Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i have a five month old baby. he normally runs off from me when i go in viv to spray him! last night he didn't so i picked him up and he was stiff like he was dead. i gave him a drink and put him under his heater and he started to run around his home then. i generally keep him at 84 degrees in the basking area keep fresh water in his viv and spray him abot 2 - 3 times a day. he eats crickets locust and wax worm and is about 10.5 inch's long. please help because i really didn't know what was wrong with him! he has a uv light that i leave on for about 12 hours a day and he has his heater bulb. thankyou

Well it sounds like your cage may not be warm enough. I know with most frilleds they like their ambient temp. to be around 80-84F and their hot spot should be almost 100F. I know with mine I keep them pretty warm and also when going into hibernation I do not mist them at all and I do not provide them with any heat source, so it does not sound like hibernation to me but maybe just bump the temp. up a little. You just want to make sure that they have another area of the cage that is cool so they can thermo-regulate. Also what kind of UV lighting do you use? I like the mercury vapor bulbs from T-Rex. They provide a good heat source as well as the appropriate level of UVB. I know that UVB plays a big role in how they act and eat so be sure that the UV source is from a quality light. Hope that helps.

thanxs for your advice i think he was too cold as you say. i will turn my temp up and see how he gets on. as for the uv bulb i'm not sure but the reptile shop that sold me the complete set up told me it was the right one. it's a long strip light on the back of my vivarium. its as long as the back and then i have a heater light bulb on the roof of my viv. i know the uv bulb cost me about £60.00 so i should hope its the right one.
I also have a 9-10 month frilled and she is kept the same and she eats really well now. she is about 13 inch's long and ive just started her on pinkies once a month for a treat. i also coat there daily food with a calcium and vitamin suppliment. i mainly feed my babies on locust and crickets with the ocasional wax worm. i'm a novice at looking after them but as soon as i saw them i just knew they would be my best babies ever!

It Sounds like you have the right UVB. The price seems like it would be around $30-40. That is the typical price. As far as the quality sometimes flourescents aren't as good as Mercury Vapor bulbs. I like ZooMed 5.0 when it comes to flourescents, but prefer the Mercury's. No big deal. So yeah just try bumping up the temps. and you should see a big improvement in eating and in overhealth. But for the most part it sounds like you are doing everything right. Let me know if the increased temps help.
Thanks, Josh

well it's done the trick! ive turned temps right up and derek is back to his normal self. he's running up and down like something possesed! and wait for it.......
when i go into his viv to give him some fuss he hisses at me and tries to bite me!
so i think it has worked!
thankyou for all your help. i have enclosed a picture of derek who is the smaller one and baby who is the larger one. thankyou once again

I'm glad it worked...the frills look nice.
Thanks, Josh

told you she liked the camera didn't i?

sorry heres the pic

Nice.