# heating ?



## jjollie (Feb 10, 2008)

has anyone used radiant heat panels in their enclosures? and what do you think of them are they worth the money spent. cause I am tring to get my large enclosure stuff together so when it's time to move the tegu into a larger enclosure I'll be ready ideas are welcomed.


----------



## ColdThirst (Feb 11, 2008)

It would have to be a huge pannel to affect the temp of an entire tegu cage, not to mention theres gonna be bedding in there etc. I only use them for my snakes, and not even as a primary heat source, I believe that with large scale, incandecent heat sources are the only way to go. I have a 150W halogen yard flood light in my tegu enclosure, and I had to add another huge incandecent heat lamp to get it to where i wanted it to be, with two floresent light fixtures, which the bulbs dont get hot, but the ballasts do and give off heat as well. I hope that helps a little, we really need more information on cage size, material, doors, vent number etc, to properly diagnose your needs based on our individual experiences.


----------



## jjollie (Feb 11, 2008)

well I am not talking about for a main heat source and I do better then a halogen I use a 160W MERCURY VAPOR more to gain then a halogen


----------



## VARNYARD (Feb 11, 2008)

jjollie said:


> well I am not talking about for a main heat source and I do better then a halogen I use a 160W MERCURY VAPOR more to gain then a halogen



The main thing is if it gets too hot, tegus can handle the cold a lot better than the heat.


----------



## ColdThirst (Feb 13, 2008)

whats the max tempiture/ best temp range for a tegu, theres alot of conflicting tempitures on the web.


----------



## VARNYARD (Feb 13, 2008)

Well most people think that Argentine tegus come from the Amazon river basin, and that they are tropical, but it just is not so. Most of the animals we have come from central Argentina. The weather can get quite cold there, and is about like Georgia or Alabama, and not tropical at all. However, this is not true for the most part on the Colombian species, they are tropical.

The basking side needs to be between 90-110, and the cool side is perfect at 70-75.


----------



## jjollie (Feb 14, 2008)

thanks for that info on temps Bobby it looks like I am in the ranges you said.


----------



## DZLife (Feb 14, 2008)

Cool...I was researching this right when I found this post! thanx Bobby!


----------



## VARNYARD (Feb 14, 2008)

Awesome guys, glad I could help!!


----------



## snakehandler (Feb 15, 2008)

I solved heating by building a cage that has an opening on the front with wire so i only have to heat the room with central heating.
In the room i have more cages so i only heat the whole room and spare energy. of course they have additional lighting which gives off heat as well..


----------



## redtail2426 (Feb 15, 2008)

I use a heat panel that screws in to the ceiling I can set the temperature to what ever I want because it has a temperature probe on a thermostat and it also has a night drop so I can drop the temps at night. I have it on the cool side of my enclosure and during the day it usually wont come on with the heat from the lights unless the door is open or if it is really cold outside sometimes it will come on but at night it runs quite often to keep the temps were I want them. It even has an alarm to let me know if things get to cold or to hot. Expensive but worth it because you dont have to mess with anything its all automatic and it uses alot less power then lights so if you are paying the electric bill it will save you some cash.


----------



## VARNYARD (Feb 15, 2008)

redtail2426 said:


> I use a heat panel that screws in to the ceiling I can set the temperature to what ever I want because it has a temperature probe on a thermostat and it also has a night drop so I can drop the temps at night. I have it on the cool side of my enclosure and during the day it usually wont come on with the heat from the lights unless the door is open or if it is really cold outside sometimes it will come on but at night it runs quite often to keep the temps were I want them. It even has an alarm to let me know if things get to cold or to hot. Expensive but worth it because you dont have to mess with anything its all automatic and it uses alot less power then lights so if you are paying the electric bill it will save you some cash.



So you don't let them bask?


----------



## redtail2426 (Feb 16, 2008)

No they bask I have a 160w mega ray bulb and a 150w uva basking lamp the heat pad is on my cool side and just keeps temps were I want them especially at night.


----------

