New arrival - Page 6

infernalis · 02-23-13, 10:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scale_fever

Wow nice enclosure,it looks sweet! And Wayne them clay liners i can see myself using them n future plans,thank you for sharing.

I found mine laying in my barn. There is a big square one laying in a meadow nearby, I need to drive over there and pick it up.

jarich · 02-23-13, 11:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pirarucu

They do, but your monitor is primarily after the radiant heat from the basking bulbs to heat up, not a hot surface. IMO a wood platform with stone under it works great.

Im a little confused by this statement. What gives you that impression? Reptiles are after what warms them the quickest so they can go on to other things. Having the heat bulbs from above and the heated rock underneath offers them the best opportunity to warm up quickly. You see this often in nature when an exposed rock is warmed under the sun. Easiest way to find reptiles on a sunny day is look for rocks...

Pirarucu · 02-24-13, 07:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jarich

Im a little confused by this statement. What gives you that impression? Reptiles are after what warms them the quickest so they can go on to other things. Having the heat bulbs from above and the heated rock underneath offers them the best opportunity to warm up quickly. You see this often in nature when an exposed rock is warmed under the sun. Easiest way to find reptiles on a sunny day is look for rocks...

I should clarify. For "normal" basking temperatures for monitors, similar to what you find in the wild, rocks are fine and probably beneficial. I am mainly referring to situations where temperatures far exceeding natural temps are being offered. For instance, I have seen ackies offered a 200F basking spot on a wood platform, but I would not offer one that hot on a stone platform.
It comes down to captivity vs. the wild. In the wild, it would be harder for them to find basking temperatures over 130-140, so they lie on rocks to bask at 150-160. (Not sure what temperatures you would actually see in Africa, just using a theoretical example.) In captivity, if higher temperatures such as 180-200F are readily available, then there is no need for them to use a rock, and since rocks absorb and put off more heat than wood, it will be much too hot. With those kind of temperatures on a rock basking spot, you might as well be using a malfunctioning heat rock..

Herpophiliac972 · 02-24-13, 09:38 AM

That is an awesome looking monitor! Especially his face. He looks thoroughly pissed off. Maybe it was the shipping. I would be too if I went from in a cage to a box for a few days and into a new cage. He will probably calm down as he settles in. Good luck with him!

War Machine · 02-24-13, 07:12 PM

Here are some pics of tonight

And his roomate Parker, I'm really busting my *** now on the new tank now to get them in bigger spaces, PROGRESS WILL BE MADE! lol

Pirarucu · 02-24-13, 07:18 PM

Both looking great as always!

War Machine · 02-24-13, 07:23 PM

Thanks man!

I'm really trying to get the spaces done, I can and will offer more to them lol. My biggest excitement, is 3 feet of dirt for the Black throat, I really want to see that pan out well.

varanus_mad · 02-25-13, 07:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pirarucu

I should clarify. For "normal" basking temperatures for monitors, similar to what you find in the wild, rocks are fine and probably beneficial. I am mainly referring to situations where temperatures far exceeding natural temps are being offered. For instance, I have seen ackies offered a 200F basking spot on a wood platform, but I would not offer one that hot on a stone platform.
It comes down to captivity vs. the wild. In the wild, it would be harder for them to find basking temperatures over 130-140, so they lie on rocks to bask at 150-160. (Not sure what temperatures you would actually see in Africa, just using a theoretical example.) In captivity, if higher temperatures such as 180-200F are readily available, then there is no need for them to use a rock, and since rocks absorb and put off more heat than wood, it will be much too hot. With those kind of temperatures on a rock basking spot, you might as well be using a malfunctioning heat rock..

i have done this with ackies, argus, and niloticus none of them bar the argus used a temp above 160f.

And i used a rock for the argus's temp.

I gave up on it though as there was no comparable change between wee steves behaviour.

War Machine · 02-25-13, 04:26 PM

Pretty much done furnishing, just need to anchor the final secondary basking log. Any tips or ideas, feel free!

