Here's Nelly!

[syoung27]

This is Nelly, about 6 months old I think. Still unsure of the sex. About 15" long at this point. Just switched up my 20g tank for a 40 a few weeks ago, would've loved to jump up to a 60 or so but couldn't find much online and space is limited as I currently live with roommates.
Generally seems happy! Eats well, enjoys the branch thing I got with the larger tank. Made the new hut myself as well as he outgrew the cave I previously had.
Just using paper towel at the moment for substrate, I have repticarpet as well but it irritates me as the fit is too small and crickets getting under it was a nuisance. Not to mention cleaning Nellys feces off it could get messy.

I'm open to any suggestions you folks may have! I think he's doing well but I like to spoil him/her whenever I have extra funds.

I have noticed recently some excess fluid when it defecates. The stool is still relatively shaped and holds together so I'm hoping it's just from greens or hydration. The urate is generally white, sometimes slightly off so I'm hoping he hasn't acquired a parasite or anything. But he does defecate on a fairly regular basis and eats well.

Also from doing reading almost every day since I got it, I recently came across people who brought up issues with the uvb compact bulbs and ca using blindness or other issues with eye lid's. I currently have two uvb compacts, one is a 5.0 which came with my original tank kit, and the other I purchased more recently is a 10.0 26w 150 uvb. Should this be a concern? Of course I also have a basking bulb, 100w near his branch. I don't put it right above as I noticed the branch gets extremely hot to the touch being too close so I don't want Nellys stomach to burn.

Also I'm curious about humidity, I have to get a proper hydrometer at some point as I've just been using one of those crappy zoomed dials which outputs humidity and temp.
After reading and watching abundances of videos, people's opinions are all over the place.
What are your measurements like? Obviously depending where we live plays a large factor.

Nelly generally eats at least 40 ~3/8" house crickets per day. As well he tends to snack on the pellets I leave in his food bowl throughout the day. I offer endive or collard greens fairly often as well.

Thanks for reading! I'm Spencer by the way.

 

[CooperDragon]

The setup looks pretty good! I do have a few suggestions that may help. First, I'd double check the temperatures on the highest basking branch using a digital thermometer probe or an IR temp gun. You'll want that to be around 100-105 and the cool side of the tank should be around 75-80 with a nice gradient between.

I would stop using the 5.0 UVB light. It's designed for shade animals and especially when shining through a screen it just isn't powerful enough to do much good. The UVB 150 is OK but I prefer using a UVB tube because they produce a wider area of proper UVB across the basking area. I notice your UVB light is over the cool side. I'd move that to be right next to the basking light so you are providing high heat and high UVB over the basking area with a gradient down to low/no UVB along with cooler temps on the other side. That will give him options so he can self regulate and get what he needs.

 

[syoung27]

The setup looks pretty good! I do have a few suggestions that may help. First, I'd double check the temperatures on the highest basking branch using a digital thermometer probe or an IR temp gun. You'll want that to be around 100-105 and the cool side of the tank should be around 75-80 with a nice gradient between.

I would stop using the 5.0 UVB light. It's designed for shade animals and especially when shining through a screen it just isn't powerful enough to do much good. The UVB 150 is OK but I prefer using a UVB tube because they produce a wider area of proper UVB across the basking area. I notice your UVB light is over the cool side. I'd move that to be right next to the basking light so you are providing high heat and high UVB over the basking area with a gradient down to low/no UVB along with cooler temps on the other side. That will give him options so he can self regulate and get what he needs.

Thanks for the reply! I have both uvb lights along with the basking bulb on the screen. Which is why I mentioned I kept the 5.0. The 5.0 is the noticeable one on the cool side near his hut. The 10.0 is harder to see but is above the basking spot as well.
I just kept the 5.0 to give more light into the enclosure.
I should've got a tube forsure I'm aware, unfortunately the wallet doesn't always agree lol. I'll be getting a probe soon.

 

[CooperDragon]

Ah OK. The 5.0 should be fine for visible light. You can use a normal incandescent household bulb too. The 150 next to the basking light is fine for now. It will produce a cone of UVB around 8'' diameter with best output at around 6''. I wouldn't put it closer than that. You want a zone of around 3-5 UVI in the basking area.