Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have 2 water dragons (that I just yesterday had to sperate). I have each one in a 65 gallon reptarium. They each have a basking light as well as the standard UVA and UVB lights. I have a thermometer where the basking lights are aimed and neither one seems to be registering more then about 80 degrees. The lights are 150 watt. I can't put the lights in the reptarium, they have to sit on top. How in the world do I keep them warm enough???? I am very afraid that they are going to get too cold. Does anyone have any ideas or anyone also have the reptariums and what do you do???

Thanx

Christina

A 150 watt bulb will produce far more then 80 degrees. I suspect that there is a general insulation issue with the room they are in. Reptariums will not retain heat like other cages, if the room is too cold then you need to find another location. Are you keeping them in a basement or is there some other reason why its so cold? I have a friend who keeps his herps in the basement and he uses a warm air humidifier to keep the heat in the room, maybe that will help.

Actually the reptariums are in my family room in the middle of the house with no outside walls, windows or chance of draft. The cages are 28" high and I'm afraid that by the time the light gets to the basking area......a bit lower than half way down.......it's losing warmth. Because it is mesh, the is no way for me to put a "shelf" in there higher up for a basking spot so I have some rocks stacked up and branches going up that they can sit on. Please see enclosed pic and a second pic in speperate post.

Thanx

Christina

pic of both cages

Hmm.... I would think that most of the UVA light doesnt get through the screen, you should check into that, otherwise you might end up with MBD.
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www.mplionhearts.com

i agree if you can mount the flourescent on the inside to get better light intesity and any uvb rays.. thats a plus.. but you should also be supplimenting with d3.. that is more important than the uvb tubes.. as far as heat.. you should be able to mantain a heat gradient of 80-90 with the wattage you are using. i would think that keeping in humidity would be more of a problem.. i have kept water dragons in a reptarium before.. ick .. i will never do it again.. but have you thought about buying a clear shower curtain liner and wrapping it around 3 sides of the cage.. that helps hold in heat and humidity

alissa

sounds like the gradiant is fine, the problem is that you need basking sites closer to the lamps. I agree that these are not the best cages for water dragons, but you could do worse. I like them and use them for several of my snakes and I don't haved any problem mounting lamps inside of them. I use wire to secure them to the mesh or the poles. As for the UVB, if you want to protect your lizards reliably from MBD, then you should use a phosphorus free calcium suppliment with D3. As far as humidity is concerned, it depends upon where you are. Plastic will certainly help retain heat and humidity but it seems to me if you need to that then your defeating the best feature of this type of enclosure and thats free air movement. Where I live humidity get to high and moist stale air is the worst thing for any animal. Again, it depends where you live, if you live in Arizona your better off keeping everthing in tanks.

Yes, in arizona this is a major issue. The only tank I have well ventilated are some of my frog tanks, just because there mostly water. I would NEVER use a reptarium here unless I hada automatic misting system.
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www.mplionhearts.com

the lighting being outside is that Baby had gotten sick. I took her to the vet along with some pics of the male she was with and the cage. First she yelled at me for having them together...said that her problem was that he was beating her up and stressing her out. That was the reason for putting her in her own cage. Then she really yelled at me for having the lighting on the inside of the cage and instructed me to get it out immediately as the dragons would definitely burn themselves on it. This is the reason for the lighting on top of the cage.

The reason for this type of cage is that I did have them, at one time, in a very large glass aquarium and they did nothing but rub their noses on the side of the tank and I felt so bad for them cause they couldn't climb (although I had alot of 'things' for them to climb on). I know they say they rub on the side cause the tank is too small, but I know the tank was way big enough. Once I got the reptarium, they got really active and started climbing all over. Alot more alert and happy. It just seems so much better with open air then in the confines of a tank.....JMO.

They both get supplements for calcium and all other requirements on a regular basis.

I have done ALOT of research on WD's both online and in books. My vet told me things that absolutely HORRIFIED me that I never read anywhere. She told me that crickets aren't a great thing to give them as they would never see one in the wild. And if left in the cage with them, they will come out at night and actually 'eat' the WD's. They feed off of them. Also, superworms should just be an every now and again 'treat' as they aren't good for them. One thing that is good for them is house flies and grasshoppers. There are other things that I found out but this post is already way too long...lol.

Thank you all for you comments and such, I appreciate you trying to help me.

Christina

I understand your vets concern for not having the light inside the cage, this can be dangerous if you are not careful to mount it in such a way that they cannot get on top of it. Most of the feeding advice sounds good, but I'd have to disagree with her on the zoophobas, while it's true that mealworms are difficult to digest and not good as a staple food item, the superworms are much easier to digest as they have a lower surface to body mass ratio, hence more flesh less kertanious shell. They are a good source of protien and can be a good source of other vitamins if raised on the right foods. Your best best bet it to feed a variety of food items and superworms should be in the top five.
My top five are as follows:
1. pinkies, fuzzies
2. silkworms
3. hornworms
4. Zoophobas(superworms)
5. Madagascar hissing roaches.