Quote:
Originally Posted by curious.boa.guy
I don't force handle him, (a he as he was probed) I open the door and hold out locust and he comes out then I walk him to the second enclosure, I have emptied the current substrate and refilled it with just a soil and sand mix and for the lighting I use a 150W crematic bulb and a 75W basking bulb around the basking spot and at the cool end I use a 75W with the additional 14% uvb
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You cannot probe a Varanid to determine gender, it`s also possible to cause them serious injuries by trying, so whoever did that CLEARLY has no idea what they`re doing. There is absolutely no need to feed in another enclosure even if you aren`t force handling (strange that the monitor is so calm after such a short time with you)?
The 150w ceramic bulb will dry out the air to a great extent, though it`s acceptable to use them to help raise the ambient temps (particularly during the night) I would advise changing the heat bulbs during the day.
Most experienced keepers use the relatively low wattage halogen bulbs, either par 30 or par 38 (the "par" only refers to the bulb face diameter), MUST be flood beam not spot. I would tentatively suggest you try 3 x 50w, place them a few cm apart in a row, raise/lower bulbs or basking object until you get the desired surface temp. You can buy these on eBay or one of the lighting manufacturers such as TLC Direct (in the U.K), they are quite cheap and can also be fitted with a dimmer switch.
An example of my young adult male Asian water monitor`s basking site, I need more bulbs because of his size....
Hybrid Mode
