Reptile & Amphibian Forums

A basking bulb that delivers heat AND UVB...My water dragon is brown instead of green...and i don't think he is getting enough UVB....I have the ReptiSun 5.0 flourescent...but he doesn't climb to the top of his log until it goes out...I have it on a timer...I use a ceramic heater for heat...but he never gets under it much....I haven't had him for long...a few weeks maybe...and at the pet store he had some snout damage...it seems now that his "lips" don't close all the way now...you can see his little gums....and I think that there is some sort of UVB deficiency...I dust his crickets with calcium powder....and his veggies too...which he doesn't seem to like veggies anyway....I am having a hard time keeping the humidity up...i found a site explaining how to make a humidifier out of a bottle...air pump and air stone...that has helped some...he is in shed now and i know he needs the humidity...if any one can tell me what i can do to make sure he gets the proper amount of UVB and heat I would GREATLY appreciate it...temporarily he is in a 29 gallon aquarium...which is too narrow in my opinion because i have to put the flourescent tube towards the back to have room for the fixture for the heater....there has got to be a better way to set this thing up...I don;t want my little fella getting sick or worse....I am used to dealing with snakes...I have 10 of those...ball pythons and boas...new to the lizard thing...I just need some good advice on caring for him

They work well but are expensive, delicate, cannot be run on a rheostat, and the ones that are effective in localizing a hot spot are normally 100watts and up

i think 100 watts would be too much

for a 29g yes, it would be too much. I dont prefer them even in big cages because they cant be adjusted. separate heat and uv have always served me well

the retisun flourescent I am using had to be placed toward either the very front or very back to leave room to put the clamp lamp....so he is never directly under it...I don;t think he is getting all the UVB he needs...he only climbs towards the top of the tank to go to sleep at night and this is worrying me...shouldn't he be directly under the flourescent for him to get the proper uvb?

A brand new reptisun5.0 produces enough uvb for your lizard at no further than 12". in your cage that would work fine but i would use a 50wt. spot basking light off to one side. I think diurnal lizards associate heat with bright light so a white directional bulb works great. maybe put newspaper on the outside of 3 sides of his cage so he doesnt rub as much while he settles in. Imports come in brown but if they are set up right they shed the brown right away and stay green. good luck!

but what is causing his lips not to meet?...you can see his gums and sometimes his teeth?

old face rub/stomititus/metabolic bone disease or any combination. If you have a vet that is capable of checking it out then that is in the animals best interest. good light, calcium, and a cage with solid walls are the important things to do to slowly reverse the problems that caused what you are describing. If its a glass cage with a screen top then all you should need for humidity is a wet substrate

can you give them too much calcium and cause the same problems?

Not in most forms in my opinion. My concern is with d3 content and that most animals required dosage is unknown. I use reptocal since its d3 levels are less than that of other calcium supplements. I use it liberally with all my lizards(leopard geckos/day geckos/basilisks) on every insect and my geckos still eat it plain out of a dish. give a shallow dish of just calcium to your lizard as an option

I use rep-cal phosphorus freecalcium with vit D3...could he be getting too much D3?... I dunno...his lips just droop and i don't know why

I do not use that particular brand because of its very high d3 content. Like i said, i dont think anyone knows for sure exactly how much is required, i just feel more comfortable using a brand with less d3 and using it on everything. That paired with proper uvb lighting should create somewhat of a balance. However, i am not a vet and these techniques have always worked for me to keep my animals healthy, but i do not have a great deal of experience rehabilitating animals with severe mbd

I just compared the nutritional value of both products and the one you use has 13,700 IU/kg of D3 and mine has 40,000 IU/kg....BIG difference...I think i will get something with a smaller D3 content....He is looking better though...some of the skin is shedding off and he is nice and green underneath...gonna take him monday to have him looked at...the owner of a pet store we went to today has a wife that happens to be a herp vet

I want to thank you for your help...not many people respond to things on here...but you stepped right in and tried to help...I want to thank you for that

double check your rep cal- its actually 400,000 iu/kg! not sure if its too much but its a million times as much as what my lizards run on. your welcome for the help. i hope everything works out

yup i checked it again...and it IS that much

Brightness matters. You should try to reach approx 100 000 Lux under a asking spot. With fluorescents or mercury vapor, no chnace to exceed 5-15000 Lux.
With metal halides, no problem to reach naturla light intensities at a sun like spectrum at a basking spot.
I do use metal halides in all my tanks for diurnal animals and so do most european herpers. For my basilisk setup, I have comined 2 T5 28 W fluorescents with 2 x 70 w and 1 x 150 w mwtal halide (CDM-R and HCI). Plants grow well and lizards are brilliantly coloured.
Only with metal halides, most lizards easuly reach the same colour intensity as in the wild.
Before I forget aout it: For an adult WD, you should use an enclosure od at least 5 x 3 x 6 ft. In too small enclosures, they also often stay dark-its a stress issue then.

BR

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