u/SonOfCoul27

He is in a 40 gal (36x18x18) with 5 hides. (Note, the tan rock on the right used to be a heat rock but I cut the cord off!!! It is just a hide. I know heat rocks are dangerous. It came with him when I got him). The substrate is a mix of play sand and organic top soil that I baked to sanitize.

I'd like to try a new substrate as his current one is not very soft. I tried to sift out the big pieces from the top soil but there are still lots of wood chips. Baking it took foreverrrrrr and stunk so bad haha. I'd like to try reptisoil and play sand this time, even if reptisoil cost more than the top soil I got from Lowes. So so not worth it imo 😵‍💫

I'd also like more climbing opportunities! Any tips for utilizing the height in his enclosure?

I think his warm side is too cool, I'm going to up the heat bulb wattage. I do have a lazer thermometer so his basking spot is 90F, but its on top of a plastic hide so I don't know that it holds heat well / long. I've seen people use slate, I might try this!

I'd also like tips to make it more naturalistic without going full bioactive. I dont have a green thumb lol

He has overhead heat, an Acadia shadedweller 7% for uvb, calcium in the enclosure, and his food is dusted with repashi calcium plus

I've had Danny for 4 years and am at least his 3rd home. I have no idea how old he is, just that his previous owner rescued him from a 'bad situation' and then her kids 'got bored of him' so she rehomed him. He is so so sweet and I love him to pieces! I'd like him to enjoy his home more :) any tips are appreciated, thank you!

Update to my original post planning this trip! Linked here. Thank you so much to everyone who offered advice, you helped make our trip absolutely amazing! We encountered no issues, saw some incredible things, and arrived safe and sound :)

Timeline: May 1 to May 10 (10 days)

Day 1: Depart NJ at 2 am, drive through the night

Day 2: Sunrise in Montana, drive straight to Calgary (total of 40 hrs driving nonstop). Spend the night in Calgary. 2481 miles covered days 1-2

Day 3: Explore Banff, Yoho, Kootenay National Parks (driving and sightseeing only, no hiking). Spend the night in Banff. Net 0 miles (~150 miles)

Day 4: Icefields Parkway. Spend the night in the Glacier View Lodge. 115 miles

Day 5: Glacier View Parkway to Dawson Creek, start of the Alaska Highway! Spend the night in Fort St John. 436 miles, 8 hr drive

Day 6: Fort St John to Liard Hot Springs. Spend the night in the lodge and visit the hot springs. 426 miles, 8 hr drive

Day 7: Liard Hot Springs to Destruction Bay. Spend the night in Destruction Bay. 562 miles, 10 hr drive

Day 8: Destruction Bay to Anchorage! 543 miles, 10 hr drive

Day 9: Anchorage to Seward, wildlife cruise, back to Anchorage. Net 0 miles (250 miles total)

Day 10: Drive partner departs, I report for duty to my internship

My takeaways:

1. This would've been impossible to do alone lmao. Or at least it would've taken a lot longer. I am grateful for my drive partner :)

2. The corolla handled beautifully! Love love love my car

3. We had less cell signal than I anticipated. Through Canada we had pretty much no signal unless we were within 30 minutes of a town (I have Verizon)

4. I am glad we did not carry a gas can! Never got anywhere close to needing it. The farthest stretches without gas were Fort Nelson to Toad River, BC and Watson Lake to Whitehorse, BC / Yukon. My car gets ~380 miles per tank and we never let it drop below half

5. Everywhere we stopped for gas accepted card. We made sure to carry cash in case, but would've been fine without it.

6. We encountered no construction! The roughest patches were the gravel portions of the road between Destruction Bay and the Alaska border

7. The wildlife was incredible! Black bear, bison, moose, porcupine, mountain goats, caribou. We took care around the animals and did not drive after dark for visibility

8. The roads were clear and well maintained! No snow or ice. We got super lucky with the weather, it was sunny and dry until Anchorage

9. Carried a full size spare, pump, and patch kit. Didn't need them but good to have!

10. Lodges were expensive, next time I'll probably camp, but my drive partner prefers lodges haha

All in all we had an absolutely incredible time! 10/10 would do again (will do again when I drive home for the summer lmao). Long days in the car but the scenery and wildlife 1000% made up for it. I barely even listened to music or downloaded stuff to watch (when I was not the one driving of course) because the scenery was so incredible. Met some really nice people at every stop! Thank you again to everyone who offered tips and helped us prep, we had a blast and everything went perfectly according to plan :)

Unfortunately don't have time to cut all the way across Montana to Glacier NP but plan to visit on the return trip!