# Hard time maintaining hot spot



## ccole93 (Mar 20, 2013)

My tegu is currently hibernating in a 40G tank. I think my ceramic heat emitter is 100W but it doesn't bring the basking spot up past like 75 degrees. It's currently freezing cold where I live and I've been turning on the space heater to help raise the temps but I can't figure out how to raise the temps any further. Maybe 150W? I bought one of those wire clamp lamps but it seemed to make it worse.


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## KritterKeeper (Mar 20, 2013)

Use an actual light bulb for the basking spot with a dome light fixture..


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## ccole93 (Mar 20, 2013)

That's what I did for a long time but I had even worse results.


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## KritterKeeper (Mar 20, 2013)

I dont think CHE are made for basking. That doesnt make sense that it was worse. Whats your setup like? Do you have the light on top of a screen? I can get my basking spot over 100 with a 60watt household bulb and a dome fixture. How are you measuring the temps?


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## ccole93 (Mar 20, 2013)

Yes it's on top of the screen alongside the UVB bulb. I use a spot thermometer and have a few of them set up throughout the tank.


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## KritterKeeper (Mar 20, 2013)

Thats probably your problem. That will cut down on the heat getting through and the screen will also block some of the UVB. Clamp the basking light on the side and hang the UVB or set it across the top even but there shouldnt be anything between the light and the lizard.


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## ccole93 (Mar 20, 2013)

So should I take off the entire top then? The UVB is clamped to the side of the tank but the screen is still between them and I couldn't figure out a way to clamp the heat lamp so it just rests on top. I'm worried he'll leap out of his tank.


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## KritterKeeper (Mar 20, 2013)

Well i would..how tall is your tank? I know my columbian is a jumper but i didnt think argentines were big on jumping but i could be wrong..
What kind of UV bulb are you using?


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## ccole93 (Mar 20, 2013)

Oh man... I think it's a foot and a half tall? It's just a Zilla tank from Petsmart. Yeah he has a Lizard Ladder ledge so he can get closer to the UVB and he uses that to propel himself up. Over the summer he kept jumping into the screen... it was kinda weird lol. I'm using a 26W Tropical ZooMed bulb.

I also just put a regular household lightbulb in to see if it makes a difference.  Might as well give it a shot again. Someone told me CHEs are great for basking.


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## TeguBuzz (Mar 20, 2013)

Get a proper enclosure that isn't one of those screen top fish tanks, maybe then your temps will be easier to maintain.


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## ccole93 (Mar 20, 2013)

It is proper. It's a reptile tank. I'm not putting my tiny baby tegu in his six foot enclosure yet and I'm not shelling out $350 for a Vision cage. Thanks for not helping at all and being rude. 

I got the spot up to 90! A few people are telling me to use Powersun or wire a GU bulb.


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## TeguBuzz (Mar 21, 2013)

ccole93 said:


> It is proper. It's a reptile tank. I'm not putting my tiny baby tegu in his six foot enclosure yet and I'm not shelling out $350 for a Vision cage. Thanks for not helping at all and being rude.
> 
> I got the spot up to 90! A few people are telling me to use Powersun or wire a GU bulb.



Rude? Buddy - a glass tank sold in petsmart or petco labeled "For reptiles", isn't actually for reptiles. Especially ones that require higher humidity. Your fish tank was not made for a tegu. How large is your tegu? You said you've had it since summer? He's probably outgrown the fish bowl you have him in. You want rude? I can give you rude. My first comment was direct. Your clearly uneducated on tegu matters. Ceramic heat emitters for basking? Youve got it all wrong. Invest in proper lighting - a power sun, like others have told you.


Your fish tank may house a bearded dragon, or something along those lines, but that's it.


