Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Please tell me what the proper temps should be. Everything I read says something a little different.

Her new enclosure is 4' by roughly 2' by 18" high. The temps are as follows

Basking area 110
Area surrounding the basking spot is about 90-92
Far end is about 80-82.

I am using a 75 bulb and the UVB light is inside the enclosure which heats somewhat. I don't want to cook her but want optimal temps. She tends to spend alot of time in the middle after warming up in the morning. She is active and pooping pretty much either every day or every other day.

Also, she scared the heck out of me. I put her in a box to switch things into her new cage and when I brought her out her chin was completely pitch black and somewhat puffed up. What is this and do females do this? I am wondering if I goofed on sexing her. In the pic, it is still somewhat black but nothing like at first.

Thanks in advance. The attached pic shows fake plants. I did remove them just to be sure she wouldn't eat them.

Linda

Hi Linda..the set-up sounds about right,what type of bulbs are you using ? And yes, a females's beard can turn very black when she is agitated. The male's black beard usually extends partially down the front of the chest as well as the beard, quite a bit more than the female. Your girl just got scared in the box for some reason.

Thanks,

I am using a regular household bulb for heat and a Reptisun
5.0 for UVB. I am going to NARBC in October so I will get
a Reptisun 10.0 as I understand these are better for the desert lizards.

I am going to get a picture of her behind because she had a massive beard. Just so I know for sure.

Yes, the 10.0 is better...for now just be sure that her basking area is no more than 7-8 inches from the bulb, to be sure she's able to get the UVB. A picture of her vent, with her tail curled up over her back, would be helpful. You also might try putting a mirror in front of her in the cage briefly...if she goes black beard berserk, charges and stomps...even after you take the mirror away, that may be an indication also of whether or not it's a male...although a few females will carry on like that, it's usually not the case.

The temps. are fine. I think you'll find that an adult would like the basking spot temp. a little lower though, closer to 105.

Females beards get dark but generally not as dark as males. Males get pitch black from their lip down onto their chest. females generally darken a little away from their lip and pretty muck just in the beard area.