Treker
Member
It's been a while and thought i'd check in. I wanted to share a few pictures and observations over the last six months.
I thought Dagobah was brumating because of his decrease in weight and significant decrease in appetite since November or so. Took him to the vet about a month ago and the vet thought it was attributed to the temperature in his tank, UVB, and to a lesser degree the pinworms that we got rid of shortly after. Not using crickets as a feeder ever again!
His basking spot was always spot on temperature wise. However, the stone at the bottom of his cage has been very cold not to mention the rock where he basks. I started to wonder if maybe he would do better with a UTH and a new Reptisun UVB 10 (it had been almost 6 months). Those two things did wonders I am telling you. He is doing sooo much better. According to the vet these Reptisuns should be changed every 3 months. I don't know about that, I may do every 4. But trying to make it to 6 months in the winter in Washington, it was definitely not good for my Dagobah. And the UTH has made Dagobah want to move around the cage more, and even lay on the stone to warm his belly. The UTH has made his whole environment warmer rather than just a focused beam in his basking spot.
Oh and I think he was dehydrated. I had always given him bi-weekly baths. However apart from those and some moist veggies, he never drank. I started a few weeks ago to drop beads of water onto his nose during his shallow bath, in hopes that he'd start to lick his chomps and intake some h2o. It works on him, twice a week during his bath he'll open his mouth stick out his tongue and lick in the water as I keep a steady flow of water beading onto his nose and tongue, dropped from my fingers. He'll keep lapping in the water for a few minutes in a daze, then kind of snap out of it, close his mouth and want to get out of the water and back into his cage. After drinking he seems very happy and energetic. I am so glad he learned to take in water.
I thought Dagobah was brumating because of his decrease in weight and significant decrease in appetite since November or so. Took him to the vet about a month ago and the vet thought it was attributed to the temperature in his tank, UVB, and to a lesser degree the pinworms that we got rid of shortly after. Not using crickets as a feeder ever again!
His basking spot was always spot on temperature wise. However, the stone at the bottom of his cage has been very cold not to mention the rock where he basks. I started to wonder if maybe he would do better with a UTH and a new Reptisun UVB 10 (it had been almost 6 months). Those two things did wonders I am telling you. He is doing sooo much better. According to the vet these Reptisuns should be changed every 3 months. I don't know about that, I may do every 4. But trying to make it to 6 months in the winter in Washington, it was definitely not good for my Dagobah. And the UTH has made Dagobah want to move around the cage more, and even lay on the stone to warm his belly. The UTH has made his whole environment warmer rather than just a focused beam in his basking spot.
Oh and I think he was dehydrated. I had always given him bi-weekly baths. However apart from those and some moist veggies, he never drank. I started a few weeks ago to drop beads of water onto his nose during his shallow bath, in hopes that he'd start to lick his chomps and intake some h2o. It works on him, twice a week during his bath he'll open his mouth stick out his tongue and lick in the water as I keep a steady flow of water beading onto his nose and tongue, dropped from my fingers. He'll keep lapping in the water for a few minutes in a daze, then kind of snap out of it, close his mouth and want to get out of the water and back into his cage. After drinking he seems very happy and energetic. I am so glad he learned to take in water.