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Post by IrwinsMom on May 9, 2005 19:01:47 GMT -8
;DFinally got him a new home!! ;D My husband built Irwin this new, 7' high, 5' wide, 4' deep home. Irwin seems to love it so far. And, it *seems* like his aggression level is much less. I am so happy we were able to do this for him. I really didn't think my husband would be too thrilled with the idea of sucha large enclosure for Irwin, but he has been a true sweetheart. He built the enclosure ALL day Saturday. Then on Sunday we put the shelves in and he tiled the floor with linoleum blocks. I would still like to find some nice branches to put into the enclosure along with some greenery. But, I'm happy with it so far! BTW, Irwin has his newspapers all messed up on the bottom already ::)but I guess that's good because it means he's been crawling around exploring! I still need to clean the bedroom up from our construction phase , but once everything is squared away, it will be great ;D Oh, if you look close you can see my lizard door handles! ;D Here it is:
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Post by prism_wolf on May 10, 2005 7:01:57 GMT -8
What a wonderful cage! It'll be a challenge to keep the temps/humidity where they need to be with an open-air cage, but I have one, too and with tweeking...it turns out ok.
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Post by IguanaKing on May 10, 2005 9:16:33 GMT -8
His new cage looks great! I can see that he seems to be happier already...he's not all inflated like he's been in his other photos.
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Post by Diane on May 10, 2005 16:30:22 GMT -8
Irwin is lucky to have such caring parents! it looks wonderful.
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Post by IrwinsMom on May 11, 2005 17:54:35 GMT -8
My old cage was all open air...this one is only open on the top and front, so actually it shoud be a little easier to keep the temps and humidity regulated. He seems to be doing great so far He seems happier...although he still head bobs at me and does his little puffed up "standing tall" walk. He's just Mr. Attitude I guess
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Post by IrwinsMom on May 11, 2005 18:07:18 GMT -8
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Post by IguanaKing on May 11, 2005 19:38:29 GMT -8
Sure, he's Mr. Attitude, male igs are all about the visual display. But...see how he's got more of his belly in contact with the shelf now? It looks like a less-aggressive posture than what he was showing in his other photos. The bobbing is all a matter of how he bobs, it doesn't necessarily indicate aggression...it can be a greeting or a "hey, this is MY house and I'm PROUD OF IT!!!" kind of gesture. If Hercules doesn't head-bob me when I approach his habitat, that is usually a sign that something is wrong with his health. Its very possible that Irwins partial inflation and dewlap extension in the second-to-last photo is due to his uncertainty about the camera in your hand, his eyes appear to be focused directly on the camera. In the last photo, he looks slightly more relaxed, and even appears to be showing non-threatening interest/curiosity in what you have in your hand. This is exactly the reaction I get from BOTH my igs any time I bring something other than myself into their territory. If I may make a suggestion, you might try giving him a nice, sort of fluffy, comfortable spot on one of his shelves for him to sleep on, he'll tend to gravitate toward that spot at bed time. Something as simple as an old towel (one of a dark, neutral color) will give him a comfortable spot to decompress and relax...this will also help his mental health. Oh...just in case you don't already know this, when he sleeps, it should be in complete darkness, there should be virtually no visible light of any color on him when he sleeps.
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Post by IrwinsMom on May 12, 2005 12:40:34 GMT -8
Oh there's no doubt he's doing better. He is much less agressive now. I'm even hopeful now that his wounds will heal and his scabs will finally come off. He still displays some of his old aggression at times though...I think it's called a crab walk...he does that sometimes. But overall, like you said he is MUCH better than before. I will be putting something soft in there for him...I just haven't decided what I want to use yet. He gets his nails caught in the towel loops...so I'd like to get something else. And yep, he gets total darkness to sleep in Thanks for all your help and suggestions! I really appreciate it! ;D
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Post by IrwinsMom on May 12, 2005 12:46:50 GMT -8
You probably saw the lights above him when talking about total darkness for sleeping. One is a daytime heat lamp which is on a timer with the UV light. The other is a ceramic heat emitter which is on all the time. It isn't one of those night time heat bulbs that emit a red or blue light.
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Post by prism_wolf on May 12, 2005 17:10:50 GMT -8
Zair head-bobs everytime I open the door to his cage, too. It's a rapid head-bob, but his dewlap is not fully extended and his belly is mainly on the shelf. He is just affirming that I aam entering his space, but at the same time accepts me being there. I'm glad Irwin is taking to his new space so quickly... ;D.
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Post by IguanaKing on May 12, 2005 18:28:03 GMT -8
You probably saw the lights above him when talking about total darkness for sleeping. One is a daytime heat lamp which is on a timer with the UV light. The other is a ceramic heat emitter which is on all the time. It isn't one of those night time heat bulbs that emit a red or blue light. Nope...just wanted to make sure you knew about the photoperiod, that's all. ;D Sometimes people incorrectly assume that a blue or red light is ok at night, but it isn't. Looks like you already knew that though. I have 3 lights in my igs' habitat, one MegaRay, one full-spectrum, and one infrared.
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Post by Diane on May 12, 2005 19:01:04 GMT -8
i have one of those little travel pillows with a pillowcase i can change when needed in Narcy's cage. Most of the time he lays on it with his upper half, but it is so cute when he climbs up on it completely and goes to sleep. i have it up under his basking light.
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Post by IrwinsMom on May 15, 2005 9:10:00 GMT -8
Good Idea with the travel pillow I have an old regular pillow that I could use right now. It will probably work pretty good since it's one of those "roadkill" pillows ;D (flat as can be so it should fit up on his basking shelf)
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Post by IrwinsMom on May 15, 2005 9:12:27 GMT -8
I forgot to ask about something I have been thinking about...
Do you all believe there is a need for a third heat lamp in this enclosure since it is so much larger than my previous enclosure?
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Post by Merlin on May 16, 2005 3:38:26 GMT -8
The only way to tell is with thermometers. A couple of digitals with a minimum maximum feature will tell you what is going on temp wise. I use a single 250 watt che to heat Zok's enclosure and it runs 24/7
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