Will the UVB Lighting Melt the Cable Ties Used

[KarrieRee]

I will post the pic in the morning-- I understand about the cats

 

[redborzoi]

I will post the pic in the morning-- I understand about the cats

thank you!! yep cats make a lot of things difficult with keeping small animals

 

[kingofnobbys]

I've used 100 litre and 120 litre tubs to house 2 to 3 hatchlings up til they were about 4 months old then separated them into individual stacked 100 L or 120 L tubs til about 9 - 12 months old , been very successful raising healthy dragon this way .

I used incandescent light globes as basking globes mounted under lid under a wood plank.
The UV was a 26W UVB200 in a Nanohood mounted under the lid ( worked perfectly well and gave excellent UVA & UVB levels at the basking spot and nice tub floor coverage ).

Your little hatchling will do perfectly fine for a 4 to 6 months in a 20 gallon tank providing the UV levels are right and you have a nice thermal gradient .

Be wary of moving the little hatching into a tank that too large for now, it'll be too hard for it to keep track of it's live insects at feeding time .

 

[redborzoi]

You do not want it on the back wall it should be directly over the decor - are you planning to house the dragons together? If so they should not be housed together ever- unless for breeding purposes - then they still need to be separated- as far as I know I have never seen a fixture for wall mounting unless house hold fixture and they do not have reflectors- I have never seen a 20 gallon tank either w/ a fixture mounted inside either-- all 20 gallons that I have seen the fixture has sat on top w/ screen off- the T 8 is perfect for the 20 gallon but it MUST be unobstructed for correct uvb-- I can post a pic of my 20 gallon when I had blaze in his if that would help

checked the bulb and it is indeed a reptisun T8.
any ideas of fixtures i might want to look into? i’m worried the dragon may not be getting enough uvb as he hangs out mostly on his basking spot + the uvb doesn’t reach the basking spot.

 

[KarrieRee]

There is no screen but if you take the fixture put it width wise across the tank at the very end and take your screen and butt it up to the fixture w/ the basking light you should be good - the cat (s) wont be able to get in - but I would try and keep them away from the dragon anyway as they will stress him out --- separate room --- or take the tank and place it on a stand alone dresser /stand w/ nothing around it where the cats cant get on something to get on it will work - I have 5 cats and they do not jump on the tops of my tanks as they are on stand alone dresser and aquarium stand nothing around them - cats usually do not jump from the floor to where they cannot see on top to where they are jumping to - have had this set up for years and they have never jumped up on top of my tanks -- my cats are accustomed to the dragons and dont bother them now - but I still always watch them when the dragons are out - let me know how it works

 

[redborzoi]

There is no screen but if you take the fixture put it width wise across the tank at the very end and take your screen and butt it up to the fixture w/ the basking light you should be good - the cat (s) wont be able to get in - but I would try and keep them away from the dragon anyway as they will stress him out --- separate room --- or take the tank and place it on a stand alone dresser /stand w/ nothing around it where the cats cant get on something to get on it will work - I have 5 cats and they do not jump on the tops of my tanks as they are on stand alone dresser and aquarium stand nothing around them - cats usually do not jump from the floor to where they cannot see on top to where they are jumping to - have had this set up for years and they have never jumped up on top of my tanks -- my cats are accustomed to the dragons and dont bother them now - but I still always watch them when the dragons are out - let me know how it works

thank you for the photo- i think i have an idea of how to adjust the lights now- i will be adjusting them in about an hour when i get back to my house. worryingly one of the cats is a little too interested in him so i’m going to shut my door when i’m not in the room- and one more question for you, is it possible to have uvb too close to a dragon ? thank you again for your responses

 

[KarrieRee]

Yes distance is key here -- for a T 8 6-8 inches directly above w/ NO obstruction
for a T 5 12-15 inches inside the tank and if its on top of a WIDE hole screen distance would be 8-10 inches directly above the decor

 

[redborzoi]

Yes distance is key here -- for a T 8 6-8 inches directly above w/ NO obstruction
for a T 5 12-15 inches inside the tank and if its on top of a WIDE hole screen distance would be 8-10 inches directly above the decor

i’ve moved the basking spot- i might need to adjust it a little higher but for now i think it’s okay. he’s getting both uvb + heat when he basks just need to add a reflector & make sure that the temperature of the new basking spot is up to par!

one last issue i have to resolve is the lid doesn’t sit on as securely as before- makes me worried if cats were to jump up that they might be able to get in. to be safe for now i’ll keep the room’s door shut.

here are the images of his redone enclosure

https://ibb.co/cQsNfJ7
https://ibb.co/bssk20F

and when do you recommend i start bathing him? it seems like whenever i take him out of the tank he starts to stress and panic so maybe i should wait a couple of days ? he has also been rubbing his face against his decor which i heard was a early sign of shedding as well so baths are all the more important^

 

[KarrieRee]

No baths for now --- you dont need to actually bathe him --- offer greens that have been rinsed before serving he will get moisture from them - spray or mist him w/ water see if he will lick or drop water on his nose --- make sure your getting his basking spot temp w/ a digital probe thermometer --- and please get the tin foil on that fixture ASAP--- distance for the T8 6-8 inches over his basking spot - that reflector is going to direct the rays downward toward him at this point they are not doing that --- so this is important -- yes his face is probably itching so its good he has decor to rub on ---

 

[redborzoi]

No baths for now --- you dont need to actually bathe him --- offer greens that have been rinsed before serving he will get moisture from them - spray or mist him w/ water see if he will lick or drop water on his nose --- make sure your getting his basking spot temp w/ a digital probe thermometer --- and please get the tin foil on that fixture ASAP--- distance for the T8 6-8 inches over his basking spot - that reflector is going to direct the rays downward toward him at this point they are not doing that --- so this is important -- yes his face is probably itching so its good he has decor to rub on ---

thank you for the advice! he also seems to be much more active then the first day i had him- glass surfing to the point where i notice a increase in his breathing rate - probably from the activity.

i’ll see where he goes from here, hopefully he chills out after a couple days with correct lighting and uvb

 

[KarrieRee]

The tin foil will help- watch the behavior