Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i found it interesting that when i have my enclosures temps up (basking 111f) (ambient 94 f) he is much more active and when i have an ambient of about 80 he jsut isnt active he seems to like it alot better and is more active with the higher temps, oterwise he just sits in his log all day, he actually poope on me today when i picked him up soo at least we know he isnt impacted(wwwhohoooo ) lol

Without seeing your set up or knowing really anything but what youve said is:

Your basking area is not acceptable to him.

You humidity is too low.

Keep in mind, with an overall HOT cage, the monitor cannot have control over its own temps. This is therefore forcing him to be hot all the time, and can be stressful on the animal.

I do know of a zoo that keeps steady ambients of low 80's- low 90's, with no "basking spots" and they have actually bred and raised a couple species of varanus this way.
Being that this zoo is in a tropical climate though, the humidity is always at like 75% whether you WANT it to be or not! Haha
Their cages are also huge, with lots of options and lots of different types of "hides". I would imagine that there are temperature variations within the different areas of the cage, simply bacause of the way different materials conduct heat.

well im haveing keeping the humidity up , im useing this ground up coconut mulch stuf that is supposed to help keek humidity up but i cant get it much of 60 percent and then it drys really fast soo i spray him alot, he has a rock he likes to hide under A BIG ROCK , and some fake vine plants and a half log for hiim to bask on and hide under and what not,he has a large water bowl, this isnt a very good discription , but just to give you an idea, he has at least 4 good hide spots, anywase do you have any tips for keeping humidity up?? i will try to post some picks

you should put some mixture of dirt and sand so he can dig in there and stuff, it will also help with the humidity. what i find really helpful and easyer than misting him during the day is a waterfall and some live plants. he also seems to enjoy those. another thing that can work is one of those fog makers, i used to have one in there, you just have to turn it off and on throughout the day or it will get too wet. also about the basking spot, if the cage is bigger you can put the basking spot in one end and the other end will be cooler, you can also make shades on there for him to be even cooler. i have the waterfall and the plants on that side to offset the more arid hot side with the rocks and logs. also just in general, give him lots of branches and stuff to climb on, he will appreciate it.
-jake

i think i just need a bigger cage for him now, and a fogger and stuff, his cage now is almost 2 ft square, its about 19, by, 19 , by 19 inches, i was thinking it was gunna be big enough for him while he was little but i obviousely didnt put enough thought into it, soo on my next paycheck i tink im guna make him a cage 2 ft wide, 2 ft deep , and 4 ft tall. and i am gunna just make it outa plywood and plexi glass or acrylic, witchever, but im going to purchase a fogger for him and maybe just put it on a timer to run twice a day for 5 or 10 minutes depending

sooo what would you suggest to make his basking spot more acceptable , should i offer more cover around his basking spot ????

Are you keeping it in an aquarium? Is the top covered?

For a Timor you could build an enclosure from plywood and plexiglass, put a dirt sand mix in as substrate, and a small vent on the side down low. It wouldn't cost a lot and would keep humidity a lot better. If you have the heat light high enough off the dirt and to one side the monitor would have a good rage of temps also.

Just a thought, I did this with small water dragons and it worked great.
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Ed

These heat lamps make my electric bill to high.

yea that sounds like what im going to do i just dont have the $$$ for another week or so, so im just doing the best i can with what i have right now, i got the temps adjusted at least decently , basking 108, and the ambient about 87 degrees , and i finally got the humidity to 70 percent but i had to saturate the substrate pretty darn well, soo im going to go get some un treated soil and put it in the cage with some fine sand, it is an aquarium type cage its all glass and has a screen top , but its a perfect square, and has 2 front opening doors , i have most of the screen top covered except for the part the heat lamp takes up, im useing a 8inch hood with a 75 watt zoo med bulb

You may want to opt for a lower wattage, such as 45W. A higher wattage really doesnt provide that much more usable heat, but will do a good job of drying out your enclosure.

Also add more wood objects, and other porous materials that retain moisture is good too.

Yes, expand his basking area. I have found that rocks are not that great in smaller enclosures. The thing with rocks, is that they are heavy and awkward. The retain heat like a hot plate, and unless you can offer boulders, dont really offer a good gradient.
MORE LOGS! =)

I try to give my timors a basking spot that allows them to remain hidden while they bask, being shy they seem to apreciate that. I would also recomend leaf litter over dirt as a substrate. I have tried both dirt and litter and they seem to prefer the leaf litter. I never saw them burrow in the dirt, and i tried a few varieties including the coconut fiber. They go crazy in the leaves though, digging tunnels all over the place. Oak leaves work best in my experience.

good luck,
Steve

regards to the bulb, i had a 65 watt day glow bulb and it seemed like it just didnt previde much heat at all , i would have me digital thermom and hydro meter right under it and it was only reading at 98.9 degrees f soo i went up to a 75 and now the basking is about 108 or soo but the ambient is between 87 and 92 degree,s wow i hate this cage its just sooo difficult, wait not difficult, frustrateing, thats a better term. i cant wait till i build this new cage, i will try the leaf litter, i dont like this coconut fiber CRAP!!!!, and today i took his rocks out and put some logs in, so hopefully he is more happy with that cuz i now got the humidity up to 76 percent, but i constantly have to mist his cage,

What I have done in a pinch is to get a towel, wet it, and lay it on top of the screen top. Too much weight can fall through the screen though. This keeps the humidity up, but you will have tp re wet the towel daily. It will keep everything in the cage from being wet but will keep the humidity up.
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Ed

These heat lamps make my electric bill to high.

I guess theyre makin somone alot of money though. I just use standard 45W flood lamps.

yea im tired of thses dam bulbs , they aare pointless and arnt very officient, what are the demensions of your cage that you use those types of lights in??? i know they get hot but i never thought of useing it as a heat source in my cages, how do you provide night heat ???? with a pig blanket or some kind of heat pad????
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.1 blue spot timor
these lamps make my room hot!!!!

does anyone have any pics of their timor cages that i can see to ade me in the design of my new cage i will be building, , thanks
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.1 blue spot timor
these lamps make my room hot!!!!