I am about to get a BD and am currently in school. I will be putting his basking light on a timer from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. can i feed him before the light comes on and can i handle him after the light goes off.
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feeding
seraphimstrife
Feb 13, 2007 11:50 AM
Replies (2)
seraphimstrife
Feb 13, 2007 12:27 PM
Also, is it ok to house a juvenile on sand if I feed him in a seperate container? He won't like eat the san from curiosity will he?
As for lighting what wattage bulb should be used for the basking area. The cage is 17 inches high so he will probably be 10-13 inches away if that matters.
BDlvr
Feb 13, 2007 03:12 PM
Sand: I wouldn't put him on sand until he is at least 12" long. I always use reptile carpet for babies or juveniles, but, paper towels, newspaper, tile or non-stick shelf liner is OK too. If you must put a small dragon on sand, then sift the sand through a window screen to remove any pebbles that may cause impaction. Use childrens play sand only, not silica sand or calci sand.
Lighting: No one can tell you the proper wattage bulb to use. It depends on the temperature of your house, the size of the enclosure, distance from the basking spot, etc. You will need to get a digital thermometer with a separate probe. Place the probe on the basking spot and then adjust the wattage and distance until a basking temperature of 105 is reached. Keep in mind that as the temp. of your house increases (spring coming) the basking spot temp. will increase too. So you need to have some way to adjust this. Zoo Med sells a rheostat (dimmer) you can use, or in the past I have attached clamp lamps to a floor lamp pole and as the house temp. increases I just slide the lamp higher on the pole. (I use thermostats now)
UVB: Your dragon will need a source of UVB. Very Important! You need to get a fixture as long as your enclosure. I recommend the Zoo Med reptisun 10.0.
Feeding: You can set the timer for 14hrs. Day, 10hrs. Night, this may help you. Don't feed less than 2 hours before the light goes out. You can put food in the tank prior to the light going on but your dragon will not eat until he/she is warmed up. Once the light goes out I'd leave them alone. But, you can take him/her out 5 mins. before the light goes out and then just place him/her in the sleeping spot later. I'd just make sure they can get at least 9 hours of uninterupted sleep.
