Reptile & Amphibian Forums

After Puck passed away I got another male, Gumby, to keep Alexandra company. He seems generally pretty healthy; he's active and is eating tons. But he also seems to be a masochist. He regularly -- I'm talking several times a day -- goes into phases where he'll get as high up in the cage as he can, then launch himself full force straight up, making a loud "thwack!" sound over and over again as he bashes his nose on the ceiling. Sometimes he jumps up and whacks his nose on the UVB light fixture. He does it so much that he has a visible scar on his upper lip, which I doubt will ever heal since he keeps irritating it. He'll generally bash his nose like that for maybe five or ten minutes at a stretch, then give up and go back to basking as if nothing had happened.

Alexandra leaps up at the ceiling every once in a rare while, but maybe 1% as often as Gumby does. Puck did it a little more often than that but still pretty rarely. Gumby is so diligent about it that even my mom, upon seeing him in action, said, "What a dumb lizard."

Anyone seen behavior like that? I'm a bit concerned that the scar might turn into something worse if it gets infected, but short of covering the inside of the cage with foam padding I'm not sure what I can do about it.

Here are the two of them gazing out my bedroom window (I try to put them there for a couple hours several times a week so they get some real sunlight):

Your husbandry techniques may be in need of some changes; or at least revised. What your lizard is doing is a sign of stress. Perhaps it is an animal that was collected in the wild; perhaps there is something wrong with the way you are keeping your lizards, and this one happens to be more sensitive. I can only assume because you have not provided us with a detailed description of your husbandry parameters; including cage size, lighting, diet, photoperiod, temperature, etc. Tell us a bit more and someone might be able to give a more constructive answer.

The only thing I can tell you for sure, is that the only benefit your lizards are getting from exposure through the window, is mental. Natural, full-spectrum light, is only beneficial psychologically (UV-A). "Full-spectrum" refers to the color of the light, and it has nothing to do with UV-B radiation. As you probably know, UV-B is responsible for providing most reptiles with vitamin D3, which will allow them to properly absorb the necessary calcium. So even though UV-A is important, UV-B is far much more necessary. I hope that you are providing your lizards with at least an artificial source of UV-B, or unfiltered (no glass), natural sunlight.

Regards,

Fabian

Here's my tank, which is 48x18x24 inches; Gumby is visible toward the left side, to give you a visual idea of size. I'm not much of an interior decorator but I'm pretty sure this is big enough.

The UVB lamp (whose fixture is visible at the front left of the tank) is on continuously from 7AM to 6PM. As you can see, it is 6-8 inches from the basking spot. I last replaced the bulb about two months ago; I use Zoo-Med UVB bulbs. I replace it every six months or so.

I keep the basking temperature at 105-110 degrees using a temperature probe to turn the incandescent light on and off. That also happens from 7AM to 6PM, though usually by 4 or so, both lizards have decided to call it a day. The cool side of the tank is kept at 80 degrees 24x7 using a heating pad under the tank (a heating pad for human babies rather than a stick-on under-tank heater, to avoid dangerious hotspots if the lizards dig down to the glass.)

Food is 3-to-4-week-old crickets and mealworms (Alexandra prefers the worms, but Gumby chases down both) which I dust with a mixture of Miner-All, RepCal calcium/vitamin D powder, and a small quantity of Nekton RepColor.

Like I said, when it's sunny out I try to give them a couple hours of real sunlight at my bedroom window. I put a hide spot on the windowsill so they can get out of the sun if needed. I'd love to let them run around my back yard but they'd be eaten within minutes by one of the billion neighborhood cats!

I think that's a pretty thorough rundown of what I'm doing. If you spot anything amiss there that could be causing my guys stress, I'm all ears -- I want them to be as comfortable as they can be.

Oh, a couple more details: The bulb is a Zoo-Med ReptiSun UVB-5. I was told Gumby was captive-bred, but I have no way of verifying that (didn't get him from one of the breeders who post here.) I've had him about a month and a half now.

Is it just possible that Gumby has figured out that when you put him in the window, that he goes out through that opening? I have a girl from Thomas Heagy that definately knows she can escape if she can get through the top... tries to run up my arm when the tank is opened to rearrange things or feed... yikes!

I just noticed your comment about the lizard hitting the UVB fixture. Oops!

Fabian

The age, brand/type, and distance of the UVB source are still a factor. That there is one in the enclosure is no guarantee the bulb is still within its useful lifespan, or it is mounted at a beneficial distance. I am currently treating one of my lizards who is showing tremors from having the very pricey bulb set in her enclosure 'expire' a bit sooner than I thought it would.

-DC
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I've got the blues...LOL...them screamin' yellow-head blues...

same thing happened to my trex uv/heat bulb. It is a great bulb it is just it started to flicker on and off after 3 months. It was a bad one, so as I was packaging it up to get a new one (from the warranty), It dropped. Busting it all up, so instead of getting it for 12$, I had to pay 75$ of my hard earned money. It was more expensive but I needed it now because my female was gravid.
See ya,

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Collaredkeeper

NP

only one peice of driftwood(larger). This is an old picture of my tank. Now I have lots of rocks and free roamig room.
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Collaredkeeper