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## chitodadon (Mar 21, 2013)

No that's not a proper enclosure u need a wooden on atb least 7x3x3 fornyour they wit a 160w powersun and constant humidity of 60%

from Samsung Galaxy S3


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## ccole93 (Mar 21, 2013)

My tegu is small enough to rest comfortably in the palm of my hand. He is less than a foot long, thus, his 40 gallon tank is the perfect size. Don't call me "buddy"; I'm a grown woman, not your drinking pal. He has been hibernating since November and has not grown an inch in that time. Chill out and get over yourself. No one learns these things automatically, which is why I'm asking questions. I don't need you jumping down my throat with derogatory comments. 

Same to you, chito. He's less than a foot long. There's no way he's going in his adult cage yet. Aren't you the one that burned your tegu to death in the bathtub? If so, I definitely don't want advice from you. Do any of you know how to read or do you prefer being assholes?


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## TeguBuzz (Mar 21, 2013)

Drinking pal? I read your username - ccole93. I was assuming your a 93 kid. How am I supposed to know youre a grown woman? Chill out? Get over myself? Honey - I'm as chilled as can be. I am merely stating that your enclosure is wrong, and I will stand by that. Unless you have a humidifier/fogger constantly running, there is no way you will maintain the proper humidity levels. Unless you're misting every hour. 

All in all, do as you wish. I would do things differently. Building a wooden enclosure of a smaller size would have been more proper and would have cost you less than your 40 gallon.


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## TegusRawsome80 (Mar 21, 2013)

It's incredibly hard to maintain proper temps and humidity in a 40 gallon fish tank. It is much easier to maintain them in a proper wooden enclosure. Chito, I feel like this is a pot kettle black situation since your 3.5 foot tegu was in a 50 gallon tank for a year. For a grown woman Ccole93, you sure don't take advice well. Please just calm down and try to see the advice without taking any comments personally.


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## ccole93 (Mar 21, 2013)

I do have a fogger running, along with a room humidifier. Humidity, space, and the health of the animal are of no concern. The cage works to perfection. I own a Brazilian rainbow boa that will die without 80%+ humidity. I know how to take care of the pets I own, but due to the cold weather and trying to wake him from hibernation, I've encountered difficulty with the heat. 

No, it wouldn't have, because I got the cage for free. 

This is why I hate asking for advice on these forums. You're all ridiculously rude and turn around and tell me I'm just not able to take "constructive criticism." Guess what? It isn't that hard using a 40 gallon tank. As aforementioned, I keep a BRB in one!


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## TegusRawsome80 (Mar 21, 2013)

So essentially you don't know how to care for the animal(keep it's temperatures right) yet you know how to care for all your animals. Wow, this is a new one. I don't really know what to say to you. Getting a free cage doesn't mean you got the cage you should be using. I don't view anyone's comments as rude except for yours. Chito's advice probably shouldn't be taken with any validity but wasn't rude.


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## ccole93 (Mar 21, 2013)

His temps were PERFECT over the summer. LIKE I KEEP SAYING, it's been cold and he's been hibernating for four months so things are off and it's hard getting it back up to snuff. I just wanted some help. The cage works fine so please stop harping on me about it. I've already built him an eight foot cage. Now it's a waiting game until he's big enough to move.


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## TegusRawsome80 (Mar 21, 2013)

Well the cage is the problem. I doubt he'd have any issue in a larger cage. The theory that animals that live naturally with no boundaries would have a problem in an 8 foot space is ridiculous by the way. Your cage worked in the summer because it was hot enough that it didn't need to hold a lot of heat. Now it's not summer and you're confused why it's not working.


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## ccole93 (Mar 21, 2013)

Really? Because I put my BRB in her current cage when she was small and she did nothing but hide and bite me whenever I tried to check on her. I've already tried putting the tegu in his cage and he did nothing but hide in a corner and hiss at me. Hm, wonder why? I'll figure it out myself.


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## TegusRawsome80 (Mar 21, 2013)

You probably haven't provided sufficient substrate or objects to hide in/under but that's another useless debate that you'll likely get offended by and gain nothing from. You asked, we answered, you didn't like it so you threw a fit.


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## TeguBuzz (Mar 21, 2013)

Grown woman, she says. I know what I'm doing, she says. 

