Hi everyone, I would really appreciate some feedback on my tank setup.
Darren is approximately a year old (bought him last September and estimated he was about 12 weeks old by his size then). He’s now about 19” and 423g.
For the last few months he has seemed to not want to bother basking unless I pick him up and put him in his basking spot. His appetite has been hit and miss and he point blank refuses crickets. We are in Canada so can’t feed him live dubias (I have a supply of the fresh preserved ones which he used to love but turns his nose up at those too). He only eats Repashy bug pie, mealworms or Superworms (which are not ideal i know)
His basking lamp is a 75w reptile basking lamp. We had a T5 5.0 mounted on top (without the screen) but after reading all of the recommendations here we changed it to the T5 10.0 over a month ago. It sits on top of the mesh screen. (I tried it without the screen and had the basking spots 12-15” away but he seemed to want to avoid the light all the time and hid under his hammock). His basking rock is about 10” away and the hammock on the cool side is about 8”away. The temperature on the rock (using a digital probe) is about 95 and gets to just over 100 on the branch. It reads a bit higher with the temp gun.
We have had some great sunny days recently so we have been bringing him out and he gapes and poops and just generally seems in better form which leads me to think something isn’t to his liking in his terrarium.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated- i have messed about with his setup so much over the last few months trying to get him to want to bask that I also just wonder if he is just maybe annoyed about that?!!
Hi everyone, I would really appreciate some feedback on my tank setup.
Darren is approximately a year old (bought him last September and estimated he was about 12 weeks old by his size then). He’s now about 19” and 423g.
For the last few months he has seemed to not want to bother basking unless I pick him up and put him in his basking spot. His appetite has been hit and miss and he point blank refuses crickets. We are in Canada so can’t feed him live dubias (I have a supply of the fresh preserved ones which he used to love but turns his nose up at those too). He only eats Repashy bug pie, mealworms or Superworms (which are not ideal i know)
His basking lamp is a 75w reptile basking lamp. We had a T5 5.0 mounted on top (without the screen) but after reading all of the recommendations here we changed it to the T5 10.0 over a month ago. It sits on top of the mesh screen. (I tried it without the screen and had the basking spots 12-15” away but he seemed to want to avoid the light all the time and hid under his hammock). His basking rock is about 10” away and the hammock on the cool side is about 8”away. The temperature on the rock (using a digital probe) is about 95 and gets to just over 100 on the branch. It reads a bit higher with the temp gun.
We have had some great sunny days recently so we have been bringing him out and he gapes and poops and just generally seems in better form which leads me to think something isn’t to his liking in his terrarium.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated- i have messed about with his setup so much over the last few months trying to get him to want to bask that I also just wonder if he is just maybe annoyed about that?!!
Try leaving it on the screen w/ the basking decor directly under it 8-10 inches see what he does -- how long did you leave it w/ the 12-15 inches ? Another suggestion I would look at upgrading his tank to a 120 gallon tank ---
Try leaving it on the screen w/ the basking decor directly under it 8-10 inches see what he does -- how long did you leave it w/ the 12-15 inches ? Another suggestion I would look at upgrading his tank to a 120 gallon tank ---
Thanks @KarrieRee!
It would have been about a week or so with the 12-15” - he just had no hide because it was too close to the uvb and I was a little nervous having no screen as he has been known to escape out the top when we removed the screen with the T5 5.0 i have attached a pic of the setup when it was 12-15”. He spent most of the time under the hammock - it was definitely much brighter than it is with the screen on - how do you know when it’s too bright for them?
We are definitely on the lookout for a bigger tank
Thanks @KarrieRee!
It would have been about a week or so with the 12-15” - he just had no hide because it was too close to the uvb and I was a little nervous having no screen as he has been known to escape out the top when we removed the screen with the T5 5.0 i have attached a pic of the setup when it was 12-15”. He spent most of the time under the hammock - it was definitely much brighter than it is with the screen on - how do you know when it’s too bright for them?
We are definitely on the lookout for a bigger tank
Its not the brightness of the bulb its the UVB rays that would be too strong but 12-15 inches is the recommended distance so I dont know why he would of been hiding from it - try the 8-10 w/ it on the screen and see what his behavior does - the screen looks to be of a wider type - I dont want to give you wrong advice w/ the UVB as it is extremely important for them - if this behavior continues then I am going to enlist some help w/ it
Its not the brightness of the bulb its the UVB rays that would be too strong but 12-15 inches is the recommended distance so I dont know why he would of been hiding from it - try the 8-10 w/ it on the screen and see what his behavior does - the screen looks to be of a wider type - I dont want to give you wrong advice w/ the UVB as it is extremely important for them - if this behavior continues then I am going to enlist some help w/ it
Hi @KarrieRee! Thanks again for your advice, he is no longer hiding from the uvb but still not voluntarily basking in the morning unless I move him. I am thinking the tank may be getting a little too cool during the night so am looking at getting a ceramic heat emitter. What wattage would you recommend for a 40gallon tank - there are so many options! His basking bulb is 75 watts and that gets his basking spot to 95-100 so would a 60w heat emitter be sufficient?
Hi @KarrieRee! Thanks again for your advice, he is no longer hiding from the uvb but still not voluntarily basking in the morning unless I move him. I am thinking the tank may be getting a little too cool during the night so am looking at getting a ceramic heat emitter. What wattage would you recommend for a 40gallon tank - there are so many options! His basking bulb is 75 watts and that gets his basking spot to 95-100 so would a 60w heat emitter be sufficient?
You can try it but you dont want that night time temp to go over 75 -- thats going to be too warm any higher -- its going to be trial and error w/ the emitter bulb like your basking bulb- you want night time temps 65-75 -- what is the ambient temp at night -- check it before you turn your lights on -- your probe will tell you --