Youtube Enclosure Video
Looking for any constructive criticism on my new setup for the hatchling that will be coming on Tuesday. I wanted to be sure I got the temps stable before the new tegu makes his appearance.
I used the top of a kitty litter box for the cave. it BARELY fits width wise into the tank, but it's perfect once I squeeze it down in there. There is a little vent on the back top of it that i managed to wedge the temp and humidity sensors into, so that I can keep track of the weather in there
I'm liking this setup much more than the way I had it for Steve. I'm hoping the tegu feels right at home. I was starting to wonder if maybe the cats were tormenting Steve when I wasn't home. I put some boards on there so that the cats cant see him and vice versa. They can still go up to the tank and look in, but at least this way for most of the time he will feel safe and not like he's on display. I ended up using 2 bags of cyprus mulch in there this time. I may even add a little more here and there. I'm hoping he really likes the cave. I'm really happy with it myself
I'm also changing my light schedule around. Instead of 7am to 7pm, I'm doing 10am to 10pm. That way he's just waking up and basking when I get home from lunch, and I can handle him a bit. Then after work hopefully he will still be up, and I can feed him then, instead of having to rush around and try to get it done at lunch time. I'm hoping this gives us all more time with the new Tegu. The problem I had before was the only time I saw Steve during the week was lunch time. I'd feed him, and by the time I got off work he was in the mulch burrowed for the night. We only saw him on the weekends. Makes it pretty tough to build any trust. I'm going to keep adjusting the lights as Bobby said to have him adjust to MY schedule, instead of the other way around. I'll just keep moving the lights on and off an hour later until we hit a nice balance. I think in the end this will make him more comfortable as we will be able to build much more trust and I'll be able to spend much more time with him.
I have a pretty expensive methanol system for my wrx that is being unused right now, so I may convert it into a mysting system. I think I could pull it strait out of the car, clean it all out real good and flush it out with some water, and use it for a misting system. The nozzle i have pretty much atomizes the water, and it has some serious pressure behind it. I think it will work incredibly well for a mister for the lizard. I just have to figure out a way to rig up a DC power source for it. Then just put it on a timer. They have a pretty nice one at lowes with 20 programmable cycles for like 6 or 7 bucks. My only concern is the lights? They lights are supposedly mist safe, but this thing puts out some serious water in a real fine mist. Do any of you guys with automated misting systems have any trouble breaking lights or anything? My misting nozzle wont be very far below the lights, and although it will be pointing down, I'm sure some of the mist will end up on the bulbs. I was hoping to hear some feedback about this issue specifically.
Anways I think I have rambled on long enough. I'm so excited about my new hatchling, and I finally got around to picking up some mulch and getting the new tank all ready to go. I bleached it out and bleached the water bowl and everything else, so it should be nice and clean for him.
Check out the youtube video and let me know what you think. I would love to hear some feedback either way.
Thanks!
-Kade
Looking for any constructive criticism on my new setup for the hatchling that will be coming on Tuesday. I wanted to be sure I got the temps stable before the new tegu makes his appearance.
I used the top of a kitty litter box for the cave. it BARELY fits width wise into the tank, but it's perfect once I squeeze it down in there. There is a little vent on the back top of it that i managed to wedge the temp and humidity sensors into, so that I can keep track of the weather in there
I'm liking this setup much more than the way I had it for Steve. I'm hoping the tegu feels right at home. I was starting to wonder if maybe the cats were tormenting Steve when I wasn't home. I put some boards on there so that the cats cant see him and vice versa. They can still go up to the tank and look in, but at least this way for most of the time he will feel safe and not like he's on display. I ended up using 2 bags of cyprus mulch in there this time. I may even add a little more here and there. I'm hoping he really likes the cave. I'm really happy with it myself I'm also changing my light schedule around. Instead of 7am to 7pm, I'm doing 10am to 10pm. That way he's just waking up and basking when I get home from lunch, and I can handle him a bit. Then after work hopefully he will still be up, and I can feed him then, instead of having to rush around and try to get it done at lunch time. I'm hoping this gives us all more time with the new Tegu. The problem I had before was the only time I saw Steve during the week was lunch time. I'd feed him, and by the time I got off work he was in the mulch burrowed for the night. We only saw him on the weekends. Makes it pretty tough to build any trust. I'm going to keep adjusting the lights as Bobby said to have him adjust to MY schedule, instead of the other way around. I'll just keep moving the lights on and off an hour later until we hit a nice balance. I think in the end this will make him more comfortable as we will be able to build much more trust and I'll be able to spend much more time with him.
I have a pretty expensive methanol system for my wrx that is being unused right now, so I may convert it into a mysting system. I think I could pull it strait out of the car, clean it all out real good and flush it out with some water, and use it for a misting system. The nozzle i have pretty much atomizes the water, and it has some serious pressure behind it. I think it will work incredibly well for a mister for the lizard. I just have to figure out a way to rig up a DC power source for it. Then just put it on a timer. They have a pretty nice one at lowes with 20 programmable cycles for like 6 or 7 bucks. My only concern is the lights? They lights are supposedly mist safe, but this thing puts out some serious water in a real fine mist. Do any of you guys with automated misting systems have any trouble breaking lights or anything? My misting nozzle wont be very far below the lights, and although it will be pointing down, I'm sure some of the mist will end up on the bulbs. I was hoping to hear some feedback about this issue specifically.
Anways I think I have rambled on long enough. I'm so excited about my new hatchling, and I finally got around to picking up some mulch and getting the new tank all ready to go. I bleached it out and bleached the water bowl and everything else, so it should be nice and clean for him.
Check out the youtube video and let me know what you think. I would love to hear some feedback either way.
Thanks!
-Kade
