Habitat - Indoor :: She got out!

[Impulse Shopper]

I have these vertical blinds that randomly fall down. So I'm sitting here working way and I hear this thump. I see a blind swaying, but all are intact. I look down, and there's George on the carpet! She walks on carpet for the first time ever!!

So I go sit by her and she's looking at me and we're both stunned. I put her back in her tank after I noticed she was in no mood to explore. She looked like a stranger in a strange (dry) land. She sat in my hand in the tank for a few minutes before swimming away. Then she scurried to the corner to hide, awww, poor surprised thing!

So I gave her a treat, now she's swimming around back to normal, and the lid is on the tank!

She appears to be uninjured.

[steve]

They are such good escape artists. What kind of lid do you have?

[Impulse Shopper]

They are such good escape artists. What kind of lid do you have?

This one:

I remove it if I'm home and the sun's out. An alternative to the bulbs (which are 25 watt max, tubular; clearly not the appropriate heat lamps, huh. ): sunlight. Anyway, it's almost water changing time, so I replenished to give her extra swimming room, which meant her basking platform floated close to the top!

I've seen her try to escape before and I've told her: you don't want that, sweetheart, LOL.

I wonder now if she'll continue her escapism antics, or has Curious George finally found what she's been looking for for 7.5 months, LOL.

Now I do what I've frequently done in the past. If we have the lid off, I just set it perpendicular, at the end of the tank where the highest point of the basking log is. I don't want her to hurt herself doing backflips out of the tank and into the wall.

[steve]

Hmm, I'd try egg crate or make your own simple screen if you don't want to use a lid. That's usually a preferable way because you can still choose different light fixtures and adjust them accordingly.

[Impulse Shopper]

Hmm, I'd try egg crate or make your own simple screen if you don't want to use a lid. That's usually a preferable way because you can still choose different light fixtures and adjust them accordingly.

I wish I knew how to do what you're describing... Must research!

[Jeremiah]

Egg crate is just light diffuser material, and available at any hardware store. All you do is cut out a piece large enough to cover your tank, put it on top, then toss your lights on. You could even cut out slots to eliminate resistance to the UV rays.

[steve]

Here's the wire shelf:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=34076&p=323936&hilit=+wire#p323936

[Peva]

Be careful! When Brixie got away from me last time, she was gone for almost a week before I found it in a different room. Luckily it was summer so she was just fine and healthy. The fall can hurt, but for the most part it's not as bad to take the lid off when you get home, but maybe keep a closer eye on her.