Strange behavior

[Berryr386]

I have some questions about Lizzie’s recent behavior. She just went through a period of brumation, which scared the crap out of me because she almost didn’t even move for about 3 months. Once it warmed up, she perked back up and started eating/using the bathroom normally. Now she is glass surfing big time. I’ll let her out and she wants down immediately ( no snuggles as usual ), and literally RUNS around the house until she finds the coldest, darkest, dirtiest spot to nap in ( generally the same spot every time) and goes to sleep. After she gets into her chill spot and chills for an hour or so, then I will pick her up for snuggle time. She is usually awful cold when I get her ( it’s pretty chilly in my house this time of year), so I will wrap her in her blanket and snuggle with her. Repeat process next day, though there sometimes I don’t get to let her out, not often though.
Set up is ( cuz I know someone will ask, lol)
Reptisun T5 HO hood, 30”
55 gallon aquarium ( I plan on getting a terrarium soon, my tank is long and tall but not very wide so I feel it is too small)
Tile substrate
Driftwood for basking
And a heat lamp, can’t remember what kind, but it doesn’t seem to do as good as a job as I want, gettin a new one soon.
She is fed turnip greens, zoomed canned dragon food ( I think is is mango and other fruits), zoomed canned crickets, fruit flies, or super worms. Calcium and vitamins are added once a week.
I do have a thermometer, temp stays 90 or above

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

They can definitely worry us when they go into brumation! She may not be 100% out of it
quite yet, but is working on it. How old is she?
Your Reptisun 10 T5 tube, it is mounted on top of the screen top, correct? Is the basking
light right beside it too? What type of thermometer do you use, a digital probe or a temp
gun?
How far from the UVB is LIzzy?
I don't think the foods you are giving has anything to do with her behavior, but I would try
to integrate some fresh insects if at all possible. If you give supers, that is fine but you do
need either crickets or roaches, or even another type of worm, for better nutrition. The
canned crickets or other insects are not nearly as nutritious as live feeders. Will she eat her
greens pretty well?
Even as an adult, she does need calcium 3 or so times per week to maintain her bone strength
too. Has she ever laid infertile eggs?

Tracie

 

[Berryr386]

The lights are mounted on top of hardware cloth or some people call it wire mesh, not screen. It’s a homemade contraption, lol. I’m looking for a better setup, I feel it is too small for her. Lizzy is possibly just a little over a year old. I got her from a pet store in December of 2017. They didn’t know how old she was, but she was a tiny thing. The T5 light streatches the length of the enclosure and the basking bulb is directly behind it. She has different levels of driftwood ranging from just a few inches from the light to a foot away. She has been alternating between them constantly here lately. I fed her live crickets when she was tiny but found them difficult to keep alive, was losing money big time which is why I switched to canned. I did not know that they are not as good for her. She don’t eat her veggies as much as she does bugs and therefore I have a problem feeding fresh fruit/veggies too. They go bad before she eats them. I tried freeze dried but she won’t touch that. I don’t blame her really, I wouldn’t either. I do give her calcium and vitamins, just forgot to mention it. No eggs yet. I’m not entirely share she is a female, im definitely not an expert, and she is my first. I think I should mention that she surfs almost immediately after turning her lights on in the morning, and after putting her back in after time out of her enclosure.

 

[EllenD]

It looks like you're using only a Stick-On thermometer, is that correct? So basically you've got an Air/Ambient Temperature in the tank of 90 degrees F, but do you know what the Surface Temperature of her actual Basking Spot/Platform is? How about the Cool Side Air/Ambient Temperature? You need either a Temperature Gun or a Digital Probe on a Wire Thermometer in order to measure her Basking Spot/Platform Temperature, as it's a Surface Temperature, not an Air Temperature, and that needs to be right around 105 degrees F, or at least between 100-105 degrees F in order for her to be able to properly digest her food...

I think part of the problem might be that you don't really have the tank set up with a Cool Side, with no lights over it, and then a Hot Side that has both the bright-white colored Basking Bulb and the UVB tube right alongside each other, so that both lights are basically "sharing" the top of the Hot Side of the tank, and then a specific Basking Spot/Platform that is directly underneath both lights and at a distance of about 10" from the UVB tube. This type of set-up does 2 things, it ensures that they get both lights at the same time while basking on a particular spot that is within the correct distance from the UVB tube, and it also creates a specific Basking Spot that has a Surface Temp between 100-105 degrees F. It's awesome that the UVB tube stretches the length of the tank, but there needs to be a specific spot within the Hot Side of the tank where the Basking Bulb is right next to the UVB tube that is about 10" from the tube and that is between 100-105 degrees F...Also, there should always be a Cool Side to the tank that is between 75-80 degrees F maximum, so that she always has a place to go and cool down...

 

[Berryr386]

You only saw half the tank. There is a cool side with no lights, but she never gets in it. She stays dark like she is cold. I will have to get her a new basking bulb I guess ( it just doesn’t seem to get hot enough)and put it beside my uvb light. I bought that thing from the pet store and it did say “ basking bulb” but the last one I had was so hot you couldn’t touch the globe around it. As a matter of fact it melted my uvb housing. Any suggestions on what kind of basking bulb I need?