Quote Originally Posted by dakski View Post
See my above responses in BLUE.

You say you are worried, but too much worrying and not enough leaving him alone, and not following good advice, could get you in trouble.

Best advice I can give is if you've made changes to his enclosure, and temps and humidity are dialed in (which I am unsure if they are from your post), leave him alone and offer food as discussed in a week, not sooner. At his weight, he is okay for a little bit assuming he's not incredibly thin for his body size, which he doesn't look from what I can see in the picture.

If you want to offer live, that's your prerogative, but you will have to offer live for a while probably, if not his whole life.

If you want him to eat F/T:

Wait a week, offer as discussed, and let us know if he takes it. NO WEIGHING, NO HANDLING, ETC.

I would also put cardboard or paper around his tank on at least the back and sides so he can feel more secure.

I too tend to be meticulous with certain aspects of keeping and I got a lot of that from keeping and breeding cichlids (fish).

However, as I mentioned earlier, too much fussing around doesn't help anyone, especially your boy. I've learned that with reptiles, once everything is dialed in from a husbandry standpoint, the less we mess with them the better until they are well established. From what I see of his size, knowing his weight, and now knowing your propensity to worry, he will probably be fine. He's not a hatchling.

I cannot stress enough getting the husbandry correct as priority number one (88-89F hot side, 80-84F ambient/middle temps, and 78-80F cool side). If you need a CHE to get those temps, do it, as that will only help the situation. Keep in mind you might need an occasional mist and/or a bigger water bowl if you add a CHE as they can dry things out. Probably worth covering the top with tin foil either way (I assume it's screen).

Anyway, I am not trying to give you a hard time. You seem to want what's best for your boy, but I think relaxing for a bit and letting him settle, then offering F/T prey properly, and you will have success.

Once he eats 3 meals you can start gentle handling with him, but make sure he eats 3 meals first. You can only take him out to clean his tank and then you should put him somewhere safe while you do it and not hold him.

Good luck and keep us posted!

Okay, lots of great information here! Super thankful for all of this.

I will not handle him going forward until he eats 3 meals unless cleaning is necessary but not before a first meal? Am I reading that right? He is coming up on 3 weeks without a deep cleaning.

I will continue to feed F/T following your thawing directions as closely as I can humanly manage. He has paper around his tank, though the tinfoil is a great idea.

I have a couple questions about installing a CHE:

I am thinking a 100w bulb should be enough to support a ~10 degree F difference in the 20 gallon tank he is in. Is my thinking correct? I plan on pairing that with a thermostat.

I'm concerned with the fact that he really enjoys pressing himself up against the screen at night, potentially getting close to the CHE or the resulting hot metal screen. Is a hanging apparatus an effective-enough solution?

Additionally, is a wide dome or a deep dome preferable for this situation? My search for answers hasn't provided much useful information. I can't find a shallow-dome reflector with a proper hook for sale, only deep.

Finally, would the inclusion of tin foil go between the screen and the CHE or would I cut a hole for the heater?


Once again, and I can't state this enough, I am extremely thankful for all your help. I appreciate your patience with my many many questions and newbie responses.