Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i've only had my baby ig for about three weeks and it's head is starting to get really dark, is this normal or is there something that could be causing it? i did have a spot light in the basking area that would get to 100 degrees at times...but is now replaced with a regular light bulb...could this have caused his head to turn dark? thanks

I would recheck your cage temperatures, especially if you've made a change in the lighting and heating. Igs will go dark if they are feeling too cold as they try to absorb more heat.

Could also be that he is getting ready to shed. I would take
Bexleys advice and recheck temps however.

Linda

ok, let me ask again just to make sure...what should the temp in the basking spot be and what should the overall air temp be? right now the basking spot is around 95-98 and the overall air temp as measured on the opposite side of the cage is around 85. how far off are these temps? the overall air temp is being messured underneath were the uva/uvb light is located....could someone either send some pics or some links to me so i can make doubly sure everything is the temp it is suppose to be...and also, does anyone use moss to help keep the humidity up? i have some ordered and should be here in a few days to do just that...

pics of setups would help me trumendously...as i don't want to mess up with this ig as i apparently did with two other ones...though they were older..this one is jus a few months old so it's majorly important that i don't mess anything up....thanks all...

Ideal would be a variety of temps ranging from very warm to
cooler temps (not extremes though) For instance my Ig
is an adult and she has 3 levels to her enclosure as it is
6 1/2 feet tall. The top level stays about 86-94, the middle
is about 80-84 and the bottom is 72-74. Changes in the season
affects these temps slightly. Directly under the basking
light is about 90-100 depending again on the time of season.
I am assuming you have a 1 level cage if yours is small so
you will have to try different things to get everything perfect.
The key here is that you provide all the proper temps so that
she may thermoregulate and not become too hot or too cool.

Hope this helps