Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a baby argentine b/w tegu, it's 55gallon tank has about an inch and a half of sand with about another inch of repti-bark fir bedding. Seems to love the combo, first, is this a good bedding choice, and if I get an under tank heat mat, will it be effective with all that bedding? Don't wanna spend the money if the results will be minimal. Thanks for helping if you can.

I would say don't bother with the UTH for 2 reasons. One, like you said, is the more substrate the less surface heat from the UTH. I assume you have a small one under 2", so you will probably want about 6" of substrate unless you are using Rollin's approach (thin layer across cage, hidebox stuffed with substrate). Second, animals burrow in order to escape from the heat, which in nature comes from above. Of course, in winter it is warmer underground than above, but I doubt your home will get below freezing! Anyway, I would guess you would want to apply your heat from the top/side of the floor. A UTH may also have a negative effect on hidebox humdity.