Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Ok...I went to open the lid on our sav's cage tonight and our basking bulb that we had literally exploded out, obviously breaking. We had our sav in a 40L (think a shorter 55 gallon) as he's only around 14" long (yes, he will get a bigger cage as he grows). I switched him from this cage with a reptile bark substrate to a 20L with a desert blend sand. Moved his hidey hole after I washed it as well as his water bowl. Right now he appears to be hiding/sleeping (I covered half the tank so that it's dark and hopefully he feels more secure). My question is will he be ok until later in the week when we can get more substrate and move him back into his original cage? We have an extra under the tank heater that we can put on the 20L as well as a ceramic heat emitter that was on his old cage that we can rig up so it aims into the 20L (top won't support the light). I just want to make sure I make this the least traumatizing that I can. Thankfully he was hiding when the bulb exploded (well...the half that exploded) but I did check him over before I moved him. On another note has anyone had this happen (the bulb) before? It's not even a month old, the lamp it was in is rated for 250W and this bulb was only 150W. Fillament on the bulb is still intact too. Sorry this has been so long...I just want to make sure he's going to be ok, thanks!!!

~Katie

I reccomend you get rid of the sand and the bark and replace it with dirt. Look down and find JC's post. Half my sav substrate is plain yard dirt, the other half is what I now call, JC blend.(thanks dude)
I am just guessing here but you have to have some kind of top and I'm assuming it's a screen top. You can cover most of the top with wood or plexiglass, add a couple peices of of wood to hold up the light. I use 45 watt floodlights in small clamp lights I buy at walmart for around $8.
This has worked great for my baby savs in 40 gallon bredders and also works great for my beardies.
I haven't had one explode "yet", I use screen between my lizards and the light. I also think 150 watts is way too much for any aquarium. 45 watts have worked great for me. They make a hot basking spot without cooking the hole tank. Your lizard also needs to be able to cool down as well as heat up.

Scott
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Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

In the 20 gal your concern is going to be letting the monitor get cooled off (area in the 70s). Unless it is very cold in your home, one bulb over one end of the tank should provide all the heat you will need while you fix up your other tank. Ceramic emiters tend to make the entire cage (especially a small one) quite warm (80s-90s) which doesn't allow for your monitor to cool off (cool is just as important for destressing as hot is). If you can, rig up a single bulb over one end of the tank and leave the emiter and heat pad turned off. If you don't have anything you can throw together to hang a light over the tank then move the heating pad so it is only under 1/3 of the tank. Use a termometer or temp gun to check the temps and adjust the heating pad until you get both a good temp gradient across the cage (hot to cold).

Of course you could always just keep your monitor cooled down for the week and not feed him (sort of a short winter) like everyone in Florida had to do with their monitors after the hurricanes. Nice cool and dark. Probably the easiest seeing as it will only be a week.
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-Andrew

Someone smack me upside the head please.
I can't beieve I forgot to cover this.
You used desert blend and reptile bark. I am not going to hold this against you because you were probaly lead to believe a savannah is a desert animals. A whole lot of people make this mistake in the beginning. Almost every pet store I've gone to has claimed them to be desert lizards and need sand.
They are accually grassland lizards and need good dirt to burrow in.

Scott
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Do not meddle in the affairs of dragons, for you are crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

Thank you so much for getting back to me quickly. As of right now he's sleeping in his hidey hole but will wake up if I let light in that part of the cage. The substrate we're going to get is a dirt based product instead of the repti-bark because we were researching and saw that most people (well...the smart, successful people on here who have been raising them for a while) use a dirt v. sand. The sand is only so he has some substrate at the moment. Would it be better to take it out and put down a towel or paper towels or something of that nature? We won't be using a bulb that strong anymore. We also have an extra 50W around the house so I'll put that in when we get him back in his usual cage. Any other suggestions are appreciated since we're apparently redoing his tank - for good or bad. Thanks so much again!!!

~Katie

Hi Katie,
Don't loose all the sand mix, it well with the dirt. You want that dirt to hold a nice solid burrow form and the only real way is to use a bit of sand as a binder. To much dirt, to much water= muddy monitors . I also ad one part peat moss to the mix and turn it till its nicely mixed. When wet it holds well when dry it's soft and wont be dusty if its mixed rite.

Keep up the good work and it will all turn out ok.

Best of luck,
JC