Is my lighting wrong?

[chazzers]

Chaz's house by SicGolfRowner, on Flickr

This is a home made viv and the overall height is 24" from floor to screen/chicken wire. The log that you see Chaz sitting on is made of plastic and absorbs a lot of heat. I have my temperature probe tucked in a crack close to where he is basking (his head). It usually reads between 100-105 and his cool side is 80.

The reason I am concerned is because a majority of his white heat light is hitting only his head and not the rest of his body so I'm concerned he isn't warming up properly. Also his UV bulb is at an angle so it can cover his basking area but the distance of the bulb to his body is pretty substantial.

He hasn't been eating ANY live prey for the last week and I'm wondering if he knows he isn't getting to the proper temperature for digestion so he just isn't eating.

 

[popsickle18]

Your temps seem perfectly fine. I wouldn't worry too much about the heat lamp as long as your guy is coming up to it and basking. From the picture it seems like he can get pretty close. Your dragon should be able to come within 6-8 inches of the UVB light and it is also recommended to not be blocked by the screen. In other words, try to mount it to the interior of the change so the screen will not filter out any rays. What brand of UVB do you have?

Why such a tall tank? The problems could resolve themselves if you shortened the tank

 

[chazzers]

I have a reptisun 10.0 36" bulb in a reptisun terrarium hood. The screen on the tank is not thick at all. The gaps are at least .5" because its chicken wire to keep out the cats. I wanted a little higher viv so he could climb.

 

[popsickle18]

Good! You have a good light there. Ahh, I see what you mean about the chicken wire. It will probably be fine then. I hope he is getting close enough to those rays! How far do you think he is from the UVB light when he is basking? How often is he on his log?

I'm not used to my dragons wanting to climb! My first dragon was a little bum and my new adopted boy is turning out the same way :lol: My adopted boy also has back foot injuries from a past cage mate before I got to him. I think he is kind of scared of climbing He is very timid about it because he cannot hold on to things well enough with his back feet due to toes missing.

 

[chazzers]

I'd say that section of log is about 8" if not a little bit more. I see him up there a few times a day. I also have another hood with a smaller reptisun bulb on the side of his viv (the one I had used on his baby viv) but I don't turn that one on because I am worried about possible over exposure as well as the fact there isn't another basking light over there.

I don't want him to be confused and sit on the colder side of the tank just to get UVA/UVB light and not bask in his basking spot.

He isn't up there too much. I see him there a few times a day but mainly he is all over on different parts of the viv floor, pressed up against the plexiglass or pancaking.

Lately he has been pretty peppy during the daylight hours but when the sun goes down it seems like he knows its getting closer to bed time and just lays around with his eyes closed for short periods.