# water temperature



## steve (Nov 4, 2008)

i give my tegu a bath in the morning so i can work a little in her enclosure, change the drinking /soaking pan water etc... my question is if i first her a warm bath and the water temperature goes down to room temperature still warm to the touch is this too cold for her? wouldn't natural water temps be colder than this in the wild?.
also on a side question unrelated to water temps, if i dont go get her up in the morning i figure she will sleep all day. when shes up shes pretty awake and will explore until she finds a dark quiet spot and then curls up and goes to sleep. i have offered her food 4 times yesterday and she wasn't interested. is this hibernation or is she just stressed out cuz of the new place or am i doing something wrong?


----------



## ashesc212 (Nov 4, 2008)

sorry to hijack your thread a little - tegus take baths like bearded dragons?


----------



## steve (Nov 4, 2008)

from the care sheet in this forum:
"Water:
Tegus require fresh water on a daily basis. It also would be recommended that their water dishes/bowls be big enough to soak in."

under this statement perhaps i assume they like to swim, hence the tub. but then i could be wrong and thats why im asking.


----------



## DaveDragon (Nov 4, 2008)

We bath ours in the biggest Rubbermaid container I could find about once a week. I use a TempGun to get the water temp at 95 degrees and add more hot water when the temp drops to 90.


----------



## ashesc212 (Nov 4, 2008)

Oh, cool. I always love bath time...I don't think Kwayze (beardie) feels the same way, however...


----------



## steve (Nov 4, 2008)

wow 95 degrees? that just seems so extreme but i guess it is hot where they come from.


----------



## DaveDragon (Nov 4, 2008)

steve said:


> wow 95 degrees? that just seems so extreme but i guess it is hot where they come from.


Their basking temp should be 95 to 105. The warm temp also stimulates them to "go".


----------



## jor71 (Nov 4, 2008)

I use a litter tray in my enclosure. He leaves me a gift in it everyday 

The water stays quite warm since there is a heat lamp above it

Here is a pic:






Let me throw in a nice pic of him....sorry just can't resist:


----------



## DaveDragon (Nov 4, 2008)

Very nice!!!!!


----------



## steve (Nov 4, 2008)

ok i can see i need a larger wattage che my 150 just doesn't get the area hot enough or after all these years of having it is just worn out.
thank you


----------



## jor71 (Nov 4, 2008)

150 watts should be enough to warm up the area. How big is the enlcosure? What is the distance between the basking bulb and the basking area? What is the room temp where the cage is located?


----------



## jor71 (Nov 4, 2008)

DaveDragon said:


> Very nice!!!!!



Set up or Ash??

Either way, thank you


----------



## steve (Nov 4, 2008)

its about 18 inches distance but the temp is only reaching 91 degrees at best and i am going to move it further away for safety i dont like how its mounted at this moment and at that time it will be about 28 inches away. the average room temp stays in the low 70s and the enclosure is not enclosed so heat cannot stay in. i need to do some more modification to the cage in question


----------



## jor71 (Nov 4, 2008)

Ok before I respond to what you said about distance and so on. When you say temp at 91 degrees, do you mean surface or air?


----------



## steve (Nov 4, 2008)

surface temp of 91 degrees i figure its in the 80s for air temp


----------



## jor71 (Nov 4, 2008)

If you can only get it to 91 degrees and it is 18" away; you are going to pretty much need a huge bulb to get it at 105 - 110 at 28" away. How do you have the light set up? Do you have the bulb exposed where he can touch it? You can buy a guard to go around the bulb to prevent the lizard from touching the bulb.

What kind of cage do you have him/her in? Do you have pics of the cage you can post? When you say not enclosed, do you mean the top of it?

My house is at like 70 - 71 and I can keep my enclosure basking spot high enough with 100 watts.


----------



## steve (Nov 4, 2008)

i will put a couple of pics of the cage here
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://pets.webshots.com/album/568385348MYlHoz">http://pets.webshots.com/album/568385348MYlHoz</a><!-- m -->


----------



## jor71 (Nov 4, 2008)

So the whole entire cage is not enclosed and you use wire. How is your humidity? You need to have it atleast 70% and it is pretty tough to get it that way with an opened enclosure.

I am not sure, but his nose looks a little weird. Has he been rubbing his nose against the sides?

I would get him a different enclosure if I were you.


----------



## steve (Nov 4, 2008)

i know what mods i have to do to the enclosure. i bought it used the way it is right now. i can temporarily put plastic on where the wire was till i can get glass panels to put in its place,. yes she has been rubbing her nose, im not crazy about that but i check on her and when i don't check on her my better half does. we also mist her down and the baths are for humidity. she seems to be wanting to hibernate, she will go find a dark place to sleep and just stay there. she gets plenty of time outside the enclosure and i only put her back in when shes hiding under the sofa. 
during the day i leave the enclosure door open so she can come out when she feels like it. 
i plan on either a fogger for humidity or a small waterfall. its all in the works but cash is tight so a little at a time. she eats good when she does seems about every 3-4 days. i gave her 2 large mice on her first day here but she wouldn't eat anything till about 2 days ago and then again today. i gave her some salmon fillets and chicken hearts gizzards and livers.


----------



## ashesc212 (Nov 5, 2008)

jor71 said:


> Let me throw in a nice pic of him....sorry just can't resist:



Oooh handsome


----------



## jor71 (Nov 5, 2008)

Before spending money on a fogger and so on, try the plastic (be sure there is proper ventilation) and monitor it. I constantly monitor my temps; I have four digital thermometers/hygrometers and I use a temp gun for surface temps. You seem to understand their needs and it is a work in progress. I wish you luck and don't hesitate to ask questions here.


Thanks ashesc212 :-D


----------

