Welcome to the forum!!
Thank you for saving this little guy.
Hiding is normal - especially for babies. It's in a classroom full of busy children. Eventually it can become accustomed to it. I have a couple of questions, though.
- Who will feed it on the weekends?
- Who will care for it during holidays and vacations?
- Are you aware of the chance of salmonella and immune deficient children and adults?
Just things to think about when adding an animal to the classroom.
Yes...bark can and does cause fatal impaction. More than just igs die from this stuff. Newspaper, astroturf/repticarpet, butcher paper, etc...are all good to use.
You will need three different temp gradients using a digital indoor/outdoor thermometer. Those stick-ons are for surface temps on the glass...not air temps. The temps need to be:
basking - 92-96
ambient - 80-85
nighttime/cool end - 75 for babies, 70 for igs over a year.
A 10 gallon will not allow you to obtain these different temperature ranges. This could also be another reason the baby is hiding. There's no way to move away from the heat a 75W emits in such a small space.
The diet sounds ok...but without itemizing...it's hard to say if there's additional help needed there. As it stands I think the only things I would change is removing the lettuce. It's the better of the lettuces, but still lacks very little nutrition and this little one needs all the help it can get with good foods...:-)
Do you have a UVB source. The 75W UV light is a UVA basking light. You also need a UVB source. UVB Bulbs
The brand is important. Not all bulbs are created equal.You need no less than two 4'
fluorescent UVB tubes for an iguana over 1 year old. Since the strongest amount of UVB
comes from the center of the tube and weakens quite a bit at the ends...the longer the
tube is you get, the better the coverage. The brands to go with:
Fluorescent tubes:
Reptisun 5.0 and 10.0
Iguana Light 5.0
ExoTerra 8.0
Arcadia 8.0
These lights can be purchased online cheapest at
www.reptiledirect.com .
Merc Vapor:
Mega Ray EB (external ballast) 60W
Mega Ray SB (self ballast) 100W
T Rex Active UV Heat 100w Spot( self ballast)
The EB is mostly very high UVB emissions with as much heat as a 60Wbulb produces. Very
easy to control the temps with. This one comes with an external ballast which should last
at least a couple of years or more. This is the best bulb on the market anywhere…period. It is
more costly initially, but the bulb should be the only thing needing to be replaced on a regular
basis and is comparable to other merc. vapors.
The SB produces more heat, which I don’t like because to adjust the temps the UVB source
needs to be moved farther away. Still a good bulb…out-shines (pardon the pun) and ordinary
UVB bulb. The only one better is the EB.
These can be purchased through
www.reptileuv.com .
FYI – EXCELLENT source of info for many of the best bulbs:
www.uvguide.co.uk/index.htm
groups.yahoo.com/group/UVB_Meter_Owners