Opinions please. Zsa Zsa's new setup.

[xp29]

Back story. I broke the friggen glass in my other 4x2x2. I'm going to fix it but I haven't yet. And I haven't got the stand ready anyway.
Ruby has serious mobility problems now, she can no longer climb. She still trys any chance she gets, but about 95% of the time she rolls over on her back. It scares the daylights out of her and us alike. She only used one side of her habitat. She only moves between her hide and her basking on the cargo net. She couldn't get high enough to really see out her window and she loves to look/be outside.
With that in mind I've moved Ruby back into a 40 gallon. I raised the floor up 6ish inches. Now she has direct line of sight out the window, and she is close enough to her lights that she doesn't need to climb. If she doesn't seem to like the smaller habitat I'll get her back into a 4x2x2. I'll post pictures of her setup first, then of Zsa Zsa's.
Zsa Zsa was moved into the 4x2x2. The decor is a mixture of her old decor and some new stuff including a slate top hide for nail maintenance. The hide looks like it's on driftwood but it isn't. It's on 4x4's disguised as driftwood and birch rounds
I set it up a couple different ways. The first had her tree stump hide from her previous habitat. Then I took that out and replaced it with a 2nd piece of driftwood. I'd love if you guys would give me feed back on which looks better and of the setup in general.
The big piece of driftwood that makes the ramp was baked at 215° for an hour and then ramped up to 300° for another hour. The smaller piece was baked at 200° for 2-1/2 hours back in Washington and another 45 minutes at 300° today. So there shouldn't be any chance of microscopic baddies in them. It's a good thing to because Zsa Zsa tasted everything at least a dozen times quick as I put her in.
For her part she seems quite pleased. She has already explored ever square inch. She took one look at the ramped piece of driftwood and shot straight up it like a rocket. She hasn't stopped moving about since I put her in. She is getting a little chunky so maybe the extra room will encourage her to exercise.
Anyway I rambled on a bit so I'll just go on and post the pics now lol. Any and all feedback is welcome

This is Ruby's new setup.

And this is Zsa Zsa's

 

[xp29]

Hrmmm a couple posted out of order for some reason. Oh well
Btw I did not move or pose Zsa Zsa. I could barely get a picture before she moved again lol.

 

[Claudiusx]

Ruby's UV looks really close judging by the pictures alone. Even for a 10.0 T8.

I understand Ruby is suffering from mobility issues, but it still would probably be best to have the UVB outside of the tank and on the mesh in her case. I think the idea of raising the floor is a good one for her, but the UV exposure (and at that distance and angle, the potential damage to the eyes) needs to be considered.

Zsa Zsa, and enclosure, are looking great though Looks like she likes the view too!

-Brandon

 

[xp29]

Ruby's UV looks really close judging by the pictures alone. Even for a 10.0 T8.

I understand Ruby is suffering from mobility issues, but it still would probably be best to have the UVB outside of the tank and on the mesh in her case. I think the idea of raising the floor is a good one for her, but the UV exposure (and at that distance and angle, the potential damage to the eyes) needs to be considered.

Zsa Zsa, and enclosure, are looking great though Looks like she likes the view too!

-Brandon

Thank you. I took the mopani wood out this evening. I'm afraid she'll get stuck on it if she falls off it. I was planning to move the uvb to above the screen in the morning. She was out till her lights were off this evening so she wasn't under it that low. The light is a t5 12% Arcadia so it's pretty strong. As is it's only 8 to 9 inches so it has to be moved for sure

 

[NickAVD]

I also wanted to say that UV for Ruby is too low. You have made a very comfortable home for Ruby. But everything you have told me about her made me very worried about her. I hope that she will start the path to recovery in her new home.
The house for Zsa Zsa is also very comfortable and will allow her to do sports. Did you secure the inclined snag well? Zsa Zsa will not be able to knock it over? I would add a flat cork bark to the right wall of Zsa Zsa's terrarium. It will cover the white wall and allow her to climb and jump on it.

 

[AHBD]

Zsa Zsa going to do some sports in there like the hornworm hurtle and the dubia dash !

