Hello I'm new to having a Cwd and was curious about a few things. The first day I had the dragon he ate and then after a few days it has stopped eating. He did shed a 3 days ago and hasn't ate since. I have had him for 3 weeks. The temp is always between 85 to 90 and the humidity is at 40 and I can't get it higher but I spray the tank with a mist of water twice a day. I try to feed him crickets which he ate at first but now doesn't. I also tried to feed him mealworms and nothing. I even tried giving him Zilla juvenile iguana wood to see and nothing. I have a hammock as well as a large water container which he always jumps into. I have vines and a big tree he can climb which he likes. I can pet him a nd he even let's me take him out and he doesn't struggle with me. Any advice is appreciated and thank u in advance
Do you have a UV light? They need both heat and light to digest their food properly. You want 85F hot side, 75F cold side, and 95F basking temperature. You need a digital infrared thermometer to shoot the surface temperatures. Make sure he has branches and/or vines to allow him to move up and down on both the hot and cold side ( to within about 6 inches, depending on your UV light). That will allow him to regulate both his temperature and UV exposure. You can put your water bowl on the hot side and cover the openings on your screen lid with aluminum foil to retain heat and humidity. If you really want to drive up humidity, put an undertank heater on the bottom of the tank below your water bowl. Just remember it needs an air space and can't be on anything flammable. If you do this, put a piece of reptile carpet down too, so the water doesn't get too hot and if he digs down he can't contact hot glass and get burned. Oh and spagn (frog) moss is also good to hold moistur for humidity. Don't forget to use a calcium powder and multivitamin on the feeders. As he gets older, you can back off on how often you use it. You'll also want one of them to have D3, but don't use it too often, because they can get too much. With a good UV light they'll produce D3 and process excess D3 within reason.
I'm using a Solar glo bulb made by Exo Terra 125 watt which has UVB and UVA in one I just ordered a digital infrared thermometer so I'll use it to see. I do use the calcium powder and I don't hating an undertank heater will work cause I bought a wood tank stand which is flammable I have branches and vines in both sides so he can climb and even a hideaway log which he never uses and. I have repti bark as the bedding . Question if I move things around in the tank will he get stressed out
I I forgot to mention I was using Saran wrap on the screen to try to raise the humidity and spraying the tank with water once a day to bring it up I was looking into a waterfall but not sure if it's a good idea
He has recently started eating again and I got the humidity up but now I noticed he is always trying to jump out the tank and has been digging in one particular corner so I figured I would take him out so it can get use to me and once i got him out he is relaxed and even falls asleep in my hands but now I noticed that when I put my hand in to just pet him and not take him out he snapped at me like if he or she was trying to bite me and I was wondering if that is normal.. Any input is appreciated
How big is your enclosure? Mine always wanted out when he was in his 40 gallon. He would run up my arm when I reached in to do stuff. Now he never wants out! Lol As far as the digging, I'd pick up some aquarium background and cover the back and sides completely and at least the bottom 6 inches of the front. You could do more of the front and trim it as he settles down. Plants also help a lot. I had the Exo Terra silk plants all the way across the front of my tank and he would often sleep in them or under them. They come with suction cups to attach them. You could also just pick up some silk plants from Hobby Lobby (50% off sale alternates between plants and vines every couple weeks). Then just get your own accessory suction cups (little loop to hold stuff) from the reptile or fish section of your pet store. Here's a picture of my 40 gallon setup.
