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Gurl8925   Dericka   Gurl8925   Dericka  
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 #1905397


Gurl8925
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 Heating/Lighting Mountain Horned Dragon

I just wanted a second opinion on the correct lighting/heat lamp to use for a Mountain Horned Dragon. I went to my local pet shop to buy a light and 2 days later my MHD was dead. Just wondering if somebody could tell me what light I should have had, to compare to what I was told to get and to see if that could have anything to do with the death. She was only a few months old.

Thanks
11/26/08  08:45pm

 #1906070


Dericka
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   Message To: Gurl8925   In reference to Message Id: 1905397


 Heating/Lighting Mountain Horned Dragon

Aw, I’m sorry for your loss:(
What kind of light did you buy, and what size enclosure was she in? They do not like it very warm, so if you had, say, a high watt basking bulb and it was too hot, that would not be good for her, but unless it was very, very hot, like over 90/100 degrees, and very dry, I do not think that she would have died in such a short period of time because of that.
They do need a UVB bulb for LONG TERM health, but again, having/not having one for that short of a period of time wouldn’t casue them to die that quickly.
Mine have both a repti-sun 5.0 and a 2.0 UVB on them all year round, and I only use a lower watt (60 watt red) heat bulb in the winter when it’s very cold and the temps aren’t getting past 75 degrees on their own...
How was she acting in the months that you had her? Did she eat consistantly, and what was she eating? What were your temps, humidity, things like that. And how long did you have her? Was she dewormed? Something in there may help us guess at what might have happened to her?
One last thought, did the light that you had break? Becasue the UV bulbs do have mercury in them, and if they were to burst and the animal breathed in the mercury dust, that could be a casue of death in a short time...
Deri
11/28/08  10:37am

 #1909192


Gurl8925
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   Message To: Dericka   In reference to Message Id: 1906070


 Heating/Lighting Mountain Horned Dragon

yeah, my hubby is quite upset over it. I bought a heat glo 100w infrared bulb. The tank is 2 feet high and a hexagon. about a foot in diameter. We had a waterfall, vines, magnetic rock, etc. her humidity stayed around 70 degrees. she was stressed the first little while we had her, hissing the first week or so but after that she came out no problem and would stay with us for long periods of time. moving from our shoulders to our head. she would eat great, crickets or meal worms. We had calcium powder. We had her about 6 months. We didn’t have anything done to her, just what was done at the pet store before we bought her. the light did not break that aspect is fine. Any more ideas??

A
12/04/08  04:15pm

 #1909965


Dericka
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   Message To: Gurl8925   In reference to Message Id: 1909192


 Heating/Lighting Mountain Horned Dragon

Hmmm. Two feet high glass aquarium, I would guess a 100 watt would have made it way too hot in that size tank, they prefer temps no higher than 85 degrees, and a hex tank of that size would probably have been a uniformly hot temp all the way through it with that size heat bulb. You said the humidity was "around 70 degrees", did you mean the temperature was that, or that te humidity as 70 percent. And did you have a thermometer, do you have a good idea of what the temperatures were, both in the months you had her, and then for the two days you used the 100 watt heat bulb?

One other very important thing, did you just have a waterfall in there, no water bowl? And if so, did the waterfall have a decently deep reservoir, like, a place where she could easily drink from? I ask this because when I got my first MHD, I had a little exo terra waterfall in the cage, and there wasn’t really a place in it where the water collected and he could get a good drink. They will sometimes lick water, like the way an anole does, but they, in my experience, need a place to drink deeply from. Also they enjoy soaking in the water, so I have big pans of water in my cages, with air stones to make the water move and help wth humidity, and I often see mine, when they jump in the water for a good soak every few days, stick their whole face in the water and drink very deeply. So what I am thinking, is if you just had a waterfall and she wasn’t getting enough hydration from it, overheating her tank even for that short of a time period, could definatley have been just too much for her if she was dehydrated.

deri
12/05/08  11:39pm


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