Lighting? Brumation? Help.

[PepPepSkinker]

A few days ago (maybe 3 or 4 ), peps lightbulb blew. I knew i needed another but in so sick right now, im on bedrest. Some sort of extreme cold, whole body hurts, fever, can hardly breathe, all the good stuff.

For the past 2 or 3 days hes been burrowed. I made him todays food (spring mix, carrots, apples, grapes, mealworms and chickets if youre wondering) and was going to get him out. I take him out by picking him up with a shirt, but as soon as the shirt touched him, he hissed like a maniac, like i bothered him. I thought maybe without his basking light, he went into burmation due to the cold and i feel horrible....

the shirt cant even touch him, let alone my hand.... i just want to take him out to eat... Hes burrowed under where his foodbowl would be....

Another thing. Past 2 100 watts blew in under a week... theyre crap quality i suppose... can anyone reccomend a good brand? not too heavy on the money?

[Richard.C]

Hmmmmmm

First of,cold bluetongues are defensive bluetongues,hissing being very common,if there body temp is low they dont have the energy to flee ect so feel at there nost vunerable because they are lethargic

2nd,you throw a shirt over it to pick it up?im not suprised its getting shirty,lol

As for bulbs,i just use typical hardware bulbs,there pretty much the same as reptile branded normal basking bulbs but a ton cheaper,they actually tend to last longer to,but that can be variable with any bulbs

Oh and why bother making him food?
They need to be up to temp to be eating/digesting food properly,most cold lizards totally ignote it,but if they dont it can be dangerous in low temps and rot in gut before being able to be digested,even more so if your bluetongue is tropical of origin,but even temperate forms can be at risk

[timisimaginary]

if you blew 2 bulbs in less than a week, i'd take a look at the fixture instead of the bulbs. could be a bad fixture, could be it can't handle the wattage/amperage of the bulbs and needs an upgrade. bulbs, even low quality bulbs, shouldn't be blowing out that quickly.

[El Lobo]

BTS need to be able to reach preferred body temperature before they will eat, they also have to know that once they eat they can bask under sufficient heat to enable digestion.

I currently have one being rehabilitated who would not eat for the first 3 days even though extremely hungry and very small. She would tongue the food but not eat until (it seemed) she was confident of having consistent basking temperatures. From that point on she eats almost all she is given and basks for hours afterwards. After 2 months she is now 4 times the size of when she first arrived.

I buy my spotlight lamps from the hardware store 6 or 8 at a time so there are always spares.

[PepPepSkinker]

i have some antional geographic lamp meant to hold bigger bulbs like this

[jdheff1982]

if you blew 2 bulbs in less than a week, i'd take a look at the fixture instead of the bulbs. could be a bad fixture, could be it can't handle the wattage/amperage of the bulbs and needs an upgrade. bulbs, even low quality bulbs, shouldn't be blowing out that quickly.

Agreed. I bought a combo lamp which held 2 bulbs and it blew a breaker as soon as I switched it on. I have had halogen bulbs blow on me sooner than regular incandescents. You can go to Lowe's and similar places and buy a breeder lamp. It typically comes in 125 watt and is a flood lamp. They are usually really cheap.