New owner! baby 4 inch translucent tiger (picture heavy)

[diamc]

Oh, how cute he is, congratulations. He sure has neat colors & patterns. Looks so tiny in the 40 gallon tank. Those pictures of him peering over the paper towel are adorable. If he does that a lot, you might want to think about removing that one piece so he can investigate a little more as looks quite curious which is a good thing.

Bet he would love climbing & jumping around some plastic vines. Dollar stores have a big variety of them as well as the plastic suction cups with the hooks for hanging the vines.

Seems like you did a lot of homework beforehand, good for you. :wink:

Hard to tell from the pictures but it looks like there is about a foot from the UVB to him while on his basking rock. Any idea what the distance is?

Sounds like he is settling in quite nicely.

 

[Sovski]

Thank you! Yeah I made sure to do a lot of research and get his home set-up as best as I could before he arrived. You're right there is almost a foot of distance to the UVB lamp. It's about 10 and 1/2 inches between his basking spot and the reptisun. I measured the UVB today with a Solarmeter 6.2 and it registers about 40-45 uw/cm^2 at his basking spot. This is with the mesh wire of the lid enclosure out of the way so the light isn't being filtered through the mesh.

I'm considering either raising his basking rock up four or five inches. It's either that or I get a T5 high output terrarium hood. He seems to be alert and has quite the appetite eating 25-30 reptiworms a day, but I'm still not sure if 40-45 uw/cm^2 twelve hours a day is enough. Some people here have suggested between 100-250?

I posted a separate thread asking for lighting help regarding my UVB here:

viewtopic.php?f=34&t=207930

 

[diamc]

The only thing is if you raise the basking spot 4 or 5", it might be too hot unless you go down to a 60 watt basking bulb. Did you say that the basking surface temp now is about 106?

I use the 6.5 Solar Meter so my readings are always different than what the 6.2 shows. But, I did find this info that Frances Baines wrote (the UVB guru that does the UVB testing).

The output also depends on whether you have an aluminum reflector with your fixture, as this boosts the UVB up to three times greater (because it reflects "wasted" UV that was going up into the ceiling, down onto the basking zone.) So if the UV is too strong with a reflector... take the reflector off, and it will be much less.

I reckon the ideal way to set this up with a 2ft vivarium, if you have a UV meter, is to fix the tube to the ceiling (or if it has a mesh roof, you don't have much option but to rest it on top of the mesh) at the same end of the viv as the basking zone, right next to the basking lamp. Then using the meter held underneath, inside the viv, work out how high you need his basking log/rock/shelf to be, so that he can climb up, to get his head and shoulders into the UVI 3 - 6 range (Solarmeter 6.5) or total UVB approx 90 - 180 uW/cm2 (Solarmeter 6.2) - those are the typical readings I am looking for.

Hope that is a little helpful.

 

[Sovski]

Thanks for that quote! Yeah the temps range between 100 and 106 usually. That's with both the 75 watt and the 50 watt above the basking spot. Temps won't be an issue though -- I know I can keep those in check if I raise his basking spot. I'm mainly just concerned with the UVB.

I'll try to play around with his basking spot height and see if I can get it closer to the UVB and I'll see if I can get him some things to climb on :lol:

Then there's also the problem of Rocko being scared of me. I took him out for play time a little too early before letting him adjust to his home. It's a learning process for both of us.

 

[diamc]

You're right, best to get the UVB at the right distance with a good UV reading and then work on the temps.
Let us know how you make out.

It takes time for them to adjust to all the new things. Takes time, patience & understanding but it's all worth it in the end. Have you tried holding him wrapped in a small blanket or towel after he's had a bath? That is great for bonding.

 

[Sovski]

Instead of raising his basking spot I decided to change it altogether :lol: I went to the store and got a couple more things for him to climb on.

With this set up he can hang out at the hottest area which is between 102 and 106 similar to what I had before. I measured the top of his head with a IR temp gun and the highest was about 106. I'm using the 50 watt bulb as his basking light now. He can also go further down the log if he wants to escape the heat and still get good UVB exposure! He's about six inches away from the UVB light and is getting between 90 and 110 UW/cm^2. He seems happier climbing around up there :mrgreen:

He waves at me almost everyday. Does this mean he's trying to tell me he's scared and doesn't want me to hurt him?

 

[Spikeshuman]

Arm waving is a submissive act. Shes saying she knows your the boss..

 

[diamc]

Good job getting a better UVB reading and being able to find something to get him up higher. He looks quite content up there. Bet you feel better too.