What to use to cover reflection?

[Raikachu]

Hello everyone, my beardie Emmett has been acting a bit crazy every now and then and he has some faint stress marks on his belly when he's in his enclosure, and I think it may be his reflection is stressing him out a bit. Or it could be him being in a 70 gal instead of a 40 gal since last monday after being in a 40 for a large chunk of his life before I got him, or it could also just be because we're getting into springtime so he wants to go outside but it's still too cold here, or it could be because he absolutely hates the medicine I have to give him for his coccidia. Basically it could be a few different things but I was gonna try removing the reflections next since I can't really do anything about the other things atm. I've checked his temps and they're all good, I generally keep his hot side ~90, cool side ~80 and his basking spot is usually at 100-105. Either way it's something I'm going to do eventually so I just wanted to know what you guys recommend for covering the inner sides of his glass?

 

[KarrieRee]

Hello everyone, my beardie Emmett has been acting a bit crazy every now and then and he has some faint stress marks on his belly when he's in his enclosure, and I think it may be his reflection is stressing him out a bit. Or it could be him being in a 70 gal instead of a 40 gal since last monday after being in a 40 for a large chunk of his life before I got him, or it could also just be because we're getting into springtime so he wants to go outside but it's still too cold here, or it could be because he absolutely hates the medicine I have to give him for his coccidia. Basically it could be a few different things but I was gonna try removing the reflections next since I can't really do anything about the other things atm. I've checked his temps and they're all good, I generally keep his hot side ~90, cool side ~80 and his basking spot is usually at 100-105. Either way it's something I'm going to do eventually so I just wanted to know what you guys recommend for covering the inner sides of his glass?

You can use newspaper or magazine pages on the OUTSIDE of the tank - another thing is how are you getting your basking temps? You want a digital probe thermometer stick ons are inaccurate - another reason UVB -- if your using a coil for a UVB they are inadequate --- we need to fix that if that is the case - could be spring fever -- could be relocation stress which is highly probable and he will calm down after getting used to the new surroundings but you want everything else I mentioned above ruled out

 

[Raikachu]

You can use newspaper or magazine pages on the OUTSIDE of the tank - another thing is how are you getting your basking temps? You want a digital probe thermometer stick ons are inaccurate - another reason UVB -- if your using a coil for a UVB they are inadequate --- we need to fix that if that is the case - could be spring fever -- could be relocation stress which is highly probable and he will calm down after getting used to the new surroundings but you want everything else I mentioned above ruled out

I use a zoomed ir thermometer but I'm looking into getting one of the better gun type ones, and for uvb I have a reptisun 10 that I just got last week. Another thing I just thought of was he had always been in a 40 gal with the coil uv when I got him from his previous owners, and that could only reach like 9 inches max which pretty much only covers his basking spot and hammock but that was where he was most of the day anyways so it worked well enough for him but probably just barely. But maybe he's not used to the tube or something? I'm kind of skeptical with that though. And gotcha for the outside, I was thinking it should be inside just from the way I thought the reflections were created, but i thought about it more and that makes more sense so good thing I made this post lol.

 

[KarrieRee]

I use a zoomed ir thermometer but I'm looking into getting one of the better gun type ones, and for uvb I have a reptisun 10 that I just got last week. Another thing I just thought of was he had always been in a 40 gal with the coil uv when I got him from his previous owners, and that could only reach like 9 inches max which pretty much only covers his basking spot and hammock but that was where he was most of the day anyways so it worked well enough for him but probably just barely. But maybe he's not used to the tube or something? I'm kind of skeptical with that though. And gotcha for the outside, I was thinking it should be inside just from the way I thought the reflections were created, but i thought about it more and that makes more sense so good thing I made this post lol.

The reptisun 10 is a T 5 or T 8? The bulbs have a certain distance and placement please clarify the bulb- I will help you get it placed for your tank - also the screen will determine that too basking temps on a hammock need to be taken w/ a digital probe thermometer- found at Petco or PetSmart- you don't need an expensive IR gun to get basking temps they are good to have for spot checking but your most accurate are the probes

 

[Raikachu]

The reptisun 10 is a T 5 or T 8? The bulbs have a certain distance and placement please clarify the bulb- I will help you get it placed for your tank - also the screen will determine that too basking temps on a hammock need to be taken w/ a digital probe thermometer- found at Petco or PetSmart- you don't need an expensive IR gun to get basking temps they are good to have for spot checking but your most accurate are the probes

T8 it's a 24" and I wanna say the box said it reaches 20" and has a safe distance of 6"+. I got that one since I was looking at Arcadia t5 and those have a safe distance of 12"+ and that just wasn't gonna work well, he'd end up being way too close to that most of the time with his basking spot being about 9" away from the light. How should I do the probe though for the basking spot? I have a picture of his enclosure on my profile if you wanna look at it for better info.

