Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey all im a long time snake keeper but ive decide to take up the chance to get a couple of dwarf caimans ive got a 55 gallon tank, land on each side for about 7 inches, pond in the middle 12 inches deep, filterd water under tank heater to warm the water to about 75-80 degrees f, heat lamps on top, warm end is about 87 degrees right now cool end is about 80 ive made a polyethaline cover for the tank so there is 2 screendholes for the heat lamps and a 3 X 12 inch vent for air circulation
humidity is about 60% ive had the setup going for 3 days to make sure its at the levels its going to normally be with the night lamps i use on top the temp drops about 7-10 degrees f at night ....are these stettings good? and what adjustments could imake to keep my 2 new crocks happy (they are about 6 inches long) and as they grow ill expand the enclosure (i weld plastics and make most of my own enclosures the tank im using is one of my old ones

any ideas to make it better ?
thanks guys
joe

the temps are ok, they could be a bit higher though, 12 inches of water is way to deep at that size they only need a couple inches of water I would say 2 inches deep maybe 4 inches deep at the deepest point. They will need shaded area, plants etc.. they like to be able to hide as well, the plants will help with this but you could also add in some drift wood or something of that nature