Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is my 5 month old male, he’s been using these temps sins hatchelling, I just took this photo of him sleeping at his preferred thermal gradient, 85-92f

He can spend the entire day at such temps.

Sometimes he bask at 120f for hours, other times he sleeps in the cool water bowl 75f

All the babies I am raising at this moment have the same options.

Jobi,

These are all interesting! I've taken everyone's advice and cut the branches to fit and wedged them with cork. Works great! I've also cut a small hole in my screen and added the 25 watt bulb to the inside of the tank to see if this makes a differance. It's seems that all my reading of your post here would indicate that it does.

Today was the first day and I've made some observations. The dragons have been on the side with the heat all day. My male has been sitting next to the light while the others are a bit further away.

Now my question is, do you think that I should up the wattage and see what happens, or do you suspect that the 25 watt will get the job done in a 29 gallon? I've been up and down about this, as the temps seem right. Currently I don't have a temp gun or anything that I can point and shoot to get my temp reading. Just a small digital, which aren't really that accurate.

However, my runt female seems to be growing and today for the first time, all my animals are a beautiful coloration. Might be due to the light?

Thanks for the advice!

Cheers,
Anthony

First I think you should cover that screen top, it lets all the heat and humidity go out.

This is the no1 problem in herpetoculture, hot air raises and vacuums heat and humidity out of your tank, this is why most keepers add wattage to compensate the heat lost, with a closed cover you make the cage more energy efficient, therefore a lower wattage bulb will do the work nicely without risk of thermal burn or overheating.

In larger cages I prefer adding an other 25w bulb then using a 40-60w bulb.

Order a temperature gun from pro exotic it’s the best $25 investment you can make, this device is so convenient that I consider it a must when working with reptiles, in the above photo it’s the lizards body temperature you see.

Ok, that sounds like something I can do. The next thing that I have a question about is UVB. Now, I've read that you do not use them. I'm using one on top. Should I take this off and not use it at all? This is a concern for me, are my animals going to be alright with just the 25 watt bulb and that's all? I supplement with Rep-Cal and Herptivite, and my crickets get great nutrition, though, I've never not used one before! Help me gain some insight into this, as it seems you are far more experienced in such matters than I.
Thanks
Anthony

OK UV,S in the pet trade are much like religion or politics, there are die hard believers in them that will tear you up every time you talk about theme.

And trust me I get hate mails every time I do!

However this doesn’t change a simple fact, I have been breeding all kinds of reptiles from nocturnal to desert species without UVs for decades. They have grown and reproduced faster then any care sheets iv read, not only that but some are almost 20 years old and still doing excellent.

So if your question is are UVs needed for my dragons to be healthy, the answer is absolutely not!!!

If your question is are UV’s good for the pet trade? The answer is absolutely yes!

UV bulbs technology was initially developed for fish hobbyist, they allow for extraordinary color rendition of corals and fish.

The biological benefits of these bulbs are from the heat they emit more then the light spectrum, reptiles use light as photoperiod (light time cycle) its doesn’t matter to them how many lumens or what spectrum the light emits.

Heat is what allows metabolism to function, if heated your lizard will show amazing colors even in total darkness, in the 80s I was working with alligators, the study was about accelerated growth by temp and food manipulation, gators where housed in completely closed and dark pens, the pens where heated evenly without basking spots and no lights, in these conditions gators grew to 6 feet in 12 months, the funny thing is they showed the best colors you could ever see in gators.

I've applied all that you have posted about with the exception of the construction of an enclosure, which will have to wait.

I've put some plastic wrap over the screen top and taped it on. The humidity is fantastic, and the heat seems to be working. My little runt female seems to be staying in the tree further from the light, do you know how long it will take for the animals to adjust to this? They also haven't been going after the crickets as I had hoped, do you think this is a problem, or just wait and see? Last, my heat lamp in on one side, and as you may know, it's rather difficult to make it work right in an aquarium. The other side of the tank is barely lit, and in some parts it's dark(I'm speaking in terms of light that is passing through the trees. Do you see this as a problem, or should everything be alright?

Thanks,
Anthony

If your lizards have choices then theirs nothing to worry about, your lizards should feed when ever they are hungry new cage or not. If they don’t then they aren’t hungry or they have digestive problems, here again options can only help.

I hope you left a small air space on your cover? It don’t need to be larger then 3-4in in circumference, especially sins you service this cage every day.

Of course you well see no need to spray more then once or twice a week now, however use two water bowls one at each end just at the base of a branch, often I see my lizards hanging from the branch upside down to drink.

