Yes they will look totally normal when the UVB drops to half or whatever. Its why i rotate them out into 6500k bulbs, they still look "daylight".
The old "six months and replace" was before T5HO bulbs existed. Back before the financial crisis the T5 bulbs even at 12% were putting out 1/4th...
Yes both arcadia and zoomed say guaranteed a year. I have a meter and normally get 2-3 years before they become "half output". In which case they get retired to be used as 6500k bulbs, as i run 1 uvb and 1 normal in order to keep my plants alive. or in some cases the beardies get 12% bulbs...
Its yearly for the T5 unless you have a meter. and yes you want the 6%.
If you cant find a 6%, or its holly expensive, you can also use the reptisun T5HO 5.0. I have ran both for 12 years, and my meter cant tell the difference. They are both made in germany 6 phosphor units that have a 1...
You want a wide variety of stick diameters. You can have logs(or cork bark flats) all the way to sticks so small they cant support the full weight of the cham (potho vines etc).
You dont want "mostly the same size" or they can end up with "bird foot" where the feet adapt to only one diameter.
They will vastly increase cricket consumption as they become teenagers and go through their last growth spurt. You gotta notice they are doubling in weight every month or two. So imagine the last double, thats going to need alot of crickets. Once they are adults eating will drop off a cliff...
My free range is setup different. I have sticks going from the cage to the window. I also have plenty of sticks going down to the carpet.
I keep the bedroom door shut 24/7, so no cats. If i did have cats living in the room, they would not be in the room during cham time.
But you would be...
If its a male you dont have to skip feedings. But once he is full grown and no longer a cricket vacuum, you do not want to feed small meals every day. At that point its larger meals a few times a week.
But yea once they are teenage they will start acting weird and may even get aggressive...
If full grown or teenager, dont worry about it, they can go days and days. I have done fine since 1995 just feeding them on the weekends with a light snack mid week. U want hunger strikes, feed everyday.
Or just yolo and when you leave throw a handful in and say god speed. Then the hunt begins.
Well technically thats what a few have done to me lol. Had a frilly, unless you are fast all you saw was was a thick stick with 1 eyeball looking at you.
They are pretty fast growing. Odds are the "bad batch" is also getting fed a different chow. The chow could get moldy and cause a die off. Hornworms are picky bastards. Some ate only hornworm chow, some ate silk worm chow. I had a few batches that would eat carrots. And i had a few batches...
Some love dogs. Some free rangers will grab onto dogs and unfortunately go on pony rides to other parts of the house.
As long as there is no poofing you are fine. Mine has a 50 pound limit. If you are a beagle you are cool and can get right up in his grill, if the golden retriever comes over...
https://www.inaturalist.org/guide_taxa/736175
There are a few "hornworms" tomato and tobacco. Some have black feets, some do not, depending on the region.
Black horns will have black feets
Red horns will have green/white feets
And then you have the fireweed hornworms of doooooooooom
But...
id wait it out. If its still hanging around, there are plenty of bearded dragon nose removal videos. Best case a quick swipe of a que tip. Worst case is the sport of grabbing it with some splinter removal tools.