When I got my first group of gonos I set them up in dim light as suggested, and they do very well so far. However being the stubborn French that I am, I needed to test other options. Mostly because I want to display these wonderful lizards and not hid them in obscure cages.
Therefore I set a trio up in a well lighten cage that is also lighten by a window, the animals in the cage are acting no different then my other groups, however notice my basking is lower in this set up, I wanted to see if they would go down to bask, they do!
When the light close at knight they climb to the upper most branches, my other gonos do the same. When food is offered they hunt it down like all my other dragons, the photo shows a very gravid female, she’s basking at 124f just before I took the shut a male was basking right beside her, they use the basking when they need to, and some times stay for short periods other times longer periods. This heating provides a physiological need, if this need is not provided there will be problems in the long run.
We pictured these lizards as rain forest species living under thick and obscure canopy, but in real life they inhabit secondary forest with clearings and sun baked branches, these animals squirrels around trees to get or avoid sun rays, its simple for them a half turn gets them all the heat they need, the rest is a matter of keeping hydrated.
I got this female almost dead, she was dehydrated and eyes shut refusing food and water, she was force fed 3 days, now she’s hunting and drinking, even started looking up for a nest site. Wow agamas sure are fast turn over.
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