As I said one of my water dish is heated a little, they seem to use it 90% more then the none heated bowl. I guess I will have to observe and figure out why?

Be cautious and observe your lizards, make sure they they look well hydrated, don’t worry about food, they will feed when hungry.

Sometime lizards are set in there ways and have food preference, the only way to get them interested in something else is to starve them, I don’t like this and usually don’t do it.

I much prefer starting new hatchlings on a staple diet and stick to it.

Everything seems to be in order. There is a 2"x4" vent up top in the right hand side. Humidity is great, now it's just wait and see. I've never kept anything without UVB so this will be an interesting test to say the least. I've been feeding the feeders(which are only crickets for the time being) mostly dandelion and carrots, so they should be getting superior nutrition.

Jobi, with all your little tips you've given over the last couple of weeks, they have really made me question my husbandry for the first time. Thank you for that! I would have to say that I'm extremely nervous about this, as I really like the animals and only want the very best for them. That said, ovbiously breeding is my overall goal, and if this works out, it seems like it should be a rather enjoyable experience!

I'll be picking up an extra water dish this weekend and will heat it to about 85-90 and see what happens, it certainly can't hurt to test it out.

This new cage idea has really got me excited and construction on it will only come soon enough. Enough rambling from me though.

Anthony

When someone really ask for my help, I ask a photo of there set up (like the one gurinski posted) seeing the entire cage allows me to pin point every mistake and show all improvements that can be made.
I am a visual guy!

However I give my opinion only when asked.

rgds

Jobi,

Here is a shot of the enclosure. As you can see, I've followed everything you've mentioned thus far. It's not that bright in the enclosure, this is due to the flash, so you get a good shot of it all. Please check the photo and let me know what needs to be improved upon. Thanks!

Anthony

Ok hers an example to help explain my point.

Same cage same number of lizards, in one I added foliage to pleas my friend Ingo.

Of course I don’t use foliage and for good reason, first is obvious! Look at the photos and all lizards are concealed in the cage with foliage, the same lizards without the foliage are more pout and make better use of space.

Allowing lizards to hide is allowing them to remain shy, they most likely will act shy always this leads to poor reproductive. Why?

Because shy lizards bask less! They don’t feed well and don’t use the tools you provide for them. In my bare cage they have nowhere to hide, very soon they calm down and feel secure, they see all that’s happening and know where everybody is located, this especially for preys and water. They lose fear of me much faster and soon learn to see me as provider of food and water, these little guys you see jump on my hands when I do water changes, a behaviour you will not see with shy lizards.

Lizards that are concealed will not always make eye contact with possible prey, and if they do it’s a problem, because leaving the safety of concealment is a life survival decision for babies lizards, they just don’t know what is behind the next leaf, is it worth taking the chance to move for this cricket or should I site and wait for an other to pass in front of me?

I would uncover 1/3 of your cage to let the excess humidity out, no need for all this wetness, its preferable to have high humidity in a dry cage, then a wet cage (major difference)

Then id take the foliage out and see how they react after a few days.

If you insist on the air stone, why not plug it in just a few minutes a day when your watching. The noise and vibration would drive me nuts if I was to live in that cage!

Take off the slice of cork in front of your tank, now that your lizards aren’t shy anymore you can enjoy watching them.

Other then this I see no reason for you to be concerned with your lizards health, unless the room temperature is dangerously abnormal, no reason to be worried.

hey jobi can i have your opion on my setup and tell me what I can do different including substrate thats what I always get yelled at I plan to put play sand in soon if I have to also earlier I asked about breeders or retailer Ive never seen a tree dragon anywhere and I prefer somewhere local thank you for any advice

I am sorry but I rather not comment your set up for the simple reason that I don’t keep bearded dragons.

However if they are like my Egyptian dragons, then sure id use sand anytime, id also close the top and lower the basking light over a thick log or rock, something the keeps heat long after the light if off. Of course id use only one 65w flood and no hot rock or any other heating device, my staple foods would be dandelion and clover, kale, bok Choy, parsley. Millet seeds and beans exclusively.

I do feed my Egyptian insects and would offer them to bearded if they eat them.

Other then this nothing special, bearded are one of the toughest lizards, much more forgiving then tree dragons to keep

This gravid female is kept with a male and an other female in a 6-3-3feet cage with a single 65w flood, nothing special. I have other trios in much smaller cages that do just as well.

dont know about breeders, I live in Montreal