xanthoman
Avid Member
duscraft, congrats on the new xanth!. personally i would make some changes, first i would x the eco-earth, sure its reasonably sterile when you get it, but it can and will encourage mites over time, especially as it sits with feces & urates on it, even if you change it frequently, some is always left behind. i would discourage the use of any substrate for the cage floor. another bigger problem with eco earth as a substrate is eco-earth in its dried form expands to about 10x its size when it gets wet, so if your cham ingests any dried eco-earth, it is almost certain to cause a fatal impaction. it also provides an almost perfect place for lots of stuff to hide and breed, its not inconceivable that crickets would lay their eggs in it resulting in an explosion of pinheads. as far as the light, imo a 75watt ir, is way too much for a cage of that size, and does not provide any uva. uva is believed to stimulate appetite and combat depression. personally, i would change the infra red with a regular incandescent house bulb of 15-25 watts. temps should be monitored with a digital temp gauge with at least one probe right in the hot spot of the basking area, i personally prefer a max temp of 84*. a lineal reptisun 5.0 and small incandescent house bulb are the only lights and heat that you need, unless you want to add a linear fluorescent plant bulb. all heat and light should be off at night, a nightime drop in temp of at least 12* is desireable (no, he wont get too cold, xanths can easily handle temps well below the 50s). as far as the water dish, i would x that too, the water may not be stagnant, but that does not mean it is sanitary or hygenic, any sort of recirculating ponds or waterfalls are generally a bad idea. a nice large (as the cage will allow) live lush plant (in a plastic pot, not a peat pot) will help control some of the drip water, help maintain humidity, and provide a general feeling of well being (the substrate should be covered with window screen & 5/8" or larger rocks). xanths are arboreal and feel most secure when their basking spot is above eye level. if the floor of your cage is not removable, then how do you clean it thoroughly? even if the floor of your cage is not removable, there is something you can do to improve drainage, this takes a little practice to do well, so dont blame me if you ruin your cage doing it, but done right you can easily improve your drainage situation by carefully heating the center of the plastic with a heat gun (or hair dryer) until it starts to sag, then push a pencil down through the soft spot (and let cool). this will create a slight depression in the center of your cage and also create a nipple to attach a piece of tubing to, so you can drain any excess to a bucket. the disadvantage is that now you have a nipple sticking out the bottom of your cage, and you can no longer set your cage directly on a flat surface, unless you drill a hole in the stand (or elevate the cage). xanths are often more receptive of being sprayed when their spray water is heated (actually heated, not just warm tap water.) probably more important than any of these issues , is proper diet and supplementation. jmo
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