 

[KarrieRee]

T8 it's a 24" and I wanna say the box said it reaches 20" and has a safe distance of 6"+. I got that one since I was looking at Arcadia t5 and those have a safe distance of 12"+ and that just wasn't gonna work well, he'd end up being way too close to that most of the time with his basking spot being about 9" away from the light. How should I do the probe though for the basking spot? I have a picture of his enclosure on my profile if you wanna look at it for better info.

Your tank is tall enough for a T 5- the T 8 needs to be 6-8 inches directly above the basking decor - just place the probe on the spot where he sits to bask leave 10 min or so long enough to get the temp you don't need to leave it there but I would check it once a week or so

 

[Raikachu]

Your tank is tall enough for a T 5- the T 8 needs to be 6-8 inches directly above the basking decor - just place the probe on the spot where he sits to bask leave 10 min or so long enough to get the temp you don't need to leave it there but I would check it once a week or so

He wouldn't end up being too close to it if his basking spot is only about 9" away from it at most? I did move his uv light a bit and could get it so he's within that 6-8 inches until I can get a new light and fixture at least.

 

[KarrieRee]

He wouldn't end up being too close to it if his basking spot is only about 9" away from it at most? I did move his uv light a bit and could get it so he's within that 6-8 inches until I can get a new light and fixture at least.

You want the basking bulb at least 6" inches the uvb should be 6-8 but 9 is ok - w/ a 19 " tall tank your distances should be good since you need 12-15 for a T 5

 

[SPandS]

You were right in the way you were thinking. Putting something inside to block the shiny surface will block the reflection.

T8s aren't powerful enough to be used above a screen. If you want to keep the light above the screen at a distance of 9" or so then the t5 would be perfect.

 

[Raikachu]

You were right in the way you were thinking. Putting something inside to block the shiny surface will block the reflection.

T8s aren't powerful enough to be used above a screen. If you want to keep the light above the screen at a distance of 9" or so then the t5 would be perfect.

Yeah it would've worked in the end but then I'd have to find something he couldn't rip if he decides to glass surf so doing outside would be a lot easier. And gotcha, so basically he's got something just as effective as the coil light but now it covers a wider area. I'm gonna look at getting him a t5 when I get the chance. I was just worried that he may be too close to the t5 since its a much higher output than the t8.

 

[KarrieRee]

Yeah it would've worked in the end but then I'd have to find something he couldn't rip if he decides to glass surf so doing outside would be a lot easier. And gotcha, so basically he's got something just as effective as the coil light but now it covers a wider area. I'm gonna look at getting him a t5 when I get the chance. I was just worried that he may be too close to the t5 since its a much higher output than the t8.

As long as you have distance you will be fine

 

[Raikachu]

You want the basking bulb at least 6" inches the uvb should be 6-8 but 9 is ok - w/ a 19 " tall tank your distances should be good since you need 12-15 for a T 5

Gotcha, do you think he's still getting enough uv for now since I won't be able to go get a t5 until Wednesday, or would it be better to switch back to the coil one I had until then? And I checked his basking temp with a probe, it's reading 102.

 

[KarrieRee]

Gotcha, do you think he's still getting enough uv for now since I won't be able to go get a t5 until Wednesday, or would it be better to switch back to the coil one I had until then? And I checked his basking temp with a probe, it's reading 102.

Please no coil- your T 8 is good- temp is good

 

[Raikachu]

Please no coil- your T 8 is good- temp is good

Alright cool

 

[SPandS]

A t8 on top of the screen is basically providing him with no uvb. You can leave it on as it isn't harming him but it also isn't giving him enough. If it's nice out you can bring him outside but waiting until Wednesday isn't an issue as it's only a few more days. If it's safe to do so, like you have no pets or anything that can get into the tank, you can just move the screen aside and have the light over that part.

If you do plan on putting something on the outside to help with reflection I wouldn't use something dark or solid since it can actually make the reflection easier to see. If you have something that has a scene like from a magazine it will help to camouflage his reflection.