Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I got my Frankie aout 3 weeks ago. he wasn't eating but then she/he shed her/His skin and now he/she eats fine but has never had a drink i mist him twice a day and sometimes he drinks a little while i am spraying but he never goes near his water bowl. he is only young i would show you pictures if i knew how. he never moves from under his heat lamp but the temperature there is 35C not sure in farenheight so i dearnt turn the temperature up.i am dusting my crix will supliment but frank will not eat any greens. he never moves off his log apart from sleeping and eating. i just want to make sure this sounds normal. he is my first reptile and i love him to death he has got a really craftey personality and is really stubborn. any feedback will be much apreciated.
thankyou
Kayleigh

They usually don't drink from a water bowl unless they've been conditioned for it. They get most of their water they need from veggies and mistings anyway but if you want him to drink from the dish try putting a fish tank bubbler in it so he can see that it's water. 35C is a bit low, I'm not sure what that works out to in F either but I do know that 38.8C=101F so I would guess that you should be around 39-40C on the basking spot (somebody from EU correct me if I'm wrong on that), it should be about 85F on the cool side. These are surface temps not air temps also so double check where you're taking it. You also want to make sure you're running a UVB light in addition to the basking light.

Sean
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Heart Mountain Herps

The store i got him from had exactly the same water bowl but i don't know wether he drank from it or not. i will switch the heat up then. he will move if he is a bit hot won't he. thankyou for replying i ask load of questions but i just really want to make sure everything is right. when he was shedding his skin there was a piece on his fdace that was covering his eye and he was scratching at it all the time so i took it off it was really loose. was that wrong because i read you souldn't help them shed thier skin. sorry just panicing about little things now. anyway thankyou i will try the temps again.

Ya, he should move if he gets too hot. Hanging out under the basking light all the time is a sign that he's cold though. If he starts getting hot he'll gape to cool off at first then move. If he doesn't use the basking spot it's a sign it's too hot. Those are just generalizations though and it's best to get an accurate surface temp reading. I don't think that it's always bad to help them shed a bit, especially in that case where it was causing discomfort. A good soak in warm water no deeper than his shoulders will help also, and is a good idea once a week or so anyway.

Sean
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Heart Mountain Herps

Thankyou it's nice to have a bit of info. i did loads of reading up but i still feel a real novice. i suppose i will get used to it. just can't help panicing he is lovely couldn't have asked for a better lizard.
thank you
Kayleigh