I have him in a 20 gallon long with a UTH on a thermostat. He has a ceramic bulb. In the hot spot it gets to be 90-92. I have the uth set at 90 but he doesn't go in that hide at all. I figure it helps heat the tank a little so I leave it on. The ambient temperature on the hotter end is 80. The ambient temperature on the cool end is 73. He is always on the hot side of the tank but we situated the vines so he can really manage how much heat he needs from the basking lamp. He has a hot hide and a cool hide as well as a bunch of greenery he likes to lay about in. He doesn't actually use the hides though. He is out all the time. Actually he did just start tucking down between the wall of the tank and this rock platform we have in there. He's essentially made his own hide for during the day. At night he is out basking on vines or the rock platform. The humidity is something I work with. I end up spraying 3 times a week and it stays at around 30-50. I've read that that is fine but then other people say it's too low. He does have a huge water dish to help with this. I cover the tank with a piece of vinyl to keep the humidity a bit higher. He has
We tried to feed him last night and we slit the head. He gets tensed up and he flicked a bit where the slit was. A few times I thought he was going to do it but then he backs off and just waits for us to leave.
I've been in contact with the breeder and she seemed unconcerned.
He is coming from the standard breeder set-up. A rack system. Also there were no kids in her house but of course I have two boys. It is my son's room but they spend little time in there during the day. It is a pretty low traffic place to be...considering how the rest of the house is
I like your idea of covering the outside with paper to give him the sense of being more enclosed. I will try that and then we will try to feed towards the end of the week. We have an expo coming up and I'm hoping to get some face time with the breeder as well as some more food.
I do think we are spending too much time trying to feed. Close to 30 minutes each time. I will be sure to shorten it.