to properly digest their food, creating malnutrition and bowel impactions. It's a downward spiral. So please, do not let his Cool Side Ambient Temperature go above 80 degrees, even a bit lower is better.
I also have a secondary Basking Bulb over the Cool Side of all of my enclosures and even my large, glass Exo Terra tank (a little larger than a 40-Gallon Breeder Tank), because #1) the temperature is usually just a tad too cool when only using the one, main Basking Bulb, and then #2) The Cool Side of the tank is much darker than the rest of the tank, though this is a problem for only us, not them, they actually prefer having a darker area to go to when they want to get out from under the bright, constant light of the Hot Side of the tank. However, the secondary Basking Bulbs I have over the Cool Side are all 30 watts at a maximum, they are all just the regular, Halogen Indoor Flood Bulbs, as it's very difficult to find a Reptile Basking Bulb under 50 watts. And their Cool Side Ambient Temperatures never, ever go above 80 degrees, usually they are around 77-78 degrees, but 80 at an absolute maximum. 85 degrees is way too hot, as again, this gets rid of ANY separation in Ambient temperature across the tank at all, and this is not good. So please make sure that his Cool Side Ambient Temp is no hotter than 80 degrees. If you go to any Walmart you'll find many low-wattage, Halogen Indoor Flood Bulbs that fit into the regular light bulb sockets, and they are cheap. Walmart is the only place I've seen so many different, low-wattage Indoor Flood Bulb options that are Halogen (the only thing you find at Lowes, Home Depot, etc. any more are the LED versions, which obviously won't work). But Walmart sells Halogen Indoor Flood Bulbs that are 30 watts, 38 watts, 42 watts, etc. And they only cost a couple of dollars.
As far as the worms go, yes, they do often get bored eating the same thing every day, I would too so I don't blame them, lol. Often times if you switch their live insects this will get them eating normally again and snap them out of the Winter appetite slow-down.
The Reptiworms are one of the healthiest live staple feeder insects you can feed your dragon, i've been feeding them solely for years and I've never had a single health or growth issue. They have many, many brand names including Reptiworms, Calciworms, NutriGrubs, and most commonly Phoenix Worms or BSFL (Black Soldier-Fly Larva), all of these are exactly the same thing. If your dragon likes them, then I highly recommend ordering some size Large BSFL online for him, as I've never been able to find them locally sold in high quantities, and I think Petco ridiculously sells a little cup of 25 of them for like $4.25, and most of them are tiny little things. It's ridiculous. Maybe you're lucky enough to have an independent pet shop that sells them cheaply in bulk, that would be awesome, but if not then I suggest ordering them online, the cheapest 2 places that I've been using for years are
www.dubiaroaches.com and
www.symtonbsf.com I order 1,000 size Large every month from the first place for about $24 shipped, and the second place isn't much more expensive. You can buy 100, 200, 300, 500, etc. and you can set-up regular monthly auto-shipping so you get them on time.
BSFL have the highest natural calcium content of any live feeder insect, they are very low fat, very high in healthy, non purine-based protein, and also extremely high in fluids/
hydration. So they make an ideal live feeder insect. Always order size Large, even for a small baby, as because they are soft-bodied worms the size doesn't hurt them, and the size smalls and mediums are a joke, which you know if you have happened to buy one of those cups from Petco, lol. The size Larges from both the places above are nice a big, and I never end-up with any dead worms. Always feed the darkest colored worms first, as they are the closest to turning, and they also contain the highest calcium content. You cannot keep them in a refrigerator because it's too cold for BSFL and it will kill them, but you can make them dormant safely if you have a cool area to your house, such as a basement or a garage. They can be kept in temperatures down to the mid-40's and they'll live, but anything below 40 degrees will kill them. I keep mine in a big plastic tub from Walmart down in my basement, which I keep in the high 40's to the mid-50's if I'm not down there working (I have a split-level house and the basement contains my workshop). I put an inch or two of either Oat Bran or Oat Meal in the bottom of the plastic tub as a healthy substrate, and then every morning I throw in a handful of the same fresh greens and veggies that I give my dragons, so that the BSFL gut-load themselves. I also peel a few slices of apples and throw them in weekly to provide them with
hydration, and change them out weekly.
I go down to the basement with a smaller container and I scoop up the amount of BSFL that I need for that particular feeding. Then I bring them upstairs in the small container and run them under luke-warm water to wake them up, until they start moving around, then I dust them and feed them to my dragons. Some BSFL vendors will tell you that you don't need to dust them in a Calcium powder because they naturally contain enough calcium that dusting them isn't necessary, however, this isn't true and is a gamble that I've never been willing to take, so I dust them in calcium 5 days a week and in a multivitamin 3 days a week, and not only have I never had a calcium deficiency, but I've also never had any signs of giving them too much calcium. What the vendors don't tell you is that it's only the very dark-colored BSFL that contain enough calcium that you wouldn't need to dust them, not the lighter colored ones, although they do contain a higher amount of calcium than any type of crickets, roaches, etc. do.