Reptile & Amphibian Forums

my MHD has been hanging from the top of the screen for a week now (ever since i got her) do you all have dragons that do that? i wonder why she does it?

amy

Hello Amy:
You don't say how the terrarium is set up so it is hard to answer your question. Acanthosaura are arboreal but if given enough vegetation and climbing branches they usually will stay down inside the habitat.
If the environment is too cold they may move up to the screen to be closer to a light to use as a heat source. Also, if the terrarium is too wet, they may move up on to the screen to avoid fungal problems.
I hope this info helps. Good Luck!!!

drake is in a 30 gallon (moving to a 55 gallon tomorrow) aquarium. right now he has bark chips and a tall limb with vines on it. the woman i got him from said he always hung from the screen. maybe he needs a taller enclosure??
anyway, he hangs upside down with all four feet gripping the screen top. he does this sometimes during the day but always when he gets ready to go to sleep.
is that enough info?

amy

Hi Amy:
Much better info. I'm not sure how dense the vegetation is on your clinging vine So I'll guess it's not too much. Mountain Horns, in my experience, seem to do best when the bottom is fairly dense with plants. Though they are bush dwellers they will come to the ground to feed on occasion. When you move the lizard into the 55 you have lots of extra room to play with. Even the 30 gallon is more room than most Mountain Horns see.
I think if the bottom of the tank has more vegetation the lizard will spend more time among the plants. There are several types of plants that would look good in the tank and are easy to care for. You could try some Sanseviaria (Snake Plants), Climbing Philodendron, and a favorite hiding place of these lizards, Pothos plants. If the thickly planted areas are concentrated to either side of the tank the middle can be left open as a feeding ground and a place for a water dish though I would keep the water right next to one of the plant areas.
Also, by keeping two separated areas of plants, another lizard could be added and both would have an area of seclusion away from each other. Mountain Horns are not real aggressive but I still like it when each animal can get away from the other. The other nice thing about a heavily planted terrarium is that these added areas create lots of new habitat for the lizard to explore. This is quite often neglected when setting up habitats for lizards. Instead of a tank with just a limb and a water dish you now have offered the lizards all kinds of terrain to explore and feed from. And, by the way, The plants can stay potted. The runners will trail out from the pot to easily cover it in no time. Plus, the plants are easier to care for that way. I have tried planting in the terrarium but I find keeping the plants potted works better for me.
I hope this info helps. Good Luck!!!

If you go to the link i put, then enclosures, you can see the cage i have. I made it, and i currently have more plants in there.
My Enclosure

Hello perniks813:
Thanks for posting pics of your habitat. It's exactly the kind of plant density I was referring to. The same type of thing can easily be duplicated for those with smaller terraria.
By the way, your armata are great looking animals. They have real nice head spikes which can be hard to find. I have seen dozens of these lizards with damaged head spikes to every good one.
They look good and healthy.
Have a Great Day!!!