Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hey,

I've read alot of stuff in books and forums that say it is impossible to maintain a heat gradient in a tank the size of a 40 gallon breeder. Maybe I am wrong, but I am able to get a hot spot of 115 F, a warm spot around 90 F, and a cool spot of room temperature which is about 70 F.

If I am wrong could someone let me know because I can't figure out why a lot of people say cannot do this. They make it seem like you need a 8 by 4 foot cage to get a good gradient. Let me know your thoughts.

thanks
junebug

Very easy....each temperature zone should of course be big enough to allow the Uro to entirely fit in and have somne space to move. In a 40 g this is impossible for a 16 " Uro.
Also Uros are relatively agile. Being forced to spend their whole live in a 40 g IMHO is pure torture and not better then those hen cages for mass production of eggs.
Mis dized Uro species IMHIO should have at least 5 x 2 ft floor space, the bigger ones 6 x 3 and the egyptians 8 x 4. Height matterls less, unless for the climbers like ornates, which benefit form a height of more than 3 ft.

Just my 2 cts

Ingo

My little mali is in a house about 3' by 2'and the gradient isn't too hard to obtain, i use a halogen bulb for basking, the spot it produces is about 6'' in diameter which gets to about 120-130 and a mvb to provide general heat for the rest of the cage, the gradient is usually from about 100-85, i've discovered throught trial and error that my guy likes it hot if i have it about 70 on the cool side he generally won't get up for the day
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1 mali uro - oni
2 bearded dragons- Trogdor "the burninator",Strom

I want to switch over to a halogen as well but I'd like to get the temps right the first time (in order to avoid returning several different wattage bulbs to the store). I also have a 40-gallon tank.

Thanks
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1 Mali Uromastyx named Ra

the one i use i think is 75 watts, the type i use directs its energy in a very small spot which creates a hot spot, i use this only for basking becasue the heat really doesn't spread out much at all. i will check tonight to be sure and if you want note the brand
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1 mali uro - oni
2 bearded dragons- Trogdor "the burninator",Strom

I worry about the tight beam creating a spot that's too hot (beam too focused) which could burn my uro. I think I might go with a wide beam.
Thanks for the help

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1 Mali Uromastyx named Ra

I agree with Sunfox, go with the "Flood" type halogen and not the spot. I use 75 watt ones also.
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1.1 Ornates (Lindsay Pike)
0.0.1 Mali