hiding in cave all day?

[Andyurgay]

we finally got our guy the reptisun tube uvb, which he seemed to love. He was out more and basking a lot. His eyes looked better as well.
But he has grown so much in his 75 gallon that he out grew the cave we got him a few months ago. So I got him a new one which should fit him for at least another year. But since I got it for him, he hides all day in it, just like he used to with the one he out grew.

I always thought he hid because the uvb bulb we used hurt his eyes, but we have a reptisun 10 in there that he seemed to love for a few weeks before the new cave. He was always out basking and moving. Now I hardly see him since he's tucked away and warm. I just worry about him getting the uvb rays. I have had him out in the sun for an hour or so on my lap the last couple days since its been around 80 degrees here.

he's hardly a year old and its now summer, so brumation is not an issue. He eats his veggies, vitamins and insects. He is wicked active outside. I'm just concerned that I don't see him basking or out during the day.

could it be his sleep? He don't have a timer on his tank, it goes on when I get up, and off when I see him sleeping. Our store just has not had a dual timer in stock for a while. The last one I had did not work. Is he just needing a solid schedule?

 

[Andyurgay]

also, he has a 150 watt zoo med heat bulb about 7 inches away and the uvb is about 18 inches away from the bottom of the tank. But its about 9 inches from where he normally sits.

 

[LizardOfOz]

I am having the same problem with mine. He may be still settling in but it's been almost a month and he still hides all day sometimes. The only thing I did which made a difference was a followed some advice given to someone else on here and I changed his cave to something he could hide behind but is open at the top to allow the uvb to get in. I hope that makes sense.

 

[PatsyB]

I would definitely try a solid sleep schedule. Timers are great to have and you can get them on the cheap. I like the regular GE digital timers. It looks like a surge protector but it has 4 outlets that are on a timer and 4 that aren't. I also have a ZooMed Analog timer (the green ones at the pet store) It's kinda confusing to set up the time but it works good too. You can set it to be on for 12 hours off for 12 hours or I have mine set for 14/10. I wanted them to be up for about an hour before I left for work so I could feed them but I also wanted to have a little bit of play time with them at the end of the day.

 

[Andyurgay]

yeah I'm kind of thinking that's what it might be. The dude is a night owl. But so am I so i tend to put a sheet over the tank when he goes to bed and I'm going to be up for a while so the light doesn't bother him.

The GE timer, you can pick those up at the hardware store right? I just can't seem to find the zoo med one that I need. I only need two outlets and all my store has is the huge one with like, 6 outlets.

do you think that's all it is? Cause he literally sleeps all day and night. I'm worried he might be sick but the days he is out, he's acting perfectly fine.

 

[PatsyB]

Start with the sleep schedule and yes, you should be able to get the timer at the hardware store. It could also be a partial brumation. I went through something like this with Dexter last year. She would be lazy and lethargic in her tank but as soon as I took her out she was wide eyed and looking around and running around. Eventually she snapped out of it.