Richard the Blue Tongue!

Aright. I'm getting a ceramic heat emitter, turning off the UTH (when I get the CHE and its hood of course) and some (2 bags) of eco earth to mix in with the aspen along with every other day feedings and I'm buying more ingredients. Today I made the food in his dish in one serving, is that ok? I find it easier than making a batch, and "fresher," if you will. I will take out all those lights and get a flourescent bar (produces UV, right?) and maybe a reptifogger because honestly it might make it easier.
Thanks for pointing that stuff out, I'd have never noticed until it was too late.

"Richard" Is quite adorable. I don't know much about skinks but I would like to commend you for you ability to take advice from others for the betterment of your animal. I haven't been an active member for long but I've been reading for a while. most new-to-pet people get defensive and don't take advice well. I think you two will do great together! :D;)

I'm terrified of not giving him the life he needs to. I just do what's best for him.
I also got a lot of Christmas money so it's not much of a problem either. I also want to really spread the word about reptile keeping, I always daydream about making a huge collection of animals and taking them on tours to elementary schools, I'd call it R.A.T., Reptile Awareness Talks. But that would cost a ton and I have problems at hand to solve with only 1 reptile haha.

My dad has also been calling Richard Edward Lizardhands.
Mmmm, dad jokes.

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Originally Posted by Sir Hognose

Aright. I'm getting a ceramic heat emitter, turning off the UTH (when I get the CHE and its hood of course) and some (2 bags) of eco earth to mix in with the aspen along with every other day feedings and I'm buying more ingredients. Today I made the food in his dish in one serving, is that ok? I find it easier than making a batch, and "fresher," if you will. I will take out all those lights and get a flourescent bar (produces UV, right?) and maybe a reptifogger because honestly it might make it easier.
Thanks for pointing that stuff out, I'd have never noticed until it was too late.

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What are the ambients like in the room he is in during the day and night? For the UVB my personal choice would be a T5 HO bulb that is the length of the tank. If your tank is 3ft and you want it to sit on top of the screen, I think zoo med has a 3ft HO fixture with bulb: http://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-ReptiS.../dp/B00AQU8F2O (this but the 36in one)

I use the 10.0 bulbs: http://www.zoomed.com/db/products/En...D=2&SearchID=5, but with a different fixture because I mount mine inside the cages.

Now for heating if you want to use a CHE you can, but if you dont require night heat (see question about ambients) you can actually use a flood bulb (wattage) will depend on your ambients as well and create the basking spot with that.

As an example:

I am in Southern California, my ambients stay right around 70, with my bulbs mounted inside a PVC cage, I use one 39 Watt PAR30 flood bulb and that provides the right temps for basking as well as heating the cage, the only other bulb I have is my UVB, since I am only running one bulb, controlling humidity is a lot easier. You can use a fogger/mister system if you want, but I generally just have to spray down the cages (in the winter while I am trying to simulate breeding conditions, daily) during the summer every other day. This is where a thick substrate can come into play as well. If you have a deep layer and get it moist throughout, it won't dry out as fast.

For your substrate I would get rid of the aspen all together, as it can get moldy in moist conditions. Eco Earth would be fine, other than it will get expensive to replace. I will try to get some pictures of my cages today and post them here for you for a reference, with some notes on substrates I use etc, if that is helpful to you.


Making the food daily works great, so that shouldn't be an issue, I would still cut back on your calicium doses, I don't want to tell you exactly how much to dose because I don't think there is any hard evidence to prove the exact amount, but I do know that dosing daily can lead to a build up in their system and is not reccomended.

http://www.anapsid.org/mbd2.html (give this a read)

THANK YOU SO MUCH! I love how eco earth looks too.
My ambients during winter sit at ~70 degrees
I think I'm gonna stick with the CHE though. I change my mind so much so fast so don't take my word for it.

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Originally Posted by Sir Hognose

THANK YOU SO MUCH! I love how eco earth looks too.
My ambients during winter sit at ~70 degrees
I think I'm gonna stick with the CHE though. I change my mind so much so fast so don't take my word for it.

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I will get the the pictures, hopefully tonight. My substrate layer is 6 inches thick, and I use good ol fashon dirt mixed with a little peat moss, a little play sand to help hold burrows and leaf litter in the hopes that after adding springtails it will become bio-active: http://www.varanustalk.com/forum/index.php?pageid=Dirt

The one reason I do not use a CHE and use a basking light instead http://www.anapsid.org/parietal.html
I personally believe there is validity to it. There are people that successfully keep lizards without a basking light, but I beleive that a basking bulb is necessary which is why I dont use a CHE.

When I picked up Richard today again he didn't breath heavy or try to hiss at all...he did explore my arm and my bed though...is he ok?

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Originally Posted by Sir Hognose

When I picked up Richard today again he didn't breath heavy or try to hiss at all...he did explore my arm and my bed though...is he ok?

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I would assume so...I would still fix the husbandry issues...pictures are always helpful.

Here are some examples of my lighting9http://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...a675e9df44.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...ada2e1cee1.jpghttp://tapatalk.imageshack.com/v2/15...5bdb50763e.jpg