Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a question on heat for red ackies. I am not getting the red ackies for another two weeks or so, but i was just trying to heat the cage and see if it was hot enough etc. Right now i have a ZooMed 150 watt spot basing bulb. It gets the raised basking site, a retes stack to about 120 or 130 degrees F which i read is perfect for babies, which are what i will be getting. They will only be a couple of weeks old. But the only problem is, is that the cool end of the cage is liek 70-75 or so. I read that the cool side of the cage shouldnt get below 80 degrees. Now i was wondering if i should put in a ceramic heat emitter or a heat pad or somthin to get that end of the cage up to about 80 degrees F, or is it fine the way it is. Also, what should the temperature at night be? Like at night should the temperature not drop below 80 or what? Any and all helkp would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Nathan

I would suggest you keep your heat light on 24/7 and not have a night drop. And you might want to put like a 50w red bulb over the other end of the cage to bring the temps up a bit.
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70- to 75 is not to low of a temp, i would not put another light on the other side. they need a range of temp.

i don't know about what is ok for you at your house. for me at mine, my monitors have no problems getting cold for a while. they go down at night anyway and then come up in the morning and bask.

andrew

Why don't you recomend spotbulbs? Like can i use them if i get the proper basking site and cool side temperature or why not? just wondering.

Nathan

i hate assuming. but i will go ahead and do so.

it sounds like you have too much ventilation in the cage.

it also sounds like if their wasn't that much ventilation that you would have some tasty monitor jerky on your hands, never tried it, sure it would be good though.

150 is rediculous. here's what you do. go to home depot, buy a couple of ceramic light fixtures. then buy a pack of 40 or 60 watt bulbs.

after you have fixed the ventilation problem, put in two bulbs with lower wattage. it is a lot better. you don't need a whole lot of vent, it dries them out. you need a little. for instance i have a six foot trough with a plexi glass top. i use a standard floor vent that i can adjust.

cheers, andrew

andrew

Yes, i can also not beleive that with this wattage light bulb the temperatures arn't that high. I made a room in a garage and that is where i have the cage. I need to put heat in the room for the winter and i will do that before winter comes. The temperature in there is fairly cool around 70 or so. I have a four foot long glass cage that I will have four baby red ackies in. For a top, i have a screen top. Should i put some plexiglass over the top, but out of the way of the spot bulb? But for the temperatures im not guessing, I have a temperature gun i just got, the one at ProExotics and a regular thermometer. Oh and the heat bulb is hanging at the top of the cage with a ZooMed lamp stand.

Thanks,
Nathan

please tell me that robyn told you not to use a screen top. please.

screens are horrible. they are fine for a bearded dragon, not fine for monitors.

go to home depot and have them cut you a piece of plexi to measurement. buy a piano hinge and screw it in (either vertically placed or horizontally).

either drill about 10 holes on the cool end of the cage or easier yet buy a vent.

you will want to splice a bankd of bulbs into the hot end. no heat on the other.

as far as your basement goes there is a simple fix. raise the cage with 2 x 4's so they are not sucking up the cool floor.

so again, you want the bulbs inside the plexi by splicing them.

andrew

this is a view through the top of plexi, it views well.

It does the same to them, or they dont grow much at all. My beardies are laying eggs every 3-4 weeks 21 at a time like clockwork with a solid top and on dirt with a high basking temp and no UV lighting just like my monitors.

yes and no.

i mean, look at how the people that do it for a living do it. like dachiu. their baby bins are all open. i have done both with beardies. open tops and closed tops. they don't seem to have shedding or hydration problems either way. they are true desert animals. they are just a lot different than monitors.

i agree though partially. it seems like i am treating everything now like its one of my monitors.

andrew

I am new to monitor keeping but ive kept reptiles for about three years now and i have a leopard gecko, northern blue tongue skink and a veiled chameleon. I'm just curious as to why you dont recomend a screen top so much. Like what if for example for a baby red ackie i get the cool side to 80 degrees and a basking site up to 120-130 and i have perfect humidty of 50 percent or a little higher by misting the cage once a day or whatever it takes to get the humidity up there. And if i have a large water bowl, big enough for the babies to lay into, but water not deep enough for them to drowned. Like is that ok if i can do all of this with out a screen top? or is there some other reason you dont recomend screen tops? I am just curious and want some peopels insite.

Nathan

Hi, Nathan

It appears that you have at least done some research about monitor husbandry. Your temps are fine BUT this is exactly where the problem lies with using screentop enclosures. These extremely high temps will evaporate water as soon as you spray. You have to remember that heat rises and when it does it takes all surrounding moisture with it..... and in a screen top enclosure all of that moisture escapes. Which also includes that of your monitor who will most likely wind up sleeping in its water dish to stay hydrated.

The same thing happens in closed top enclosures with one big exception being the solution, the water/moisture isn't allowed to escape when it rises which allows your monitor to retain proper levels of bodily fluids necessary to thrive, shed, etc.
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0.0.1 Varanus Salvator (Gator)
0.1.3 Varanus Exanthematicus (Adisa "long term captive" other 3 "yet to be named hatchlings"
2.0 Ferrets (Chaos & Kasha)
1.0 Cat (George)

One, try this, set up a cage with a screen lid with a 135f basking spot and ambient temps of 80 . Next place a piece of raw beef in it, see what happens, youll have beef jerky in no time at all. Thats what happens to an animal in those conditions. After seeing a few animals that were tortured in those conditions youll hate screen lids.

we just sold him the Temp Gun, i didn't recommend a screen top or anything

we do recommend folks keeping babies in something small, a 10 or 20L tank, for the initial acclimation period, but for most folks, a screen top does have too much ventilation, sure. nothing a piece of aluminum foil or saran wrap can't fix : )
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

its true. people don't have to spend hundreds on every little thing. sometimes i can't get to the depot for a few days, so things like that have to happen.

actually i was just moving my kim trough around the other day and busted two corners of the plexi off (big enough that they could get out). but nothing some cardboard and some tape couldn't fix. home depot will be open tomorrow

andrew

Always alot better if you dont recommend anything

A ceramic light fixture, and an 8ft piece of 16 gauge lamp cord on a 4x2x2ft cage and its more than enough heat and makes a 188f basking spot at 8 inches on corkbark. I use 8-10 inches of hard packed dirt and he digs like a bulldozer. High wattage lights do 2 things good they heat the whole enclosure too high, and dehydrate your monitor. The light assembly I desrcibed caosts about 9 dollars to build by the way. The top of the cage should be solid with no vents the small vents should be in the sides.

there are two hundred ways to skin a cat.

and no exact formula.

if the monitors in my house are not having shedding problems and i am doing it in X way. then I can tell someone that doing it X way is okay. you can tell them that doing it B way is okay. and it is, they both are.

with the troughs there is little choice. my monitors don't have shed problems and i have cages with side vents and top vents. a trough holds more moisture with top vents than a wood cage with side vents anyhow (in my house).

this goes for many different parts about husbandry. i could tell joe lewis he's a moron for wasting money on uvb bulbs, but it works for him. the top vent on top of my kimberly cage works for me (well, we shall see toward the end of september, anyhow they are very healthy monitors).

andrew