LOL. Now you make me feel really old. Well when I started these were the up and coming pets in reptiledom. Many poeole at the show I went to in PA told me that my 11 yr old was really unheard of in terms of longevity. I happened upon one quite by accident in a place called New York Reptilia (not sure it even exsists now). Back then the only only options were fish tanks and custom made enclosures. I went for tanks with mesh screen the usual set up and logs. I have learnt a lot caring for them in that span of time. At one time he injured a tank mate (learnt the hard way dont house 2 adult males especially if they never grew up together); that set me be back a bit with vet bills (2 broken legs). As for substrate, I started off with news papers and went to some natural clay like product which never seemed to interefere with his eating. As for lighting Reptisun still seems to be the leader. I hear of 5.0 versus 8.0 (5.0 was it for me). I mean regardless of which ypu use if you dust your live food with calcium and use any of the major UV emitting lights available you will be fine. The UV heat bulbs are something new to me though(I will be trying to get more info regarding that). As was stated earlier the optimum distance the lizard has to be from the light source has not changed over the years (roughly within a foot to fully benefit). The one thing I have seen change is diet. Back then crickets ruled as the primary food source along with giant meal worms. Now I hear about pellets and silk worms. I was on 'Beautiful Dragon' website and she did a wonderful job of listing appropiate veggies and fruits to feed dragons (kudos to you ).

Anyhow, I won't be getting any animals till next spring. Until then I plan to get as much info as I can regarding housing and care. Feel free to ask questions as I am sure we both can benefit from the answers whether I or some1 else can reply.

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