Photo Gallery :: New Setup!!

[Brianthedog18]

I just got a new basking ramp, lamp stand, and hiding log from reptilesupply.com and so Leo and I had some fun while I set it all up! Unfortuantely, the ramp seems to be a little too small, although he can still get up it, I'll have to exchange it soon. Tell me what you think!

Here's the new ramp:


The basking area with the new stand


The whole tank


Watchin me through the log



Leo checkin himself out:


What are YOU lookin at?


Hopefully I'll be able to exchange the ramp so that Leo can get up it easier, but we'll see.

So, that's my little guy and his new home! Please, let me know what you all think, the more comments, the better![/img]

[Brianthedog18]

While I'm thinking of it, I used the chicken wire to cover the top of the tank, but I still had to leave about 3 inches between the top and the water line for the basking area.

I wanted to raise the water all the way and only cover the area away from the basking area (because the basking area is against two walls). Is there a way to do this without leaving sharp edges from the chicken wire that he can cut himself on?

[jn]

looks nice

[megcornell]

your Leo is so cute! maybe it's just a hatchling thing but I know my Leo likes to hang out in floating plants, maybe you could buy one to liven up the top of the tank? oh, and maybe you could turn the heater horizontal, apparently some turtles burn themselves trying to rest on them, and it looks like you have more than enough room to stand it up...leo looks pretty happy in his new home though!

[steve]

How big is that tank? Leo's a pretty big boy.. how old is he again? What kind of light are you using? I'm abit iffy on the castle but that's just a personal thing - I like to keep a few river rocks in there.

He's got great color and some intimidating claws!

[industrial_girl_2000]

What a sweet boy! Love the bright yellow colorings on his shell.

[marisa]

Leo looks big! Nice shell pattern, he's got there.

The water temp looks a bit warm (is it a little over 80F, or am I reading the thermometer wrong)?

I like the ramp.

[Brianthedog18]

Yeah, the temp was a little warm, but I think part of that was because the probe wasn't fully submerged in the water. It's ok now.

Steve, the bulb is a UV Heat or something like that, I forget the name, but it had UVB and provides heat at the same time. So the basking temp is a little over 90.
As for the age, I'm not sure, but I got him around 9 or 10 months ago and he's grown from 4" to about 4.75". The castle is a thing my girlfriend bought for him, so if I take it out she'll be kinda mad lol. Besides, he likes to climb and rest on it.

About the tank size, sadly, I bought him before I did a lot of research and it is only a 20 gallon. If I had researched before hand, I wouldn't have gotten him at all, because 20 gallons is the max tank size allowed at my school (UConn).
I'm looking into buying maybe a rubbermaid, but I don't know if that would count as a tank in regards to size restriction. I will have to wait and talk to my RA and see what he/she says so I don't buy it and not be able to use it. If I do go the rubbermaid route, though, I won't be able to see him swimming around (assuming I have a table strong enough to support it anyway) although that's more a leisure thing, so not a huge loss.

My biggest worry about using rubbermaid is the bowing. I'm not sure how I can support the sides properly, but I can work on that one.

So sadly an upgrade might have to wait, depending on my RA, but one more year and I'll be out of the dorms and able to upgrade as much as I want.

On the positive side, however, even though the tank is small, Leo is very health and active. So though it is small for him, at least it's not having any negative effects.

Sorry for the long post lol. But thanks for all your concerns and positive feedback! If you have any more suggestions, let me know, I'm willing to listen!