Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So nothing's working on this damn cage. I've made three trips to the hardware store and had to scrap everything three times. Recap: I tried one light pointing down on the hot spot and even though I got decent temps I only was able to produce them over 5 inches of a 4 foot long cage. Therefore we also decided that having to hot spots wouldn't work because you'd get 110-120 over 5 or six inches on either side and the drop off would be so great that the middle 1.5-2 feet would still be in the low-mid 70s.
I just got this guy from a pricate breeder who told me to angle a higher wattage bulb so it is above the cool area pointed towards the hot area, with the beam directed on hot rock. I tried to use the 100 watt viralux at and angle and it hardly raised the temp. So now I'm using a 150 watt 1600 lumens floodlight, and I'm getting mid-high 80s on one side and low 70s on the other . I predict that within and hour the temp will rise a little more but I'm doubt it's gonna come up 25 degrees.
There's a local herp store called the East Bay Vivarium and I've found them to be most professional and knowledgeable. They tell me uromastyx in captivity should not have such a drastic drop in temp at night and they suggest keeping a ceramic heat imiter over the hot end on at all times so it's 110-120 in the day and it falls to 90-100 at night. The animals tend to sleep farther away where the temps are 70-85. The full spectrum light they say will be enough to encourage basking. I've also been told although under the right conditions it may be useful, as a matter of policy they strongly discourage putting in lights at an angle because it's hard to ensure accurate measurements and fluctuations in temps may cause the animal to be overheated with no escape.

So I got two reputable sources giving me totally conflicting advice. I'm right now taking the private breeder who works with uromastyx exclusivly as the authority. But it's just not working so far. I know a heat imiter will do the trick but he says the little guy wont bask under it.

My only idea was have one light angled over the cage as u sugested then have a lower wattage light directly over the basking area to boost up those temps 15-20 degrees.

>>Recap: I tried one light pointing down on the hot spot and
>>even though I got decent temps I only was able to produce them
>>over 5 inches of a 4 foot long cage.
For just the hotspot, right? Your hotspot doesn't have to be giant... just a hot location for the lizard to sit... unless it's a giant lizard.

>>Therefore we also decided that having to hot spots wouldn't
>>work because you'd get 110-120 over 5 or six inches on either
>>side and the drop off would be so great that the middle 1.5-2
>>feet would still be in the low-mid 70s.
After how long? You could put two hotspots on one side and let the other side taper down. The Uros will go wherever they are comfortable.

>>I predict that within and hour the temp will rise a little
>>more but I'm doubt it's gonna come up 25 degrees.
You'd be suprised. You're nto running air conditioning that's competing with the cage environment, are you? Is the top open? If so cover it all or partially. You're just losing all the heat out the top.

>> There's a local herp store called the East Bay Vivarium
>>and I've found them to be most professional and knowledgeable.
Might be the cult of personality at work here

>>They tell me uromastyx in captivity should not have such a
>>drastic drop in temp at night and they suggest keeping a
>>ceramic heat imiter over the hot end on at all times so it's
>>110-120 in the day and it falls to 90-100 at night.
90-100 at night? That's rediculously hot and also extremely expensive. In the off-daylight hours, mine get room temperature.

>>The animals tend to sleep farther away where the temps are 70-
>>85.
Most of mine sleep near the heat emitters.

>>as a matter of policy they strongly discourage putting in
>>lights at an angle because it's hard to ensure accurate
>>measurements and fluctuations in temps may cause the animal to
>>be overheated with no escape.
What? A tilted bulb will provide a smaller hotter spot that will falloff more rapidly on the far side. It's some simple math. If the animal gets warm, it will just go elsewhere. Your cage sounds to be big enough to offer this "elsewhere" concept just fine. Either way, tilted or not, you're pumping the same number of kWh's into the container per hour. If your bulb will not overheat the container pointed down, it won't overheat the container at any angle or turned inside out and mounted upside down.

>>I know a heat imiter will do the trick but he says the little
>>guy wont bask under it.
What? Use the heat emitter. They'll bask under anything hot, light or no light, though light may be a good cue to wake up. I've got one little Uro that prefers to sit on the bare fluo tube when she can.

