Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The guy at the local reptile shop is very knowledgable of reptiles because he runs the place and has experience(im pretty sure he has a degree or something to). Well i am using a 250 watt heat bulb to heat the tank, if i have the lamp tilted in the right direction all the temps are perfect. However he thinks that i should just use a 150 watt bulb and stack everything vertically to make it all to make all the heat and the basking spot at the top and the cool area at the bottom, the uromastyx that he has( that i will buy just after christmas) is in that setup even tho the tank is way to small, i have never heard of this kind of setup and if i were to try it, there would be too much work being placed into repositioning everything, if i did this that would make the other side of the tank obsolete, what are the advantages and dis advantages of both ways? are anyone else's tank setup in this vertical fashion?I like my tank the way it is right now, is it worth changing it? I respect the guy at the reptile shop but i dont know if he knows what hes talking about this time? any other commments or suggestions are greatly appreciated.

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delbalso

Your tank looks fine, as long as the bulb isn't so hot as to overheat the whole tank. It's a rather small cage, you just have to make sure the uro can escape the heat and thermoregulate. It does look to me like you could direct a smaller watt spot light straight down and get the basking temp you want, while saving some electricity cost.

Maybe just directing the bulb more downwards will create more of a gradient, that might be the only change if any.If you're saying you already have the temps fine then i wouldn't worry about it though as long as there is a nice hot basking spot and a cooler end to escape the heat if your Uro chooses to..Your setup looks great as long as the rock piles are nice and stable that they won't collapse after being dug in and around i'd say leave it be for the time being.

Uros are a terrestrial species and like to run around a lot. They can certainly climb, and mine do, but they like to run around on the ground more than the furniture. Your tank looks great, I think. If you want to lower your wattage, maybe you could cover the back and sides of the tank with something to hold the heat in better.

Nice tank!
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Torey
1.1 Uromastyx Geyri (Joe and Arthur)
0.1 Anolis Carolinensis (Leeloo)
1.0 Betta Splendens (Mr. Miagi)
1.1 Felis Domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

I think someone already said this, but if not then from what I've read these lizards like to burrow. You might want to re-consider your rock hut cuz they might find a way to knock it down on top of themselves.

Love that cage tho.