Reptile & Amphibian Forums

If i bring my baby rhino out side with me his cage he freaks out. Iam aware of the dangers of bringing him out in his aquirium when it is hot out so when I do bring him out its only for a short time supervised with a thermometer in his aqurium. But as soon as I bring him out he freaks out and just by looking at his face I can tell it makes him feel very scared. He doestn get an attitude or angry he gets scared and wants to hide from the sun in his little home. Is taking him out side and getting natural sunlight every so often a really bad idea? I love my lizzard and I dont want to see him forced to do somthing he doesnt want to do.

It is not uncommon for rhinos being put outside for the first few times to panic. It is the change of environment outside of the cage that freaks them, and not the sun light. If they are put outside in a small enclosure, they will sometimes damage themselves in their state of panic.
Getting natural sun light in an aquarium is difficult because all of the glass filters out the benefitial uv while creating
a potential death oven of heat. Try placing cardboard or wood visual barriers on all glass sides so that the only sun the ig see's is that shining through the unfiltered top. This will keep the aquarium cooler and allow you to keep it outside for longer. Rig a temperature prob that you can monitor without your ig seeing you. Once they settle down, they love the sun.
Good luck

when I 1st got mine I went to kwcages.com and bought some 1" pvc coated wire mesh and buit a "sun cage" you can buy a prefab one if you find one that meets your needs. I threw a towel over one end to create shade and it worked great. that way you can leave him out to get into the sun at his own speed and he cant cook

Well maybe afer a few more times he will get used to it. I only plan on doing it for short amount of times and buying a new cage for him would be kinda premature since he is so small and will be geting alot bigger this year. He doesnt run into his glass walls just gets scared and jerks his head like he is gonna die. He is totally scared but more like a frozen in stone run for your life scared. My rhino isnt one of those lizzards that scratchs against his wall sall day. He must be some what pleased with his house, so I might try and take him out a few more times but I dont want him to go to shock so Ill play it by ear I guess and watch him closely.

Small things are food for big things. Everything is bigger than baby iguans. Cyclura did evolve with avian preditors such as hawks. They do not like to be out in the open. There is no parental care in Cyclura so your proximity is meaninglesss to it.

Build it a sun can with some hiding spots: plants, rocks, hollow logs, etc.

Adult Cyclura have no natural predators. As it grows its fear will subside. Two feet seems to be a good size for calming.

Brian

Wow that makes alot of sense. Thanks for the help Brian.