All kidding aside both set ups look good ! Claudius mentioned that the lights need to be further away but that's an easy adjustment. I love the natural wood pieces ! And yes, now is the time to cut back on Zsa zsa's feeding, otherwise it will be much harder, almost impossible once they are overweight adults.

 

[xp29]

I also wanted to say that UV for Ruby is too low. You have made a very comfortable home for Ruby. But everything you have told me about her made me very worried about her. I hope that she will start the path to recovery in her new home.
The house for Zsa Zsa is also very comfortable and will allow her to do sports. Did you secure the inclined snag well? Zsa Zsa will not be able to knock it over? I would add a flat cork bark to the right wall of Zsa Zsa's terrarium. It will cover the white wall and allow her to climb and jump on it.

I moved the light to above the screen first thing this morning. I was worried a bit about the smaller foot print of the 40 gallon but Ruby doesn't move around to much. So far she seems happy. She can poke her head out of the hide and have line of site outside. She still gets a bit of uvb that way and her basking is close enough to stay warm. Also she is right beside the computer so if she flips over Christina works from there, so she is there to rescue Ruby and put her right side up.
It think I'm going to get her a sticker for her bottom that says "if you can read this, flip me back over please"
The cork for Zsa Zsa is a pretty good idea I have to go get bugs today anyway so I'll poke around and see what's available.
I took the towel off the end of her habitat so she sees Ruby now. She waved for a few minutes but now she is glass surfing trying to go over there lol. They are doing good at night being close, I think they are going to do ok with each other.
These pictures are from this afternoon. Ruby seems content.

 

[xp29]

Zsa Zsa going to do some sports in there like the hornworm hurtle and the dubia dash !

All kidding aside both set ups look good ! Claudius mentioned that the lights need to be further away but that's an easy adjustment. I love the natural wood pieces ! And yes, now is the time to cut back on Zsa zsa's feeding, otherwise it will be much harder, almost impossible once they are overweight adults.

I think you just named the first two events in the new upcoming Beardie Olympics
I already moved the light, I knew it was going to need to be moved when I sat it up. Ruby was already out though and wasn't going back in till bed time so I concentrated on getting the other habitat put together.
I cut Zsa Zsa back to 1 feeding per day about 6 weeks or so ago. She hates it. When I was measuring for what I needed in each habitat, she was trying to eat the tape measure lol. ..... or her bed when I take it out in the morning, or the towel that keeps the street lights out at night, or the paper towels when I clean the poop up ...... anything that moves she attacks it. Even the food bowl, she grabs it and bites it before I can set it down. I've never seen anything that wants food the way she does. We have to be careful picking her up or we get bit. She's fruit loops lol..... (I guarantee she'd eat those to lmao)
Oh and she eats her greens most days also.
I pretty sure a few cats and small dogs have gone missing in my neighborhood

 

[xp29]

I also wanted to say that UV for Ruby is too low. You have made a very comfortable home for Ruby. But everything you have told me about her made me very worried about her. I hope that she will start the path to recovery in her new home.
The house for Zsa Zsa is also very comfortable and will allow her to do sports. Did you secure the inclined snag well? Zsa Zsa will not be able to knock it over? I would add a flat cork bark to the right wall of Zsa Zsa's terrarium. It will cover the white wall and allow her to climb and jump on it.

I forgot to mention that yes I made sure nothing will move, shift or fall. It's actually pretty secure.
Ruby is improving fairly quickly. I've been washing her and applying honey to her vent daily. The swelling is greatly improved and there hasn't been any blood when she poops for 3 days now. She gave us a scare but I think she is out of the woods now.

 

[NickAVD]

I see that you have an Exotera terrarium and it has a fine mesh. Ruby is very sensitive to lack of UV. Maybe you can get rid of the mesh? I know that the mesh in the Exotera can be easily replaced with a large cell. If you look at the lid from the inside, you will see a plastic tube that goes along the perimeter of the mesh and serves as a seal. I think it will not be difficult for you to find a large mesh and bend the edges to replace it.
I did not disassemble the mesh, but I think that it is enough to remove the flexible tube-seal and insert a new mesh. There is another solution so as not to worry about UV.
I have the same terrarium, if you need it, I can make measurements of UV losses for this mesh for you with a UVB radiation meter, write to me if this is necessary.

