Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just moved my baby Savannah from a 10 gal into a 40 gal today. I've only had it for about 3 days. Well, the problem is the temperature. In the 10 gal, I had a UTH and a heat lamp(100Watt basking bulb), the temp was always in the 80's on the cool side and around 95 on the hot side, and I'm guessing about 105 - 120 basking spot. And about 2 - 3 inches of aspen bedding. Now, with the 40 gal setup(UTH, and 2 heat lamps(100Wt/50Wt basking bulbs, and about 3 - 4 inches of aspen bedding) the temp has dropped to below 80 warm side, about 70's in the cool, and the basking lamps are a lot higher, and I believe the temp there has dropped a lot, too.
Can you guys give me some pointers? I'm a bit worried because I don't want my monitor to develop a respitory infection. Thanks.
Chris

Basking temps are surface temps not ambient (air) temps. Ambient warm end should be around 86 degrees, cool end down to 75. The basking temps should be 130 on the surface (measure with an infared temp gun). Usually a surface temp of 130 on a rock or piece of wood on a sunny day is around 80 degrees or possibly higher or lower. I use 45 watt bulbs over plywood with a dimmer to prevent it from getting over 160 basking. Thats from 18 inches away with outdoor flood light bulbs. Reptile bulbs are junk for heat they are made to accent colors for appearance. As for your aquarium theres a bad choice for a cage without some modification. The top releases all heat amd all humidity which is very bad for your monitors health. Put a piece of plexiglas under the top with some small holes drilled in it to hold humidity so your monitor doesnt dehydrate. A small species such as my timor lives in a 55 gallon, but I dont particularly like the lack of width.A bosc is a medium size species and should as soon a possible be in a very large cage. Part or the cage size is to create a temp gradient to allow your monitor to escape the heat or to warm up, as they want to not to force them into one or the other. Dehydation manifests itself in long term affects (sometimes not so long) as liver or kidney failure. Get a good temp/humidity gauge (digital), from radioshack.
My albig goes outdoors as long as its 40 degrees or higher, every day. Any questions I can answer I will, or send you to who can.

Thanks for the reply, can you show me some pictures of your setup, or give me some cage plans or something so I can try and build a cage ASAP. That info you gave me helps, I'll see what I can make of it. And can you give me anymore advice as far as handling, feeding and housing go? Most of the caresheets I read all ****.
Thanks,
Chris

Proexotics, Varanus.nets monitor faq, and Andrews monitor faq on Varanus creations. Dont waste you time with Melissa Caplans sheets on monitors she knows squat on them. Ill try to answer any questions I can so you are not trying to find out what happened after a problems manifests itself. The aquarium is too small but there are some places that will make a cage adequate for a monitor. Doors on the front, capable of holding a foot or more in depth of dirt, capable of a temp grafient from a surface temp of 130 down to an air temp of 75 on the other end. Capable of your monitor hiding from you or anything else, yet keeping proper temps, high enough humidity to keep him healthy, give him exercise, climb, etc. Goes as big as you can with wood, melamine, and FRP, in constuction. I myself am not the best with carpentry but have built a few cages in the past, takes a little help and practice. Ask away. good luck.

I kinda want to make an outdoor terrarium, but I'm in Sacramento, and I don't know how to make it so it's good all year round. Because it rains in the winter and it's hot in the summer. Do you know how I would do this? Or should I just make an indoor? Thanks, again.

As I understand it, they need adequate cool too.
If the ambient is 86, their choices are hot, and hotter. Where do they go to cool off? I'd be careful of advising people to offer narrow ranges of choice. If their animals are given a wide range, the animal will know what to do, even if the persons are not sure. I'd err on the side of safety with a new person, even if your own animal has done well with what you provide.
Cheers. D.

The first sentence. I wouldnt suggest keeping any monitor in that high of temp all of the time.
Hows everybody doing Goon? Babies running around yet or still eggs?