Help ASAP

[baggedd5087]

18" Zoo Med Repti-Glo 5.0 15watt in a 15 watt floresent fixture. the last few days he has been hanging upside down about 1 1/2 inches away from the bulb, i just thought he was about to shed and it felt good maybe thats the problem

 

[jojackson]

They do do that, bask under uv. How long has it been closing its eyes? does it only do it in your presence?

 

[baggedd5087]

He started this morning when i woke up ill sneak in my room and look at him and he is just sitting there with his eyes closed but if i make a noise he opens em and when he does he looks like he hasnt slept at all he just looks exhausted

 

[jojackson]

Is the room dark at night? No loose insects in the cage or other disturbances?
Your in colorado and its winter there right? 14 hours of daylight isnt corresponding to outdoor light conditions or ambient night time drops in temp.
perhaps cut back to 12 on 12 off and see how it goes. It may just be that its expecting darkness earlier and its pattern is messed up.

 

[baggedd5087]

its pitch black i take the feeding cup out every night before bed. and sometimes im up till about 1 doing homework but i was in bed pretty early last night

 

[jojackson]

How do you do homework in pitch dark? Ill bet its awake then.
Are the lights on a timer? going on/off with regularity, (same time every time) apart from your late homework jaunts?

 

[baggedd5087]

Haha sometimes i wish i could but ya i have my basking light and uvb on a timer, they turn on at 8 am and off at 8 pm

 

[jojackson]

well thats 12 on /12 off, not 14.

silver dome, 14 hours on, 10 off


What time does it get dark outside? maybe try to adjust the timer according to light outside, aka, off at dark, on at first light.
I dont think the closed eyes one morning is a big issue, unless it continues throughout the day, everyday.
Even when no light from outside permeats the room, lizards can guage the time of year from barometric pressure, night time temp drops etc. I think its expecting winter conditions, shorter days, longer nights.
try that, or leave it 12/12 and see how it goes. I think its appetite will improve with sufficient basking temp.
Remember, more bulbs is not better. One sufficient bulb at the right distance will do.
If ambient temp is quite cool, the lizard will bask longer to acheive its desired internal body temp/metabolism.
Hanging from the ceiling to do that though isnt good, heat receptors are dorsal, so if you create a perch at the right distance,
it can regulate better.
If the situation dosent improve, consider heating the room itself a little more to slightly boost ambient temperature.
Whats the temp at night anyway?

 

[baggedd5087]

Well when i first got on the forum thats what i was doing and i saved a copy to my computer so thats what i was doing when i first got him. but i started doing the 12 on 12off about a week after i got him, and it gets dark at about 6 and the sun rises about 630 or 7

 

[baggedd5087]

the night time temps are 68-73 thats about the warmest i can keep it in my house at night. my house was built in 1910 so its not that insulated

 

[jojackson]

Just noticed the lizard is only 3 months. Smaller body size dosent hold much thermal mass either so if the room is cool it'll find it harder to maintain a good temperature.

 

[baggedd5087]

ya i have his basking vine about 2 inches from the top of the screen and he seemed to enjoy that alot after i moved that today

 

[HairyScaryMark]

Yes thats exactly where he is sitting i use my temp gun to measure that i got my temp gun from work and im a welder so i know these measurments are correct those temp guns we use are very precise it cost me 650 bucks. and yes its freezing here last night it was 12 degrees outside my window

There's snow out my window this morning and I think you probably get a lot more of it in Colorado. I would suggest 1 heat lamp might not cut it throughout all of winter, unless your house is a lot warmer than mine (which, sometimes wouldn't be too difficult).

Before I went to sleep last night one of my thermometers measured 15.4 C / 59.72 F. Been down a bit lower than that on other nights also.

That's a very impressive piece of kit. I've seen a device that can instantly measure humidity or temperatures at any chosen spot you put it. Is it one of these types of things?

I use a few super cheap digital thermometers and exo terra digital one.

 

[baggedd5087]

Help

So i woke up this morning and i thought vert was dead he was just laying there cold with his eyes shut he is deffinatly dehydrated his eyes were so sunken in so i got a few drops of water in him with a syringe and it seemed to give him more energy and now he wont open his mouth for more and he is just laying there with his eyes shut im so scared im gonna lose him

 

[jojackson]

Oh no, update? What's happened?

 

[baggedd5087]

Oh no, update? What's happened?

i think he might have just got really cold last night i got him warmed up and ive been trying to give him water through a syringe his eyes arnt as sunken in as this morning. hows a good way for me to get water in his mouth he wont even get fired up or anything

 

[Julirs]

How cold is cold?

 

[baggedd5087]

How cold is cold?

his body was 68 degrees

 

[Julirs]

If he is only 3 months old and has not eaten in 3 days you are getting into the danger zone. Can you possibly set up a plastic tub with papertowels in the bottom, put a fake plant piece in there for him to grab onto, and get the tub temps up to 85 on one end?

 

[baggedd5087]

If he is only 3 months old and has not eaten in 3 days you are getting into the danger zone. Can you possibly set up a plastic tub with papertowels in the bottom, put a fake plant piece in there for him to grab onto, and get the tub temps up to 85 on one end?

i put a heater in my room and now its 90 f in his basking spot and ill keep the heater on all night and it will be 20 degrees warmer