Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey,

I just got my mali uro today and he is awesome! Right now he's in a 30 gallon breeder but i plan on moving him into a bigger better cage soon. on one side of my enclosure it is around 115-130 degrees and when he basks there he's gaping and it looks like he is panting. Is this just a normal thing or is he over heating?

it's o.k. for the basking site to be 115-130, 120 would be better. the hot side of the enclosure should be around 90-100. i have a dual digital thermometer which nicely reads temps on hot and cool sides. i use a temp gun to monitor the actual basking site temp. as far as the panting, i'm not sure if thats exactly what it is.maybe more replys will come in from someone who may know for sure. happy temp reading! laura

They pant when it's too hot. Mine were doing it a lot so I lowered their basking spot a centimeter. It's perfect now.
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Mark Martinez
University of Florida

ok well thanks i'll just switch my 100 watt bulb to a 75 and it should do the trick.

Yeah, hopefully it'll still hit a good temp.
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Mark Martinez
University of Florida

all you should have to do is to lower it some or raise it some.
i would switch over to a 75 watt and lower it closer to the basking spot...or just stick with your 100 watt and raise it up a little bit.

trevor

what are you using to measure this basking temp, and what are the rest of the cage temps? are you just guessing? are you using a dial thermometer? a digital one?

we have basking spots that run over 160F and i have never seen a panting Uro in our setups. it has more to do with specific husbandry and proper application than the animal just being "too hot".
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

I agree with Robyn. i've got basking spots running 140-150, and Embrodak never pants. Does your Uro have adequete space to get away from the heat?
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April
1.0 Mali Uromastyx- Embrodak
0.1 Mountain Horned Dragon- Beren
4.2 Hermit Crabs- Strong Sad, Nahatsayana, Pigwidgeon, Trogdor, Hedwig, Penelope
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2.0 Bettas-Nuala &Lucien

i used a temp gun to temp the basking spot with the 100 watt on it and it was 138.4. I'm getting a 75watt today. He's in a 30 gallon and he's about a year old, but he's getting a bigger cage soon. Dimensions of the bigger one are 50" long 30" deep and 24" high.

160? Goodness, how do you get away with that, lol. I guess it depends on the setup. When I first got mine, they were not getting enough heat, and yet they were panting a bit now and then, perhaps trying to get more heat. But recently when I upgraded my new enclosure with a 100 Watt halogen, they totally avoided the center of the spot, which hit about 140. They bask on a slate rock, and if they even touched the center, they had to lift their feet/belly/tail to avoid the excessive heat. So clearly I had to lower the basking spot. I did, and now they still avoid the center for the most part (135), but sometimes they sit their for a few seconds and give a pant or two. It seems as though the center should always be a little too hot, so a nice fat ring of 'just right' exists around the edges of the circle of light.

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Mark Martinez
University of Florida

i see from your pic that you are using a small diameter lamp. what kind of bulb are you using? if you spot is too narrow, the animals can't fit their entire bodies in it, and then you have burn problems, "hot spot" problems, etc.

make sure that the basking area, while nice and hot, is plenty wide, and allows for full body, all at once, regulation.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

This is my first experience with halogens. I didn't know there were 'wide spot' bulbs. The picture is no good, the flash almost completely drowned out the light. The basking spot goes almost to the edge of the slate. The Uros when laid out straight can reach the edges of the circle from tail tip to nose. I guess it's hard to describe, suffice to say it's plenty big, especially compared to my last setup.

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Mark Martinez
University of Florida

By what you described.. it might suggest it isn't hot enough. He pants while basking.... gapeing allows additional warming (or cooling) by the intake of air. If he was gapeing while away from his basking..I would say he was trying to cool down. During basking.. he's trying to warm up more. Before you make any drastic changes... get a few more opinions on gapeing and what it represents. You might ask about gapeing on the General Lizard Forum... it's common in other desert species.
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Jason
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