Posted by:
chris allen
at Sat May 1 10:49:20 2010 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by chris allen ]
I would suggest a couple things...although I will say the setup doesn't look bad at all as long as you have the proper temps.
Keeping the enclosures warm and bright is what really makes them look good. Some dragons will be stressed(dark) more often than others no matter what you do. Make sure your basking spot is 110-115 and the cool end is down to the high 70's or 80. I'm not sure on that cage if there are two bulbs going, or what type they are, but here is what I would try.
Switch to a fluorescent bulb that runs a good portion of the cage. You can use a double fixture if you want as well. One reptisun 10.0 and one normal bulb. Then you could mount a metal box(electrical box that would get attached to a stud) on the side of the 1 x 2 or whatever that is going from front to back on the top of the cage. Mount a ceramic incandescant light fixture to the metal box. Use a 45watt or appropriate halogen spot to get the proper basking temp. You can do this by raising or lowering the basking platform heights, or by raising or lower the actual light fixture, or by changing the wattage bulb, or by using a dimmer on the incandescant fixture. I would then cover the top of the enclosure with something white(piece of melamine) and the two sides. You could leave an opening on the top for ventilation with screen, or on one of the sides.
If I remember you said a 100 watt and 160 watt bulb....are they both on the same cage? If so that is a lot of watts for a dragon cage. For a 4ft cage I can use either a single 2ft reptisun bulb, or double, and a 35 or 45 watt halogen spot and get great temps and good light inside a white melamine enclosure. Maybe you could eliminate one of those basking lights and just put in there a fluorescent light to brighten it up.
Also, they dragons could be stressing each other out, but I would think if you brighten that cage up some they will color up.
Just some suggestions and something to think about.
Chris
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