Someone or something seems to bave given you the idea this is a complex thing to do while it should instead be very straight forward.
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2.3.0 uromastyx geyri (Saharan/Nigerian)
0.0.4 uromastyx hardwickii (Indian)
3.6.0 uromastyx macfadyeni (Somalian)
1.2.0 uromastyx ocellata (Sudanese)
1.3.0 uromastyx ornata (Ornate)

the only hard part should be finding the right bulb to make the basking spot at least 120. i use flood lights from the home depot and they just sit on the cage. i have two warming lights, i think the hot one is 90 watt halogen flood. it points at their rocks and makes them nice and toasty. the lizards have the option to sit on the rocks or under the rocks. sometimes they sit directly in the hottest part but mostly they sit on the outskirts of that. they need to have the option to be 120 or higher, but the whole end of the cage does not need to be that high.
to keep the other end from getting too cool i have a lower watt bulb that keeps it about 85. i don't think it is good for them to get under 65 degrees at night but i don't run my AC so at night, the lights just go out.
they also have a reptisun 5.0 for uvb
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vonnie
***There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is in having lots to do and not doing it. Mary Wilson Little ***

So The vivarium talked me into moving him into a much smaller cage. Now he's in a cage that's 2 feet long 1 foot wide and 1 foot high and made from glass. I now have a wire top with a domed metal fixure and 100 watt ceramic heat immiter & a heating pad under the tank both of which are on dimmers and are on 24/7. To make em bask I got a zoo med repti 10.0 full spectrum they said it's a new model and it's the best. All dimmers are on high. I have a Infared thermometer and now I'm getting readings in 105-115 in various areas of the hot zone low 90s around the middle and mostly 80s on the cool end.
The problem is there's like 2&1/2 inches on the far cool end that never goes above 76 degrees. Should I get a 150 watt imiter boost the overall hot zone so it's getting readings avaeraging around 117 degrees with hottest spot at 120 instead of 115 and that'll probably bring all my mid 70s up to 80s and so on.
Also if I'm taking readings with the infored thermometer all over the cage, what about the Hide logs and caves where they've got some insulation and the readings are in the high 70s inside but 85 or higher outside in the same area? Is that ok?

>>So The vivarium talked me into moving him into a much smaller
>>cage. Now he's in a cage that's 2 feet long 1 foot wide and 1
>>foot high and made from glass.
Very bad. This environment is way too small.

>>I now have a wire top with a domed metal fixure and 100 watt
>>ceramic heat immiter & a heating pad under the tank both of
>>which are on dimmers and are on 24/7.
You're probably going to bake this animal. How does this heat emulate the normal rise and fall of daily temperatures ANYWHERE? You're arranging a situation where the Uro will never be able to escape heat with the small environment, high wattage, and constant application of heat from all directions.

>> The problem is there's like 2&1/2 inches on the far cool
>>end that never goes above 76 degrees.
This is NOT a problem.

>>Should I get a 150 watt imiter boost the overall hot zone so
>>it's getting readings avaeraging around 117 degrees with
>>hottest spot at 120 instead of 115 and that'll probably bring
>>all my mid 70s up to 80s and so on.
You're going to overload that container.

>> Also if I'm taking readings with the infored thermometer
>>all over the cage, what about the Hide logs and caves where
>>they've got some insulation and the readings are in the high
>>70s inside but 85 or higher outside in the same area? Is that
>>ok?
The idea of the thermometer is that you're looking for approximate temperatures in the environment. You're not looking for exact temperatures everywhere. You're definitely not attempting to induce homogenous temperatures. The container will equalize as the system has power applied to it over the day. If you've waited maybe an hour to take these readings, you'll be looking at significantly higher values after a full day.
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2.3.0 uromastyx geyri (Saharan/Nigerian)
0.0.4 uromastyx hardwickii (Indian)
3.6.0 uromastyx macfadyeni (Somalian)
1.2.0 uromastyx ocellata (Sudanese)
1.3.0 uromastyx ornata (Ornate)

My basking area is very small (120-126 degrees) and my cool end only hits 84 degrees. This is in a 4 foot tank. The tank cools down to 72-74 at night and my uro have flourished for two years. It sounds like East Bay Vivarium has found a "buyer". Do more reading and less shopping for the answers.