 

[xp29]

I see that you have an Exotera terrarium and it has a fine mesh. Ruby is very sensitive to lack of UV. Maybe you can get rid of the mesh? I know that the mesh in the Exotera can be easily replaced with a large cell. If you look at the lid from the inside, you will see a plastic tube that goes along the perimeter of the mesh and serves as a seal. I think it will not be difficult for you to find a large mesh and bend the edges to replace it.
I did not disassemble the mesh, but I think that it is enough to remove the flexible tube-seal and insert a new mesh. There is another solution so as not to worry about UV.
I have the same terrarium, if you need it, I can make measurements of UV losses for this mesh for you with a UVB radiation meter, write to me if this is necessary.

I actually have another exoterra also. I had loose substrate in it and haven't deep cleaned it so I used this one. The other one used to house Ruby and already has the screen removed. It'll be easy enough to just switch screens. I'll need to pick up a light hanging fixture if I go that route though or prop the uvb on something otherwise I'll be back to having it to close.
For now I'm not extremely worried if the uvb level in her habitat is just a little bit low. Christina puts her out in the outside cage pretty much every day for 3 or 4 hours so she gets a ton of natural uvb. It'll be getting to cold for that soon though so I'll have to get it dailed in sooner rather than later.

 

[Claudiusx]

Even with the extra fine mesh of the exo-terra, it's only blocking around 30% of the rays. In this situation, that's ideal as it's cutting down the intensity of the otherwise really close UVB bulb.

@xp29, I don't remember, do you have a solarmeter? Either way, how you have it set up now is more than adequate for UV exposure, even without the trips outside

-Brandon

 

[xp29]

Even with the extra fine mesh of the exo-terra, it's only blocking around 30% of the rays. In this situation, that's ideal as it's cutting down the intensity of the otherwise really close UVB bulb.

@xp29, I don't remember, do you have a solarmeter? Either way, how you have it set up now is more than adequate for UV exposure, even without the trips outside

-Brandon

I don't have one.
I do intend to get one though. That was supposed to be my last birthday present from Christina but I ended up getting a Zsa Zsa instead
I've always just replaced the bulbs once per year but I've probably thrown enough good bulbs alway to pay for the darned metter 5 times over

 

[NickAVD]

I would also choose Zsa Zsa instead of this box with numbers.
Besides, the manufacturer of the lamps quite accurately recommended changing them once a year. I have a device (not a solar meter) that measures UVB radiation in microwatts. I focus on its readings and can say that after a year the UVB power drops significantly, by about 25-30 percent, so I always change the lamps after a year without saving on this at all. However, the device allows me to assess the weather outside, as well as the condition of the Foxy mercury lamp. The mercury lamp is turned off most of the time and it is difficult to calculate the time for its replacement without a meter.

 

[xp29]

I would also choose Zsa Zsa instead of this box with numbers.
Besides, the manufacturer of the lamps quite accurately recommended changing them once a year. I have a device (not a solar meter) that measures UVB radiation in microwatts. I focus on its readings and can say that after a year the UVB power drops significantly, by about 25-30 percent, so I always change the lamps after a year without saving on this at all. However, the device allows me to assess the weather outside, as well as the condition of the Foxy mercury lamp. The mercury lamp is turned off most of the time and it is difficult to calculate the time for its replacement without a meter.

I've got Sinatra's uvb off now that he is in brumation. No need to waste the life of the bulb if he isn't gaining any benefits from it.
I've seen other meters at hardware stores, but I wasn't sure I could accurately do the math so I haven't gone that route. I think I would rather spend the extra money and let the metter do the math
I've wanted one for a while, it's just one of those things I've put off buying.
I generally give my guys a wide variety of options for distance so other than bulbs getting weak, It really hasn't been crucial. Other than Ruby because she can't climb, my guys usually can get as close as 5 or 6 inches or as far as a couple foot. Most of them use all the available distances so I'm quite confident they really do pick what they need. I aim for having the basking overlap somewhere towards the middle of that range, so they can fine tune what they want.