Reptile & Amphibian Forums

First of all, my uro and my bearded dragon are only out actively basking when the weather is nice. I'm not sure how they can tell when the weather is good or bad, but i think it has something to do with ambient room lighting and atmospheric pressure. Lately it has not been very good weather, so they have been sleeping for a good percentage of the day. Is there any way I can get them to remain active through the rough patches of weather, or do I just have to let them sleep when it's crappy out?

Also, the basking temperature in my uro's tank seems to change a lot throughout the day. She's in the typical aquarium with screen top deal, which probably acounts for most of the changes in temps, so how can I get the temperature to remain constant? Here's a subjective questions: What basking temperature do you feel is optimal for uromastyx? Specifically. I've noticed that very slight changes will affect how she acts. When you measure, do you go by ambient air temps of the basking spot, or surface temps, or a combination? Lately I'm having trouble keeping her temperatures right at the optimal 135-140.

I am thinking about building new enclosures for both the lizards too. I'm thinking standard 4'x2'x2', since they seem really cramped in the tanks their in now. What should I keep in mind when I begin to build?

thanks

I have a few questions myself before I can answer definately about why your uro isn't coming out. First, do you use basking bulbs?? do you use UVB lighting also?? You also have that you are having a hard time with optimal temps of 135-140? To me that is way too hot. they like it hot.but geesh..how on earth can they cool down if that is your ambient temp??? What is the cool end..100??? That is way too hot for cooling off. More idealy would be about 120 basking area, 100 hot end ambient, and about 80-85 cool end. All of these together should be in place (give or take 5 degrees) in order for more ideal temps.

As far as the cage..sounds great as far as size, however, the 2'
high could be a problem for UVB lighting since 18 inches and up you lose greatly the UVB power. so at 2', the uvb lights would be worthless.

I would figure out what basking bulbs you need in order to maintain the correct temps regardless of your weather. I have found that in my 4'2'18" breeder tank that during the summers a 100 watt bulb seems to do the trick, but need a 150 in the winter (I like in western pa so have very cold winters and typical summers).

hope this helps!
Renee

I use a combination of a mercury vapor bulb (160 watts) and a red heat lamp on a dimmer. Takes up a lot of power, but I wanted the little girl to have a lot of UVB since her old owner didn't give her any. The 135-140 are the daytime highs on the basking spot. Ambient hot side temps are 90-100, and cool side is 75-80. Her hide is just below the basking spot (it actually is the basking spot), and inside the hide the temps are about 80-90 usually, because the ceiling is a thick sheet of plywood. The tank itself is a little 48"x13"x14" tank, until I can build something bigger. It has a screen top, which is why there is a good gradient, but that is mainly what makes it hard to control the temperatures. I need help figuring out a better system that will keep the basking spot at about a constant 130 or 135 (maybe 120, but usually she likes it extra hot), without having to adjust the dimmer twice a day. Especially since summer is coming, and sometimes my parents make me go away on the weekends in the summer. I can trust my brother to put prepared greens in the tank and clean up droppings, but I'd like to be able to set the dimmer and have the temperatures remain constant while I'm gone (besides night time cool off).

Any suggestions? For temperatures: Some people say 120 is the right basking temp, but then others have success with higher temps. I think it probably depends on the lizard and how the enclosure holds heat. I haven't had to really worry about that yet, since like I said, the tank doesn't stay at 135 constantly. It goes down to 112 at times (basking spot temps) and that's sort of an unacceptable drop to me.

I have never used the Mercury bulbs myself, and just don't trust that they put out enough uvb and heat. (just my opinions..) I like using the actual basking bulbs by zoo med and then use a long uvb bulb across the top of the tank so that no matter where they go, they are getting it.

Maybe others who have used mercury could be more help.

as far as keeping temps while away, once you get something working for you, put it on a timer. They are awsome to use and make it SOOOO much easier! What I do is I have a plug strip that has all the plugs into it, then THAT is plugged into the timer, which then goes into the wall. That way, all the lights go on and off at the same time and if I go away or whatever, i know that they will be good.

Good luck!
Renee

Thanks. I'm not very impressed with my mercury vapor bulb. It's a powersun bulb. It offers a lot of extra white light, and I do think they give off a lot of UVB, but there's two things I don't like. I need a 160 watt powersun plus another light to get the temps right! These things don't give off very much heat for the size of them. I think I'm going to go to the 45 watt halogen (or two) and a reptisun flourescent when I do the bulb change. I swithed around my bearded dragon's cage the other day, and his 100 watt zoo med spot bulb is basically too big now. I have to have it turned down A LOT to get the temps right for him. I'm starting to see what Robyn does for the reptiles at pro exotics to be able to heat those big enclosures with 45 watt halogens.

I do have the tanks on timers. It makes everything so much easier, and it allows me to sleep in a little when there's no school, though my mali uro usually wakes me up by scratching on the glass. She sure loves her food. The bowl is licked clean in about 10 minutes usually. Sometimes she leaves some for later though. What a goof.

thanks for the help

sorry, forgot the other thing I don't like about the powersun bulbs. PRICE!!!