New dragon -help with setup?

[pseudacris]

Hi, I just got my first dragon today, he's about 1 or 2 years old. I really want to make sure my setup is correct, and I've been having some trouble with a couple things - help? I have a 75 gallon glass aquarium. I am using tile flooring, and have a 120 watt incandescent flood light and reptisun 10.0 t5 ho in a sunblaster fixture.

First issue: basking platform
The piece of wood I bought for basking looked huge online but ended up being really tiny and has no vertical gain. Oops. For the meantime, I have a bunch of narrow cardboard boxes stacked up like a set of stairs, going up towards the lights. Looking for inexpensive (and more stable) alternatives to these unsightly and bulky boxes...any ideas? Thought about getting a piece of wood from outside, but wasn't sure if some kinds of wood are bad. Also, this tank is pretty tall vertically and I can't get the right temps for basking with the typical 4" platform they sell on amazon/petco. Speaking of temps...

Second issue: temps
My infrared temp gun readings with just the flood light and reptisun are barely reaching 80*F at the highest point on the basking platform (~9-10 inches from light). I added a small halogen bulb and now it's around 97*F only at the very top of my makeshift basking platform. The rest of the tank is ~75, even on the warm side below the basking area. Not sure how everyone is getting such high temps or such a nice gradient of temps between warm side and cool side, any ideas how I can improve my light setup?? Should I get a ceramic heat emitter and just leave that on 24/7, and just use the small halogen for daylight?

Thanks!

 

[Drache613]

Moved by Moderator from General to Enclosures

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

If you could post some pictures that would also help us with strategy & planning.
The taller tanks are harder to get the temperatures right, but you should be able to attain
the correct ones.
It's great you are using the laser temp gun because the temperatures should be accurate.
Where are you measuring the basking spot, directly underneath of the 120watt incandescent
bulb? You could try getting a halogen bulb, they tend to run pretty hot most of the times.
If you did use a piece of wood from outside, you would want to clean it up to be sure there
weren't any bugs. There are certain woods that shouldn't be used such as cedar. Pine or
birch should be fine. What type of wood do you have outdoors?
You could get a couple of round or square stepping stones that are flat to help build up the
platform, or make one, etc to substitute for the boxes.

Tracie

 

[pseudacris]

Here is my current setup. The clamped and angled light is the flood light, the smaller one is a small household halogen. I am measuring temps at different places on that top cardboard box, and then on the tile floor. I also added some aluminum foil to my reptisun t5HO because the fixture did not come with a reflector - not sure if it's a good idea though, it seems pretty close to my beardie's face...

 

[CooperDragon]

For a more stable platform, You can use a (washed) stone from outside or some flat, wide pieces of wood. I like using flat driftwood in particular. Just rinse the wood off well and bake it in the oven on low (around 250 or so) for 45 min to kill off any bacteria or hitchhikers. Don't bake the stone as water or air pockets could cause cracking or worse. Just wash the surface well and it will be good enough.

For the lighting, you might want to try a 90w PAR38 halogen flood light. I use those and they work well. Try to set the basking light so it's hanging straight down. An adjustable lamp stand (ZooMed makes them) or similar might help. That way you can also raise/lower it to fine tune the temps.

The T5 in a Sunblaster is a good idea. Without a reflector it should sit about 6-8'' above the basking area. No closer than 6'' because it gets visually intense. I think the better thing to do would be to get a reflector for it (The Sunblaster fixtures have reflectors available it just depends on the size of the fixture) and set it about 12'' above the basking area (lower your basking area). With the UVB light 12'' up it will provide excellent UVB across the basking area and then you can focus on fine tuning the basking lamp on an adjustable stand.

 

[pseudacris]

I got a large rock for basking and got the 90w halogen you suggested, placed straight down instead of clamped on the side, plus a ceramic heat emitter that I have on 24/7. Now the highest point on the rock is still about 97F and the cool side is around 75F...but the warm side is overall much warmer than before, with a better gradient of temps from warm to cool. Should it be hotter still?

I don't know if my dragon is still dealing with my temp problems and adjusting to his new home, but he hasn't eaten much and hasn't pooped since I got him 6 days ago. He has eaten a tiny bit of a mix of collard greens, kale, and grated carrots, and ~5 medium dubias total over the past 6 days. I dusted calcium only on one day. I have given him 3 warm baths to try to get him to poop but no success. He did drink some water on the second bath. Yesterday he refused to eat at all...I even tried giving him some unsweetened applesauce yesterday and he took a little lick then ignored it. Also tried a blueberry yesterday, he just side-eyed it. The person I got him from said he was a very good eater, she fed him collards and dubia also. He just sits on his basking rock all day and night and doesn't walk around the tank as far as I know - he is alert though, he turns and looks at me whenever I pass by. Do you think this something I need to see a vet about, or should I keep waiting it out? Thanks.

 

[CooperDragon]

I'd probably wait it out for a while longer unless he starts acting really lethargic or shows a dark black beard. Can you post an updated photo of how it looks with the new configuration? 97 is close enough that I'd probably leave it be for now and let him settle and just watch how he handles it. If he pancakes out to bask a lot directly under the bulb you may want more heat. If he moves around the basking area and uses the areas just off to the side as well then the heat is probably OK.