Please critique my set up

[jennleila]

I've made some changes based on other cham owner's input. Please be honest, I'm tough. I just really want to make it perfect for my cham. My kids and husband think I'm obsessed!

heres some info.

Cage: 24x24x48 reptibreeze

UVB: Reptisun 5.0 linear, 18 inches, on a timer from 8 am to 8pm

Heat: 100 watt basking bulb. It is red because I was using it at night until I read that it can disrupt their sleep cycle. It is off at night but I figured it can still be used for heat in the day time, correct? Heat goes off at 8 pm and comes on at 8 am. The temp in my house never goes below 60 degrees. I'm having trouble with the heating setup. Her basking branch is 6 inches down from heat but it never goes past 78-80 degrees. should I get a 150 watt bulb or move her branch higher?

Cham: Camille, she is a 4-5 month old female veiled. She stays mostly lime green all day. She'll have some darker green patterns when basking.

Feeding: She eats 4-5 medium crickets in the morning. I dust with Calcium with D3 every other day. ordered Dubia roaches to replace crickets. Mealworms only on Sundays.

Misting: I will be setting up the monsoon later today. We mist when we notice humidity is starting to go below 50%. Need advice on how often to set time from automatic mister and how long to mist for each cycle.

Plants: Live Schefflera plant and a few fake ficus branches.

Substrate: None, just paper towels.

Please let me know if I forgot anything!

 

[qdude46]

Looks really good, I recommend to ditch the red light and get a regular house bulb, not entirely sure but maybe 75 watts. Also you should be feeding more than 5 crickets daily at her age, more like 10-15. As for dusting, you may overload on the d3. The correct schedule is: cal w/o d3 every feeding, cal w/ d3 twice a month, and a multivitamin twice a month. For feeders you could also try horn, super, and silk worms.

 

[jennleila]

Wow! 10-15 crickets? She will barely eat 5. The crickets are about 3/4 of an inch long. Is 10-15 for her to munch on all throughout the day? Are horn, super and silk worms a staple or just as a treat? I was told mealworms were just a treat so we do those only on Sundays. I will go out and buy calcium w/o d3 today. as for heat, 100 watts doesn't get it hot enough, so if I go to a regular household bulb at 75 watts wouldn't that make it colder? Are household bulbs hotter than the red bulbs?

Thank you so much for the advise!

 

[ReptiGeek]

Her basking branch is 6 inches down from heat but it never goes past 78-80 degrees. should I get a 150 watt bulb or move her branch higher?

You're only reading 78-80*F because your temperature gauge isn't facing upwards. That's the crummy thing about those non-digital thermometers. They need to be facing PRECISELY where the heat is coming from or else it won't read properly. Might I suggest picking up a digital thermometer with a probe? I have a feeling you're going to get a MUCH warmer reading, and it might even be too much.

 

[jennleila]

I have a digital also but it was staying at 80 degrees. I will try it again right now.

 

[jennleila]

Thanks Reptigeek! That solved the problem. Temp is at 87 after 10 minutes. Thats good right?

 

[jennleila]

Now the temp is at 92, if it gets past 95, should I lower the basking spot?

 

[ReptiGeek]

Now the temp is at 92, if it gets past 95, should I lower the basking spot?

I would definitely lower your bulbs wattage. Try to aim for around 85F basking spot since your veiled is a female.

 

[Lpsouth1978]

I also don't see a laying bin in the cage for her. In that third picture she looks VERY plump! Even if she has never been with a male she will still lay eggs and needs a laying bin. If she is not supplied with a place to lay the eggs she will become egg bound and die.

I know she is still very young so even if she is not currently gravid, she will need a laying bin eventually.

 

[jennleila]

Yes, that was on my to do list. How big should I make the bin and what do i put in it?