Re: Help for a new Ig mommy pleeeease :)

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Posted by Mr. D on January 07, 2003 at 15:33:44:

In Reply to: Re: Help for a new Ig mommy pleeeease :) posted by ladilee on January 07, 2003 at 12:04:28:

Sounds like they may have sold you an older version of a mercury vapor bulb which would be something for you to start looking at and familiarizing yourself with. Both T Rex (Active UV Heat) and ZooMed (PowerSun)have the best UV output currently although I'm not quite sure what is going on with quality control on the bulbs.

Night temps sound fine. You eventually want to look at something that produces strictly heat (i.e. zero light emmitance) such as a radiant heat panel to control ambient temps 24/7. For now, in a smaller tank you should be fine with what you've got. Make sure that the heat pad doesn't get too hot. Under Tank Heaters (UTH) in general aren't necessary with igs as they are designed to process and absorb heat from above rather than below but as long as it's not too warm it won't hurt. Just make sure that the UV bulbs are within 12" of the igs orthey will not receive any exposure to UVB. Stick with the ReptiSun 5.0/IguanaLight 5.0's for as long as you use fluo tubes. In my personal experience the UVB output from something like a Vita-Light brand fluo tube is absolute carp even right out of the box.
I'm surprised they're not afraid of the croc head in there with them. I'm not going to ask if it's real or not.... ;)

Diet isn't too bad. I'd use grapes, apples and usually melons more as occassional treats and I'd lose the lettuce altogether. Better off mixing Collards with turnip, mustard, or dandelion greens when available. Chickory or endive can be substituted on occassion as well.

As good as the idea of humidity is you may want to re-think the volcano simply for functional issues. I'm not familiar with the unit at all but I know it would look "cool" in with them. What might be a better option would be to look into either a Vicks or Sunbeam ultrasonic humidifier available at any department store. They run about $40 themselves, only have to be filled once a day, and can actually be "plumbed" with sections of PVC pipe making it possible to keep the unit itself outside the tank and accessable for filling and maintainence. The unit also doesn't get covered with ig poop...;)

Keep an eye on them while they're housed together. If one appears decidedly larger than the other be wary of dominance issues. If this becomes a problem you're going to have to seperate them or it may end up killing the smaller of the two in the long run due to territory squabbles or lack of food, etc. As far as talking to you, don't worry about it. Just don't fall for it when they start asking for Big Macs or burritos... I almost fell for that once but then realized that they were just having my Macaw ask FOR them. Next thing you know the Cartoon Network won't be enough for them all......Oh wait,I mean Nickelodeon. Cartoon Network wasgetting too violent for the bird to watch without constantly screaming.....;)

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