You are currently viewing our boards as a guest which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community you will have access to post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), respond to polls, upload content and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free so please, join our community today!
If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact contact us.
I've been using the recommended way to setup basking lights for a while now, and it was good. 3x50watt lights to get a 140f surface temp.
However, my sav is getting so big now that those little basking lights are heating just spots on his big body. So I witched to bigger 50watt halogen floods... and I had to lift them a little higher or else he hits his head on the lights a lot. Not he fits under the lights just fine, but I measured the temp of the surface, now it's only 120-125F on the wood he lays on.
So I'm wondering, since he is much thicker now, the surface that he lays on is actually a few inches farther than where hs body actually meets the light so whe he's basking it would actually be close to the light and thus higher temp. I'm not sure if this is the right way of thinking, but if I lower the lights he can't go under it properly as he likes to stick his head up while basking sometimes and it hits the lights.
I was almost going to get a 75W as that's the next gap they got at my local stores, but I was afraid it would dry out the humidity.... So I guess we got a problem... If I can't get 65w should I get 75 w?
also, not sure if this relates to the light issue(being too small and all) This past week or 2 I've noticed he's not as active, also when I feed him he usually sprints like a maniac to eat the food and jump at the food, but this past week or two he will just kinda jog for the food and not the usual scary self.. so I'm worried. I haven't changed anything in the tank setup for a long time, so my hope is that it's just that the lights are getting too small and if I can fix the basking light issue he will get back to his old self...
What are you using as a basking surface? You could try changing the basking surface to one that absorbs more heat.
If I put wood under my basking lights, I only get a temperature of about 120F. Light colored tiles gives me about 135F. I switched to dark colored tiles and without changing the height of the lights was able to get a temperature of 155F.
I am in the process of switching out to the larger halogens as well (waiting for each one to burn out before replacing). I have one of the larger ones (45w), and actually found I needed to raise the light up higher otherwise the temps reached 170F under that light).
Each medium absorbs and loses heat at a different degree and rate. If you experiment a bit, you should be able to find something that gives you the proper temps without moving the lights too close to the surface.
I'd be careful about switching to a higher wattage as it might raise the ambient temps in the enclosure.
Yah i'm reluctant to raising wattage too..
My basking surface is a platform I built using plywood. As stated before the surface temp was around 140F and he seems to do well with that temp until he got too big for them(at least that's my guess for his reason of being less active and aggressive with feeding), but with bigger bulbs at same wattage(50watt), raised up, it's 120F now. I'm moving it back down slowly and measuring the surface temp every few hours to see if I can get it low enough but not too low so he hits it, but the right temp still...
if I can't get the 140F with these bulbs I guess I have no choice but to raise wattage?
I was almost going to get a 75W as that's the next gap they got at my local stores, but I was afraid it would dry out the humidity.... So I guess we got a problem... If I can't get 65w should I get 75 w?
Hi, if you fit a dimmer switch it makes adjusting the surface temps much easier (in which case you can use a 75w).
Edit: You also need to take into account that the monitor`s dorsal surface is higher than the basking object so the temp will be that much hotter. I have no idea how you set the bulbs up, but here`s my monitor`s basking site, the halogens are placed just a few cm apart.... http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8183/8...1138d12a_z.jpg
Last edited by murrindindi; 11-12-13 at 11:57 AM..
Here's my latest light setup as of today, using biggest bulbs I can find... just now I lowered the light by an inch or so... after a couple hours the temp gun shows 160F on the surface... so I guess the 50 watts seems to work now.. i'm not sure what i'm doing here to get 120F and then 160F with just a small adjustment.
Anyways.. his torso is a couple inchest thick so I guess if the basking surface is 160F then his torso would be too hot?
p.s. the temp also depends on which spot in the light of the surface i'm pointing at.. i am not sure if I should be using the center of the light "circle" as measurement or slightly off center... but the measurements are close to the center of the light... If someone can tell me what I should make the wood's surface temp to be, then I can try to lower/higher the lights to achieve that...
I've been told 140F for a while, but now with murrindindi's comment regarding torso thickness, I need to add that to the equation. Things were more straight forward when the sav is small, but now I feel like my sav is not doing well, just now I was tong feeding him and he won't even eat the food unless I put it on the ground and he wasn't jumping at it...
Since you guys have had big monitors so you would be able to tell me how to get this set up correctly for a more grown up guy hehe.. also ask me any questions... in case my setup is not simply a basking issue...
Heres what I go so far
Humidity measure at the middle of the tank is 85%+.. although my humidity meter has been broken for over 1 month so I don't know if that's still the case but I would assume so just because I haven't changed anything since. But I'll be getting a new one today just to be safe.
Basking temp.. was 140F with small bulbs 3x50watts, but now I'm using big bulbs, trying to adjust it, depending on what you guys give me feedback on.
Cage size: 4feetx4feetx8feet
substraight: soil sand mix about 70:30 ratio
burrow, I don't know why but he stopped burrowing for the last 2 months, even when I make a burrow for him, he trashes it and makes it flat land.. he would only sleep in hides now.
Water: I got a bigger water holder for him since he out grew the previous ones many times.. but this big one is now also too small, he can fit is torso in it but won't fully submerge.. but he doesn't seem to use it much, I thought it is enough for drinking, but he hardly drinks anyways... so should I get a big huge tub so he can swim in it?
post a picture of the entire enclosure. 70:30 ratio , which is the dirt which is the sand? How much of the cage is empty/how heavily have you furnished it? Have you changed his feeding habits? I don't use a humidity gauge honestly. When I open the top of my enclosure, if it feels like I teleported to the equator, then I'm good.
Hi again, it looks as if one of the halogen bulbs is a smaller diameter (wattage?) than the others, is that the case, and what wattage are they all right now?
Edit: Has the monitor put on "extra" weight recently and over quite a short space of time?
Last edited by murrindindi; 11-12-13 at 01:21 PM..
yes the bulb closest is slightly smaller but all 3 are 50watts. I don't see extra weight but I know he grew, but he's not fatter than before really... I don't have a way to weigh him now. I think he's about 2.5 feet very rough estimate from measuring behind the glass when he walks.. could be way off.
Here's a video from last month, the cage hasn't changed, other than the lights are big ones now, and the wood plank might have shifted slightly as is the water dish.. but those are minor changes that shouldn't affect anything..
here's a video of him last month, he looks slightly bigger today but same proportion... in the video he's already done a "spint" where I make him run around in circles for the mouse until he's too exhausted to keep going, then I let him rest a few minutes and the give him the mouse(or do it again if he still seems very energetic). This is why in the video he's not so aggressive and fast when he saw the food.. However, these 2 weeks, I can't even get him to spint for the mouse, he just doesn't have that drive anymore so without any energy draining excercise he's already moving as slow(or even slower) than in the video these 1-2 weeks..
post a picture of the entire enclosure. 70:30 ratio , which is the dirt which is the sand? How much of the cage is empty/how heavily have you furnished it? Have you changed his feeding habits? I don't use a humidity gauge honestly. When I open the top of my enclosure, if it feels like I teleported to the equator, then I'm good.
forgot to tell you, that video was mainly for you so you can see the cage.
post a picture of the entire enclosure. 70:30 ratio , which is the dirt which is the sand? How much of the cage is empty/how heavily have you furnished it? Have you changed his feeding habits? I don't use a humidity gauge honestly. When I open the top of my enclosure, if it feels like I teleported to the equator, then I'm good.
yes when I open the cage or go in the cage to do stuff it fogs up my glasses.
Linear Mode