The exposed 2x4 will be furnished in cork bark for a natural look

jarich · 02-25-13, 05:03 PM

That big log looks like it was quite a haul! Is this in your basement? Youre going to have all sorts of fun getting that dirt down there.

Pirarucu, it seems like you may be confusing the subject a bit. There is no difference in a surface temp of 200 F on a wooden board or 200 F on a rock. If they both read 200 F then that is what surface temperature they are. Now if you set up a basking spot with wood to read 200 F and then switched it to rock at that same distance from the bulbs, there is the possibility that this would get hotter than 200 F depending on surface texture, colour, etc. However, then all you would have to do is increase the distance to the lamps to go back to that surface temperature of 200. You would get a similar effect of increasing surface temperature by painting that same board black. However, if you set your basking surface temperature at 200 F on a rock, it is exactly the same temperature as 200 F on a wooden board.

War Machine · 02-25-13, 05:12 PM

Hah, Jarich, that big log was even more of a pain to bolt in! :P And yes, I'm NOT looking forward to the dirt fill up lol.

I think pirachu is getting at the "radiant" heat a rock would give off, vs what wood would give off?

I decided to use slate/flagstone pieces for basking.

War Machine · 02-25-13, 07:13 PM

Decided I didn't want to slack on the 2x4 dressing. Went out, got two large pieces of cork bark, and hacked away.

Pirarucu · 02-26-13, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by War Machine

I think pirachu is getting at the "radiant" heat a rock would give off, vs what wood would give off?

Precisely. Try touching a 200F temp on wood, then on rock.. The materials may be heated to the same temperature, but they sure won't feel the same..

jarich · 02-26-13, 04:43 PM

Ah, there we go! I was hoping for something to show what the confusion was. (just to clarify the point you made War Machine, radiated heat from the rock will be at the same temperature as the rock or less, it cant go higher than the temperature of the rock itself. Much like the moon can never be brighter than the sun)

But you did just tell me what the base issue was, which is that it feels hotter as a surface. Now that is a different thing altogether, and actually makes a case for the opposite of what you were initially suggesting. Like I said, the 200 degree wood and the 200 degree rock are the exact same temperature. However, we feel them differently based on numerous variables like surface texture and porosity. If you were to sand that same piece of wood perfectly smooth or give it a lacquered finish, it would feel pretty close to the same as that rock. Not because it got hotter, but because you feel it differently on your skin. In other words, its the interpretation of that temperature on your skin that makes you perceive it differently, not any actual difference in temperature. Burns are caused by temperature though, not perception.

In this case, having a 200 degree rock might actually feel hotter to the animal and thus might make the animal use it less as a result of that perception on the skin, even though it was no different in temperature. That should actually protect your animal rather than be problematic for it. Although, I would guess its a slight difference either way.

Pirarucu · 02-26-13, 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jarich

Ah, there we go! I was hoping for something to show what the confusion was. (just to clarify the point you made War Machine, radiated heat from the rock will be at the same temperature as the rock or less, it cant go higher than the temperature of the rock itself. Much like the moon can never be brighter than the sun)

But you did just tell me what the base issue was, which is that it feels hotter as a surface. Now that is a different thing altogether, and actually makes a case for the opposite of what you were initially suggesting. Like I said, the 200 degree wood and the 200 degree rock are the exact same temperature. However, we feel them differently based on numerous variables like surface texture and porosity. If you were to sand that same piece of wood perfectly smooth or give it a lacquered finish, it would feel pretty close to the same as that rock. Not because it got hotter, but because you feel it differently on your skin. In other words, its the interpretation of that temperature on your skin that makes you perceive it differently, not any actual difference in temperature. Burns are caused by temperature though, not perception.

In this case, having a 200 degree rock might actually feel hotter to the animal and thus might make the animal use it less as a result of that perception on the skin, even though it was no different in temperature. That should actually protect your animal rather than be problematic for it. Although, I would guess its a slight difference either way.

Or, having a basking spot with little surface area could allow the animal to bask closer to the light, with higher heat from the bulb.
Ultimately I think someone needs to make all the options available and see what the monitor likes... We are just humans, only the monitors know what is best. We can merely speculate.