Infa-Red at night.

[WillemsMom]

3 CHE's from Cages By Design have burned out in less than a year. I've been using a 275 IR bulb in the daytime. Our nights are getting cooler and I'm wondering if I use the IR bulb, keeping the dimmer on very low, if it will interfer with Will's sleep cycle. I've heard that it doesn't interfer and then I've read that he will need total darkness. I hope the bulb on low will be okay.

[prism_wolf]

Not my dept. Iguana King should know this one. Sometimes the only way to find out is to try it... The way the IR emits, many animals are not supposed to see this spectrum. I'm sure I will be corrected if I'm wrong.

[IguanaKing]

IR isn't really a problem, but most IR bulbs also emit visible light, so, yes, it'll disturb his sleep. I tried this once also, and I found that not only did my igs get increasingly cranky, but so did I, because I was in the same room. Maybe you can cover Willy up with a blanket at night to keep the visible light off of his parietal eye (this eye never closes, so visible light is a major problem when he tries to sleep)...it seems to work for Hercules when he's angry at daddy and wants to sleep in his habitat. ;D

[WillemsMom]

LOL..covering Will won't work yet I don't think. Thanks for giving me your opinion about the IR bulb.
I agree with Victoria that you're the one who would know. That silly Hercules... what could make him that angry?

[IguanaKing]

Sometimes me and Herky-Monster fight with each other...so he pouts and wants to be by himself. Why can't you cover Willy up?

[WillemsMom]

I wanted to try it before I answered you, Sean. I laid a small dish towel over him last night and he freaked.
He jumped up and went to hide! He was in the same hiding place this morning.

[IguanaKing]

That little devil. When you tried putting the towel over him, did you do it from directly above him, or from behind his head? All he needs is to have a shadow cast on the parietal eye and it'll trigger a flight response. If you slowly move the towel over him from behind his head, he might not react like that. Also, another way you might try is to put the towel in front of him and hold it up in the middle (kind of like a little tent) and talk to him, inviting him under the towel. If his main light is off and he's getting sleepy, many times, after a few tongue flicks, he'll crawl under the towel on his own if he can see under it. I have found that, at bed time, I can't really "force" my igs to do anything, I just have to "convince" them that THEY want to do what I want them to. If he looks under the towel or blanket and realizes that it will provide concealment for him (since they usually like to hide under something when they sleep), he'll go under on his own, it'll just take a little patience and repetition and he'll get used to it. You could try putting a pillow in there as an alternative to a blanket, igs LOVE sleeping under pillows for some reason, I think the extra weight of the pillow makes them feel more secure.

[SurvivorSteph]

I'd try convincing him to go under something. Gil used to always scratch at the newspaper substrate until he'd created a gap to crawl under. He hadn't done that for a LONG time, but the past few nights, he's worked himself under his cage blanket. It's funny when I go to check on him after lights out... all I see is a big lump!

[WillemsMom]

A quick note to thank you, Sean and Steph. I have implemented your suggestions. Willie now has a bigger a pillow that is actully as fuzzy frog hand puppet and I've slid his 'mattress' inside a dress of mine that has been in his carrying case and created an inviting peak for him to crawl inside. here's hoping. By back Monday