Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So my Mali's been chillin' for 10 days now in his new home. The temps are:
----basking (115-120F)------------------cool side (80-85)---

The very first night he dug under the faux wood jungle jim on the cool side and slept. Ever since then, he hasn't even walked over to the cool side one time. The basking spot looks like a 7 on it's side, so he burrows into the V part and sleeps.

Herein lies the issues: the food (mixed veggies) is in the cool side, but I don't think he 1. knows where it is, or 2. just doesn't venture to the other side.

I'm thinking about taking out the wood and making maybe another basking spot (complete with 115-120F temps). There would be plenty of hiding places, as the sand portion is only around 90F.

ideas?

how old is your uro?

does your uro stay under the baskin spot nost of the day?
if he/she does i would say you should raise your baskin temps to 120-125.... mine basks at 123-128, but hes also a sub adult....if yours is a baby you wouldn't want the temps to be that high.

so i would just say raise his/hers baskin spot up a couple of inches. they will regualate their own body temp quite well.

mine was really lethargic until i raised his baskin temp some....now he uses every bit of his tank.

hope this helps

Thanks for the reply. I don't know how old he/she is, but he's about 6" long. Most of the day he hangs out on the basking rock, but now he's on the sand under the basking light sleeping.

Lethargic sounds about right. He sleeps like crazy and only is active (walks around) probably for less than an hour a day.

I may raise the basking rock a few inches see if I can get the temperature up a few degrees. As of now it's 100W and about 10-12" from the top of the rock.

well, hes probably too young to brumate if hes only 6 inches. so i would say either raise his baskin spot or lower the light some...whatever's easier. you will be suprised by how much he'll run around and burn off all of his newfound energy....it will be really cool to see. let me know how things go...hope this helps

I went from a 100W -> 150W basking lamp and the hot side is now around 127-130F (so says the temperature gun pointed at the basking rock).

I went home at lunch to check on him and he was under the basking rock hanging out - lethargic as usual. Now I'm wondering if it's too hot in there. The basking rock felt pretty darn hot to the touch. Could this burn his belly?

Two weeks in his new home and he's still not eating a whole bunch. Eats a few finch pellets here and there and some hand-fed alfalfa sprouts. He has started shedding, so I'm not sure if that's good or bad. :|

Do you have a regular thermometer in there, too (digital, not mercury)? An infared temp gun will tell you the surface temps, not the ambient air temps, which is what you need. The surface temps are good to know in conjunction with the air temp, but will vary depending on the surface of your basking rock. The AIR temp needs to be 130 or so. If it was too hot, he'd be in the coolest part of the cage trying to cool down - he sounds like he's still trying hard to get warmed up. These guys like it HOT HOT HOT.
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Torey
1.1 Uromastyx Geyri (Joe and Arthur)
1.1 Anolis Carolinensis (Bowser and Leeloo)
1.1 African Dwarf Frogs (Bruce and Sheila)
1.0 Betta Splendens (Mr. Miagi)
0.0.2 Sunset Dwarf Gourami (Gimpy and Sideshow)
0.0.6 Bloodfin Tetras (including the one-eyed Captain Morgan)
0.0.1 False Spotted Corydoras (Spot)
1.1 Felis Domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

The plot is definitely thickening, friends. I have 2 dial-type thermometers and now I see I'll have to reposition the hot end one so it reflects the AIR temperature (my fault there).

So far I have 1 150W basking lamp and 1 regular UVB light. The cool end is around 80-85F and I'll double check the hot end air temp. later tonight.

Apparently I'll need to raise the hot end area temperature considerably. Any ideas on what to use to crank up the AIR temperature and not muck up the gradient?

What if you tried a halogen floodlight? The 90 watt ones claim to be just as good as a 150 watt standard bulb. I'm planning on switching over soon. Or you could add an infrared heat bulb to your current setup to bring up the temps.

Here's my setup again. The basking light is on the right and the heat light is the one on the left.
Hope this helps

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1 Mali Uromastyx named Ra

I have an 80 tank and it can be tough to keep the temps up. Best suggestion I've seen (and used) to get your basking spot hotter without upping your wattage or messing up your gradient is to get a higher basking spot.

Sunfox has a great example in the photo in the previous post - the little stair step thing. Robyn of Proexotics has detailed info on Retes stacks on his website. I just got a prefab basking branch (about 10" high at the highest spot) for about $20 at the local pet place - I'm hopelss with tools. Other people use stacked patio bricks, etc (be sure they're solid). All these things gets the uro closer to the light and heat while giving choices of how hot to get.
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Torey
1.1 Uromastyx Geyri (Joe and Arthur)
1.1 Anolis Carolinensis (Bowser and Leeloo)
1.1 African Dwarf Frogs (Bruce and Sheila)
1.0 Betta Splendens (Mr. Miagi)
0.0.2 Sunset Dwarf Gourami (Gimpy and Sideshow)
0.0.6 Bloodfin Tetras (including the one-eyed Captain Morgan)
0.0.1 False Spotted Corydoras (Spot)
1.1 Felis Domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

I think the basking spot is doing ok. That I can get up to 125F with just one 150W basking bulb or 150F with a 90W flood light.

There is no way I can get the air temperatures up over 100F. I'd have to put 10 basking lamps in that thing to get super hot air temperatures.

He's still sleeping all the time so I may have to call a vet if this behavior keeps up.

My first thoughts are a couple things. First, is your uro hydrated enough if he isn't eating? Could be why he is so lethargic and not moving around much. Have you done some bathes to make sure he is hydrated enough?? A bath he can at least drink if he needs it.

Secondly, I put my food dishes right in the middle of the tank. Mine don't go into the cool area much either but on ocassions will. (hot side is 100...120 basking....80 cool) My temps stay pretty steady and are idea in my opinion.

Maybe try to move the dishes more closer to the middle or into the hot side a bit and see if he'll eat then. Could be somethign else cooking there..
Good luck!
Renee