Ventilation in viv how much is needed ?

[john.r1]

hi im new to bearded dragons i have had mine since october , i am trying to find out how much ventilation is needed and can you have too much ?

i have reacently added more vents to my vivexotic viv 4x2 , standard it comes with 3 oval at the top and 2 at the bottom on the main back 4x2.
vents are about 4 inch by 1 inch , but i have added my own aswell

6 more on top back / 3 on each side at the bottom and 1 on bottom back , which are 64mm

i have noticed my temps are dropping a bit basking 102 cool end 70 -75
middle about 85 , but it has got colder with the weather outside

my thermostat cant seem to get the viv as hot as it used to i could get it to 107 f and 80 f . is this down to the cold outside or the extra vents ?

if i swap a 150 watt bulb in for my 100 it goes to 125 f and i could dim the stat that way! ,i didnt leave it in too long cause its massive and i think killer might get too close killer is the dragon , so i changed back to the 100 watt ,

i will put some pictures of the extra vents so everyone can see , and should i block some up ! maybe the bottom ones on the sides 2x2 or should i put the 150 in . i dont want to use the 150 cause i use a bc to es converter for the bulb and it says 100watt max , and i have used a converter before what was 60 watt max and it sent my thermostat funny going bright/high then dull /low , i didnt no at the time about the maximum power handiling on the converters so i have bought new ones for 100 watt bulbs but cant find them for 150 watt bulb

http://www.amazon.co.uk/100w-light-...GYPC/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1324174613&sr=8-5

 

[Rud3Bwoy]

you have a lot of vents i have a 3x2x18 and have only 2 back vents with 0 issues only using a 45 watt bulb and have to dim it,so might have to use a high wattage bulb with dimmer and try to hit the sweet spot

 

[hhmoore]

I suspect the temp change is a combination of both the increased ventilation and the cooler room temps. Rather than jump to a bigger bulb, you might want to try blocking off a few of the vents first...see if that helps.

 

[Gina Gauvin]

Basking spot

You can also try raising the basking spot higher, but use a thermostat on the highest basking spot to get that temperature. The main question is, is he active and eating or sleepy. Also insulating the outside of the enclosure helps.

 

[john.r1]

metronidazole 50mg/kg at 0.6 ml a day ?

thanks for the replies

i will try blocking the bottom vents off and raise the basking area up 1 inch and see if that does the trick

as for his behavior thats another matter , 1 month ago i fed him an adult roach the next day i noticed blood when he poo'd that happened every other day for a week , so i had some poo test's done . they came back saying he had yeast , protozoa , flageletes . so the vet said she could feel an impaction and did xrays 8 of them £90 for 2 and gave him barium dye to see if she could see it go through his system . but they showed nothing .blood test £ 90, ultra sound.

panacur 0 .2 for 3 days
baytril 0 .25 for 10 days and liquid parafin 0.5 twice a day . £450 so far as she did not charge for all the xray's cause they all looked exactly the same !!

all that did was stop him eating so i have been giving him baby food mixed with critical care and avipro plus , he came off his baytril 12 days ago i gave him the baby food for 1 week after the antibiotics then stopped it over the weekend and gave him his live food he ate nothing all weekend except the bugs i force fed him , he went from 507 grams to 487 grams from friday to sunday !! he is only just over 6 months old d .o.b 1 june 2011

i have been in contact with the breeder mark pickstock ( fire and ice uk representitave ) since all this started and he was the one who told me to do the poo test , what drugs to get off the vet when the test came back ( panacur and flagyl ) what to feed the dragon (baby food mix) . but the vet went with some other stuff . mark has been a massive help i ring 3-4 times a week and he will stay on the phone for 30 minutes at a time . i bet he regrets selling me him

monday i went to the vets but the vet i saw the first time was off so i saw the vet who;s practice it is told her killer was worse and mark pickstock said i need some medication to get rid of the flagelets and protoza
and she gave me metronidazole 50mg/kg at 0.6 ml a day ? mark said for a 500 gram dragon he would give 0.3 (mark pickstock is vetenarinary trained but not practicing ) as that seem a lot and to keep a close eye on him .
today is his second day and he has gone behind his bamboo root and buried his head down and gone to sleep 2 hours before his lights go out and he was there when i got back from work to give him his 4 oclock feed 5ml babyfood . 7am and 4 pm is when i feed him . but has not been there all day as someone else was in and he has been up

have any of you used metronidazole 50mg/kg at 0.6 ml a day ?? or do you think this sounds a lot . i will be ringing the vet tomorrow as she was not in work when i rang today to double check the dosage