Newbie, working days, need help setting day/night cycle

[Zee]

Hi my name is Zee. My hubby surprised me w/ a beard as an early Christmas present & we got him all set up & I think happy. Pogo is almost four weeks old & is super responsive to us, he looks over almost every time we check on him.

My question is how do I change his day/night cycle? Essentially I want to make my beardy sleep during the day & be active @ night?

We both work long hours during the day & don't want to risk any fire hazards by running Pogo's lights when we're not there. Also, it will be more consistent to feed him in the evenings/ night so he gets his three meals a day on a regularish schedule. We want to set him on a light cycle between 8PM to 8AM (His tank is in our room so we can keep an eye on our baby beardy). We already started a feeding schedule for him to match his new light cycle. The problem is we don't know how to get him started on it. Should we turn the basking light off tonight & not turn it back on until 8pm tomorrow to get him used to it? Or should we leave it on until 8AM & kind of force him to start his "night" cycle in the morning. Pogo is so young that I'm worried he will either freeze or dehydrate but I know that with our schedules we will be better able to care for & interact w/ him if his light cycle starts in the evening. Since we're usually up until after midnight anyway it works best.

Please advise. I'm so worried I can't sleep.

 

[CooperDragon]

Dragons are active during the day by nature so I'm not sure what effect reversing their schedule would have. Since we're using artificial light, if you slowly shift the schedule to a 12-14hr night time lights on schedule and you can keep the enclosure nice and dark during the day it may work if you're consistent with it. I suggest putting the lights on timers so they are automatic and consistent. You'll want to provide 2 or 3 meals per day. I used to offer a meal before work and a meal when I got home from work and that worked out well. Just be sure to provide an hour or two with lights on after the last meal to allow for time to digest.

 

[Zee]

Thank you so much for the advise! We sort gave him a "nap" yesterday & turned his lights on later in the night & kept them on all night until 7am. He was so tired this morning--I felt so bad because he conked out & didn't wake up when we came to check on him during nap--but he slept all day & was way more active & alert when we turned his lights back on this evening @ 8PM.

We're not worried about the light getting to him since we are getting blackout curtains for our bedroom window & were thinking of putting a shade or cover over his tank during the day to hold in heat & keep out the light during his 'night cycle'.

Any suggestions?

 

[CooperDragon]

The curtains should be enough. If it's still too bright you could put paper background up around the tank. If the room stays at a reasonable temperature (above 65) I wouldn't worry about heat. As I mentioned, you'll want to make the transition very slowly. Perhaps using a tool I use when I travel will be helpful. http://www.jetlagrooster.com Just set it to traveling somewhere in a time zone about 12hrs different and set it to begin changing 12 days before departure.

 

[Zee]

Oh ok. Thanks! We may get actually get a background since I noticed that two of his walls is facing the entrance so light gets in when we open the doors.

I'm looking into the jetlag rooster now. Pogo was pretty good yesterday except he didn't eat anything for lunch or dinner. My husband gave him some greens, but he didn't touch them, & some super worms, he ate three but that was all. I was told this was normal since he ate A LOT the first day. I just hope the time change does not affect his appetite too much.