Tile suggestion...

[Sadie]

I whipped up some small brackets out of some scrap wood laying around and painted them black to match and secured them to the screen surround.

with all the people saying how powerful t5s are I didn’t feel comfortable with my initial mounting inside the tank.

will this be a good setup? The tank is 18” tall. I’ll probably have to adjust the net up some tomorrow when he wakes up.

Ok looking at the screen you might be able to get away w/ that --- BUT you must get a piece of decor directly under it approx 8-10 inches --- distance and placement are key to the health of the dragon and whether he can utilize the UVB rays --- that is the importance of the distance and whether the rays are obstructed ---- please watch his behavior -- he should be eating basking and active --- if he starts to become lethargic not eating not active his poops become odd runny etc it is possible its the UVB incorrectly placed --- if that happens one way to find out is get rid of the screen and see if the behavior changes --- mind you this will not become evident for a while dragons hide their illness for a long time till they no longer can -- I had another poster that was using a T 8 incorrectly placed took the dragon a year to show signs of illness and hes had her since a baby -- she is now sick -- even tho he had good UVB it was incorrectly placed because he listened to the pet store owner who gave him wrong advice -- he is now very upset --- w/ a sick dragon--

 

[honhon]

I’m trying to make sure I have this right... here’s the light setup from the side. I have those UVB cards that glow when you put them under the UVB light... they are faint but they glow... so idk if he’s getting enough light or not. My digital temp probe says mid 80s but I used my infrared temp gun and his back is sitting right around 99/100.

the issue I’m running into right now is he’s not eating... and hasn’t eaten really for days... I’ll get him to eat some greens every so often but other than that nothing... he just stares at the bugs and then nothing... he does have a slight heavy breathing every so often but he seems to be getting better and he is shedding as well... he has been rubbing his head on the net and I’ve been trying to give him baths to help....

im at my wits end bc idk what’s causing him to not eat now... the lights? Sickness?

 

[Sadie]

I’m trying to make sure I have this right... here’s the light setup from the side. I have those UVB cards that glow when you put them under the UVB light... they are faint but they glow... so idk if he’s getting enough light or not. My digital temp probe says mid 80s but I used my infrared temp gun and his back is sitting right around 99/100.

the issue I’m running into right now is he’s not eating... and hasn’t eaten really for days... I’ll get him to eat some greens every so often but other than that nothing... he just stares at the bugs and then nothing... he does have a slight heavy breathing every so often but he seems to be getting better and he is shedding as well... he has been rubbing his head on the net and I’ve been trying to give him baths to help....

im at my wits end bc idk what’s causing him to not eat now... the lights? Sickness?

His shedding will possibly cause loss of appetite and if hes rubbing his head its itching --- mist him in the tank that will help- those cards your using are NO good -- they are not accurate the only way to get a good reading is from a solarmeter-- they are expensive - winter will also cause loss of appetite mine are not eating hardly anything either - a few insect/ worms every few days -- NO salads they are stubborn -- just keep offering the food take it out if they havent eaten anything by the end of the day - make sure hes hydrated - I have had to bathe mine and Hiccup has been dehydrated so hes going to get a bath more often than normal - keep a weight on him weigh him now weigh on a kitchen food scale weigh in grams and keep track -- if hes losing weight there is a issue -- can you tell if hes liking the UVB?

 

[honhon]

His shedding will possibly cause loss of appetite and if hes rubbing his head its itching --- mist him in the tank that will help- those cards your using are NO good -- they are not accurate the only way to get a good reading is from a solarmeter-- they are expensive - winter will also cause loss of appetite mine are not eating hardly anything either - a few insect/ worms every few days -- NO salads they are stubborn -- just keep offering the food take it out if they havent eaten anything by the end of the day - make sure hes hydrated - I have had to bathe mine and Hiccup has been dehydrated so hes going to get a bath more often than normal - keep a weight on him weigh him now weigh on a kitchen food scale weigh in grams and keep track -- if hes losing weight there is a issue -- can you tell if hes liking the UVB?

I’ve started to let him soak everyday in warm water in a Tupperware... I use one of those plastic syringes from Publix to slowly squirt water down is his head and back... he closes his eyes and seems to enjoy it... he’s got skin all over the tank which I need to clean out.
he did at one point do an army low crawl across the sand mat I assume to scratch his belly.
I put a thermal pad on the side of the tank by his basking spot and it raised the tank temp just slightly and into the range I feel more comfortable with and it lowered the humidity pretty well also. It also shields him from the doorway slightly so hopefully someone walking into the room doesn’t startle him as much. Once it starts warming up I’m sure it’ll get unplugged... we’re having an unusually cool winter in south Florida.

im not sure how to measure his acceptance of the uvb light... the last day or so after I mounted the new uvb light I’ve seen him on that side of the net more and his head is being held up and kind of has the “oh yeah” look about him.

I did order an electronic uvb meter and I’ll see how it works....