Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Apollo hasn't been eating all that well when he was eating like crazy. He hasn't been eating the mice or crickets I offer and he hasn't been pooping everyday like he was.

I put in an extra basking light to cover his entire S/V area and I lowered the wattage of the bulbs to 65 from 100-90. I also rasied his basking spot and his hide spots should be somewhat cooler since the basking lights aren't hitting the cinder blocks now. The humidty is still around 60-70 area and he gets in his water bowl daily, swims around in a circle for about 5-10 mins, then hops out and basks.

I haven't had him for even a month yet so in general I'm hoping it's just him being stressed out and stuff. I know BT's are supposed to eat constantly and with him eating maybe every 2-3 days, it worries me. He is around 2ft long.
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Basking spot with two 65 watt floodlights.

Water bowl/swimming pool

Hide spot

Ventalation

Anyone see any problems visually?
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I see a few things you might want to try. They might help they might not.
First, add more substrate. I don't use hide boxes, I let the critters make their own hides.
Seond, remove the light from the cool side.
Third, your ventilation. Close the top and drill some holes in the sides.
You might need a few holes, you might need alot.
Start with a few, check your temps in a couple of hours and see if some need to be covered or if you need to add more.
If it was eating and acting like a monitor before you made the changes, go back to how it was set up then.

Scott
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Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

The substate is plenty deep enough for him as he digs his own burrows underneath the cement blocks and wedges himself under them. I originally just had them in there for him to bask on, but he dug underneath them and used them as a hide. I really need to get a temp gun from PRO Exotics for myself instead of borrowing a neighbors. BTW, he cut back on eating in the original setup when he was fine, thats why I switched and added another basking lamp, lowered the wattage of the bulbs, and raised his basking area. I'll close the top and drill holes to see if theres a difference, the sides are glass except for the back which is against a wall.

Anyways, again I ask how do you measure ambient temps?
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"how do you measure ambient temps?"

I don't. I give mine a hot basking spot betwen 130 and 150 and get the temps at the door(coolside)to the low to mid 70s.
How deep is your substrate? Is it just deep enough for it to dig under the blocks or deep enough for it to tunnel all over the place?
Be careful with using those blocks, it can dig under them, dislodge them and you end up with a flat lizard.

Scott
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Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

It's about 12-10 inches deep.
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you can measure ambient temps with a temp gun. any area or surface that is not directly affected by either a heating or cooling source will come to an equilibrium temp with the ambient temp of the cage, plus or minus a degree or two. i typically measure the cage substrate or wall on the opposite side of the lights, that gives you the general ambient temp, although the gradient will typically increase as you move closer to the heat source.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles