Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi Everyone,

We recently acquired a baby argus monitor. We have him in a 20 gallon long and by next week we will move up to a 40 gallon breeder or a 55 gallon.

We are using a 150 watt ceramic heat emitter, which is hooked up to a thermostat. We have a nice hot spot of 110+ and a cool spot.

I'm curious to know if there is a more efficient heat source we can use. Something that is more energy efficient, and in the long run less taxing on the electric bill

For example, for our snakes we switched everything over to flexwatt. Flexwatt only use about 8-20 watts per foot.

Would a different type of enclosure help with this? The tanks are just easy.

Please let me know what you think, and all suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Susan P.

Just got an Argus myself for Christmas . Tanks stink for temps and heat, just from what I've observed. My ply enclosre for my salvator is much better for holding heat and humidity (big concern for me since it gets real dry in the Winter where I'm at). Mine is currently house in a 29 gal tank, awaiting the 4x2x2 enclosure I'm building for a juvie cage. After I finish that I plane to start the construction of the adult cage, which will be 8x4x4. They grow so fast .
As for heating, I use a combo of 100W halogen in the day and a 75W blacklight at night and just run them on a timer. I'm not sure how well flexwatt will work for an Argus, given that they prefer a deep substrate. I would be curious for any input on this issue as well. Until then, I would start think of building and get away from the tanks.

Good luck