Reptile & Amphibian Forums

What's the minimum distance between basking bulbs and the basking rocks? Right now I have about 11 to 14 inches between the bulb and the rocks or the ground.

I have 4 aquaflames on thier way, and so I better get this terrarium working!

I still need to get the temperature right, get a background and some hiding spots, and some smaller rocks to add to these big ones.

I think I need to line the background and perhaps the bottom with insulation to reduce heat loss. The tank is in the basement which is cold. I'm also going to have to cover a good percentage of the screen top so the heat doesn't fly right out.

You will want to get an accurate reading of the temperatures on the basking rocks...there is no magic method of knowing the distance. You need to know the temp, then make your corrections.

I like to have an area for basking that gets up to 104-105 F, and also a cool end that may be closer to the mid-upper 90's.

I also keep my tanks in the basement, and use no insulation. I believe the cool down in the evening is beneficial to the lizards. I think my nighttime temps are around 67-68 F. Check yours, and its probably really similar.

Good luck with your new lizards.

John Eddington

Remember, this terrarium is currently uninhabited, nobody's suffering.

After leaving the three basking lights on for a couple hours, the cool side of the tank is 69 degrees, the sand next to the basking rocks was 98 degrees, and I removed the thermometer from the basking spot when it read above 120 degrees.

This was with the entirely open screen top.

Obviously this isn't what I want. I'm going to try some weaker bulbs so the basking spot isn't so deadly hot, and then cover some of the top and maybe insulate the back so that the heat stays in a little more and raises the overall aquarium temperature.

I need to cover up the back for psychological reasons anyway, so the insulation will just provide something to attach a desert background to.

I wish I could get my pictures printed large enough to cover the back of a 90 gallon aquarium (and not spend more than the cost of the aquarium).

That would be great for frying eggs LOL. Just kidding. either find a couple shorter rocks, or lower wattage bulbs. I would go with lower wattage bulbs, since it is neat to watch the collareds climb up the rocks.

120 would be great for a Uromastyx

Best of luck,

John

...my bluestar said,
"To talk of many things:
Of bulbs--and rocks--and basking temps--
Of feeder bugs that sting--
And why your rocks are boiling hot--
And whether Crots have wings."

Sorry Lewis.

...Are your rocks actually resting on the bottom glass of the viv? If you leave rocks of any size on the *surface* of the sand, your collareds WILL tunnel under them, and if one happens to shift a bit from being undermined, its going to trap and probably suffocate one of them.

The wattage of the bulb used for basking is not the issue, it is the observed temp on the surface of the basking rock that is important, and you will want to insure that the actual temp of the rock does not go high enough to cause scalding on your lizards more delicate underside. I use either a 75, 60, or 50 watt full spectrum halogen spot for mine, and substitute the different wattages to compensate for the changes in room ambient which varies with the seasons. I also use a UTH connected to a home-made rheostat (dimmer switch) to keep the "substrate" on the warm end at a fairly constant 82 degrees, and in this case, by "substrate" I mean a large flat rock that rests on the glass bottom, lightly bedded in a very thin layer of sand, to prevent any tunneling down to a (possibly) overly hot glass surface. I didn't see any source of UVB in your setup, whichever you select will need to be situated pretty close to the lizards for the weak source to be effective. I'm using a duplex bulb 7.0 I got from BigApple on sale. Very bright and quiet.
Arrrgh. Gotta run, more later~~

DC

Things are moving forward, I think I'll have the right temp by the time the critters arrive.

I'm in the market for a background, as you can tell. I haven't found any desert scenes that I really like. I have some Big Bend Texas pictures, but I don't know where I can get them printed that big economically.

The new picture shows the 2 36" UVB bulbs, and basking rocks. The rocks are held up by 4 bricks, some of which you could barely see in the old picture as purplish spots on the substrate.

I still need to get some hiding places.