Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hello,

I have a fast-growing baby BT with a voracious appetite and functions normally as far as I can tell. I gave him an above-ground cave, and he likes to lay in it, with one-third of his body out the front, AFIK normal. He has a daytime temperature range between 85 on one area, and hot on the other side, reading 135 on newspaper under the heaters, measured with a non-contact thermometer. I trust the thermostat, it's a Spyder Robotics, and I've confirmed the temp readings with an indoor-outdoor thermometer.

The lizard looks very healthy and suitbly plump, with no lateral folds. He drinks from his water bowl. He defecates normally with no problem. He spends half of his time lounging on top of his wooden cave. I'm sure he's relieved to not have all those crickets crawling on him anymore. He eats hoppers with ease, two per day. He spends some of his time nosing the glass of his tank, trying to get out. I'm going to put up six inches of paper to occlude his panoramic view from the ground inside his tank.

He does not use his basking spot. Is that a problem? He's free to move back and forth in a long, gradual temperature incline. He likes to hang out in 85F with his cave.

I keep an 85F ambient temperature at night.

Roger

85f is to high, this is why he tries to get out (glass dancing) also go out and get a bucket of dirt, news paper is useless.

85 is too high. I suppose I have to guess at the proper cool side temp. I'll guess 80F. Should I make it 75F? I need to know this for her sake. But I'll keep his basking spot high.

I use newspaper under basking spots only to get the termperaturre right. In this case I put three layers of newspaper on the soil under the heaters. I just have come to knw that newspaper at 135 with a non-contact thermometer makes a good basking spot. A water baloon in the basking spot gets up to 100F or so. My green iguana likes to bask in a way that brings his skin up to 97. I've measured his skin temperature many times. I thought Ionides like hotter temps than green iguanas. My Ctenosauras similis' like to get smoking hot.

Your explanation about glass dancing is very plausible and I hadn't thought of the possibility that he is too hot. He lives on top of deep soil and likes to dig.

Roger

Are you smart? you act like your smart. You should know this. Or are you pretenting. This is not a cut/poke or jab, its very serious and something to think about(if your smart)(smart is to think and pick the best course)

Give it a range above and below, what it needs, it will pick. Your monitor IS SMART. As long as you do not go near freezing, the monitor will be able to pick. Or cook it(over two hundredF)

I would think anything below 55F would not be understood, as anything over 200F. That leaves a huge range. Your Monitor is EXPERT. Their life is spent picking from this range. NOT stuck in one narrow range given by, not expert, humans. Non expert actually means stupid, as this forum has been made aware of this for over a decade. Ignorance is non awareness. Stupidity is being aware and choosing to make the same mistakes.

Having to be told what to do, is being a robot. Stop being a robot and learn to be smart. Being smart in this case is let the experts tell you what you need to supply. The experts are without question the subject of this forum. THE MONITORS.

Listening to monitors(the experts) As Jobi so beautifully coined, GLASS DANCING, is the montior telling you, I HATE THIS PLACE. A smart person would then ask, the whole place? or what parts of that place? Most likely theres more then one reason. But, not having a place to rest, is high on that list. MONITORS, need to rest.

My biggist fear when I introduced high basking temps was the ignorance of people. My fears are real. I always suggested, a RANGE OF TEMPS, not one temp. A RANGE OF TEMPS FROM ROOM TEMPERATURE, to the suggested basking area, is what I recomend. I imagine 1/2 of any good idea, is not a good idea.

All this yelling is not all for you, but for all who reads this and do not allow their reptiles(all kinds) a wide range of temps. Sir, that is what makes them reptiles(extotherms). In other words, REPTILES equals the use of a range of temps. MAMMALS equals, a constant body temp. I hope this was taught to you in first grade. Cheers

Man, you have a lot to learn about the care of your animal. Please listen to us and correct these problems. If you dont, your animal will live a horrible life, and die very young. THIS IS THE TRUTH.
Ditch the newspaper, get some deep dirt. If you cant do that use cypress mulch. Your lizard needs more than one hide box. Several if possible so he can decide for himself what he likes best. A large tupperware bin (lid on, upside down) full of damp peat moss works well with a hole cut in it. Also hollow logs and other home made things, placed at different locations. If your monitor is fortunate enough to be provided with deep dirt, then he will make his own.

Use a piece of plywood for a basking spot. Next the basking temp should be measured with an infared thermometer, not a thermometer that reads air temps. The actual basking temp will read much lower with a normal thermometer.
Next Use dirt for substrate, preferably at least 1 ft deep. They love to dig and they thermoregulate and conserver moisture using burrows, going under the basking spot, etc.
As far as air temps go they can range from 86-90f on the warmest areas but the coolest areas need to be from 68-72f (in summer its more difficult to keep them down, but the dirt accomodates this also).
I use one or more low wattage halogen bulbs with my monitors, it helps give a range of temps and humidity, unlike high wattage bulbs dry cages out. Also important, a solid top, no screens, also no screen walls on the cage. Small vents on the sides.
They love to eat lots of rodents, birds, and insects. Its shows.