Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I'm buying my first uro (a subadult mali) at the San Jose reptile show. I've been researching uros for the past couple months, and I think I've got the diet down, but I'm a little confused about the light and heat.

What I have so far:
75 gallon terrarium
26w. compact 10.0 Repti Glo
100w. tight beam Sun Glo
A bazillion various hidespots from other herps
And I'm going to be using paper towels as a substrate at first

Is one UVB bulb enough? Should I exchange the compact system for a longer bulb? (I've never had a reptile that needed UVB before.)

I'm buying a thermometer and hydrometer today since I forgot to get them when I got the bulbs, so I'll know if I need a stronger basking bulb. I'm working on making a retes stack sorta thing out of slate pieces and other rocks I'm going to silicone together to elevate the basking site, and I have cork bark pieces and wood for the uro, too.

Should I have more than one heat lamp? Like the basking one I already have and then maybe a Heat Glo with a wider beam? Should I get a lower-wattage dark heat bulb to use at night, or do I just turn all the lamps off? The room stays about 70 - 75 year-round.

Since the top is a screen and the tank is going to be warm, is it -really- that bad of an idea to have a small water bowl in the tank?

Thanks! =)
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Cake or death?

I don't like compacts- from above the screen it probably won't do much. I don't like tubes either. I would say an Active UV Heat bulb from T-rex is much better and the same from Megaray is even better still.One is all you need for UV. and they put out heat so that somewhere near either the basking bulb or a home depot halogen of 50-75 watt over the retes stack(make sure there is no little circle or big hexagon on the bulb lens or you will get an unusual and definately unnatural hot spot in the middle of your beam that might burn the uro) and probably one 100 watt incandescent heat bulb near the middle, closer to the hotside. You will lose a lot of heat through the screen and papertowels will hold no heat either. no night bulb-you don't need it.Also I assume the bulbs will rest on the screen?48x19.5x20 dimensions approximately? If so you will probably need all that stuff at 70-75 degrees. If you get the active uv you will need an extra deep dome fixture for it if it rests on the screen. Might need a 150 watt tight beam through the screen unless that retes thingy is stacked high.Got the headphones on -sorry if I am not very descriptive.A tempgun is a good thing too if you don't already have one. Or you can get a stand for the uv,tilt the tight beam or halogen and clip it to the side, and cover the rest of the tank and that might do it. Or...best bet is to experiment as much as you can first. You can probably get everything at the show for cheaper,though. Gotta go but I'm in front of the computer all day "working" if you need something.

I have a 75-gallon tank as well, with a heat lamp on top of the screen. I have a ReptiSun 10.0 UV light in a fixture hanging by bendable wire INSIDE the tank so there is no shadow from the screen top. The UV light should be about 12" from the bottom with nothing between it and the animal. As for the heat, you'll have to play around until you get the correct temp gradient from the hot to the cool side. I have a 150W basking bulb and a 40W CHE in domes on one side of the tank directly over the basking area, and a piece of acrylic covering part of the other side of the screen to help keep some of the heat in. You'll just have to play around with it until you get the correct gradient. If your room stays 70-75 at night, you won't need nighttime heat. I leave on the 40W CHE overnight because our house gets colder at night in the wintertime.

Andi

Thanks for the reptiles!

I'm going shopping again today, so I'll post pictures of the setup tonight if I have time. =)
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Cake or death?

Errr.. replies, not reptiles.. =P
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Cake or death?