Butterfly Enclosure for Tiny Dwarf Jackson's Babies

[MeruJack]

I have five 6 week old Mt. Meru Dwarf Babies sharing a small Reptibreeze enclosure. They are very tiny and I am thinking that they may grow faster if I put them in separate enclosures. I bought five 12" x 10" mesh butterfly enclosures thinking I would put a small live plant and a few fake vines, etc. & a baby in each one. However, in view of the fact that the butterfly enclosures have flexible plastic tops, is it okay if I set it up so that the UVB light enters the enclosures from the side rather than the top? I figured I could mount a long UVB tube/lid to the wall and line the little baby homes in a row in front of it or hang a bare ReptiSun 5.0 and put the babies in a circle around the bare compact bulb so that the UVB light enters the mesh enclosures from the side. What do you think? Any other ideas?

Sorry, phone flipped my pic sideways

 

[nick barta]

It should be ok t have it enter the side, what will you do for basking temps?

CHEERS!

Nick

 

[SaintJimmy]

Cute, is there a way to easily mount lights without touching the fabric? That stuff burns if it gets too hot.

I was actually thinking this was a good idea for babies.

 

[MeruJack]

The UVB light would not be touching the enclosures. It would be mounted to the wall of my reptile room and the babies would be lined up on the counter in front of it. Or I would use a compact ReptiSun and suspend the bare bulb a few inches above the counter and have the babies circled around it. As for the basking temp…hmm. They have had a very low wattage basking light for about three weeks now but choose not to use it. They tend to gather under the ReptiSun. The reptile room stays about 75 degrees during the day even with the forced air vent blocked, and that's a pretty good temperature for these babies. After making sure that they are getting sufficient UVB light, I will be looking to make sure they're overall temp is good and that I can keep them properly hydrated. As they get a bit bigger they may be more interested in basking. I will provide some access to basking initially and then increase as needed.

TBH, I saw a couple of seasoned keepers/breeders (one in Japan and the other here in the states) using mesh enclosures like these. In both of their pictures, I saw the enclosures in the background and have been thinking about it for a few weeks.

I also have a full-size Jackson's that is 5 months & 3 weeks pregnant so I am wanting to get these first five Meru babies bigger and stronger before I get busy with the next batch which almost promises to be a larger in number if not size as well.

 

[laurie]

You might want to take a look at DragonStrand. That is one of our sponsors. Bill has cages made just for tiny babies. That is what my quad babies were raised in. They take all the work out of babies, fantastic cages.

 

[Action Jackson]

I have had great success raising Merus in fabric mesh butterfly cages like this. http://www.livemonarch.com/store_enclosures.php I kept mine outside though. The ones I used probably would have filtered to much of the uvb from a light to be useful.

How old are you Merus now?

 

[MeruJack]

They are six and a half weeks old and all five have survived and are active...just tiny; some tinier than others. I saw the square mesh butterfly enclosures but they were WAY more expensive than the $10.99 I spent on the round ones.

 

[MeruJack]

Pics of Meru Babies

Six weeks old

 

[MeruJack]

Pic of Meru Babies

Six weeks old

 

[Action Jackson]

They are six and a half weeks old and all five have survived and are active...just tiny; some tinier than others. I saw the square mesh butterfly enclosures but they were WAY more expensive than the $10.99 I spent on the round ones.

Good to hear they are doing good. I think I paid about $15 for my butterfly cages.