Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently purchased a DHL and I am not sure what type of lighting to use. I have created a cool side of the tank with no lights or heating and on the warm side I have a UVB flourscent bulb and a heat rock. Are the heats rocks that shut off at a certain temperature okay or are they still unsafe? If so could I use an underneath heating pad instaead? I would rather not use a basking lamp because it's going to be hard to fit all of the lighting on that one side. I am having a hard time finding anyone that knows anything about them. Thanks.

Wow thanks for the advice. I'm going to go ahead and get one of those lamps if it contains all of the right heating and lighting in one. As for the hibernation is there any advice you could give me for that. Should I try to see if he will hibernate and if not keep him up through the winter? If so how exactly do I get him to hibernate? When I bought my HL I new absolutely nothing about them. If I did I defiantely would not have put myself in this position but I did and no I want to keep him as healthy as possible. Any advice would help soo much. I can't seem to find anyone that can. Thank you!

Fireside knows his stuff so do as much reading as you can on these guys on his site or look at previous entries here - subjet specific to what you need.

It is hard to know if to keep them up for the winter. Are they young and skinny or adults with good fat stores to get them through the winter?

You will need to turn the lights off and keep them in a cooler area if they are indoors for them to go down. I would also recommend not feeding them a week prior to hibernating them and giving them a misting or water in the week prior (as you should always give water) to help flush their system out before they go down.

A pic of your setup and lizards would help determine what would be best for your little guys.

There are a few of us still here from time to time and we see people get Horned lizards all the time asking these same questions every few months and sometimes by the time people ask or learn what to do it is too late. Don't be alarmed by the advice - they are really hard to maintain and not for the novice as they do not eat your typical lizard diet and getting ants like fireside said can be difficult esp during winter months.

Read, read, read and feel free to ask questions - it will only help you get your guys through to the spring.