Keep doing what you're doing and stop asking for help if you won't accept the facts given. You are clearly a guru on the subject.


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## ccole93 (Mar 21, 2013)

No, this is an ongoing problem in forums like this. I'm in a reptile group on Facebook and we frequently discuss how abysmal these forums along with the other tegu forums are. It's not hard to deliver advice politely. Well, for most people it isn't, but it seems like many of you are much worse than most people. 

Anyway, thanks for nothing! I got the basking spot up and Smaug has emerged, thanks to my friends on Facebook!


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## TegusRawsome80 (Mar 21, 2013)

It's not hard to accept advice politely either, but you sure seem to have problems with it.


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## ccole93 (Mar 21, 2013)

It is when you're being unnecessarily rude.


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## TegusRawsome80 (Mar 21, 2013)

I'm pretty sure this started when YOU went after TeguBuzz and called HIM rude after he offered the advice that your enclosure is not generally suited to a tegus needs.


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## ccole93 (Mar 21, 2013)

Do you have any advice to offer or are you going to continue pushing a useless argument? I'd like help with my lizard minus the attitude. If you have no advice, you're getting off topic and ruining my thread.


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## TegusRawsome80 (Mar 21, 2013)

I thought you already solved the problem? Why would you want my advice?


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## TeguBuzz (Mar 21, 2013)

My first post in this thread was direct. Why write you a large paragraph stating the same thing to make it sound nice when I can post something that only takes up one line and deliver the direct point. 

If you think this forum is aggressive - you are quite wrong "buddy". Come see me at one if the monitor forums, you'll make a lot of friends there - sarcasm noted. Have fun with your friendly fairy friends over on Facebook.


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## ccole93 (Mar 21, 2013)

So so sad. Thanks for nothing.


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## TegusRawsome80 (Mar 21, 2013)

A real tragedy.


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## chitodadon (Mar 21, 2013)

I laugh because u don't hurt me I was just saying from wat I was taught and godzilla his even a year old lol and has been hibernating since December yea he was in a 50 gal at 3ft long and whem he wakes he is goi ng in his 7ft enclosure he is only 8 months and it doesn't matter if u a grown woman or not u acting like a kids take things out on peolpe and stuff first zeus wasn't burned because the watee wasn't to hot I though I burned him but didmt because he takes a bath the same temps and I also found out that store I got him from which had about ten tegus in a 40 gal breeder rest of hatchlings also died same way zeus died which was twicting and the rolling over a whole bunch of times

from Samsung Galaxy S3


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## BatGirl1 (Mar 21, 2013)

I'm not sure if this thread is all done, but as anyone who has spoken with me knows i had niles in a 40gal wide breeder when I first got him in sept. He was like 16 in when i got him and was 18in in oct when went down for hibernation. I used a uvb bulb in one dome and bask light in other...but when it blew out I used a reg 100watt bulb and he used to bask fine under it. I also had a heat pad positioned under the tank. I use this method for my beardy too. Now this was only temporary, mind you...while building his big cage, and because he was hibernating pretty much since I got him it was fine. However, i took him out to eat, explore, snuggle every day. Oh i also had a reptifogger positioned into the tank in the center. It really worked well for that size tank. I actually had to shut it off periodically. On the cool side of tank I had a pillowcase folded in half over the screen, all the way up to the light domes. It helped contain some of the heat and humidity. Now mind you this was temporary and a would not recommend a larger tegu to be kept this way. Niles is 'still ' hibernating. For two days he's been getting up (at night for some reason). I decided to put him into his big cage though instead of waiting for him to fully wake up. I felt he was big enough at 18in . Oh and he was a jumper when in the tank.haha. like if he saw me he'd get excited and jump and hit his nose on the screen to come out. I was lucky to get a tegu that loves being held  so i would never recommend keeping any animal with no screen top! Asking for trouble. Just my input.


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## chitodadon (Mar 21, 2013)

For temporary its ok we all know but to keep heat and humidity u have to cover about 80% of the lid

from Samsung Galaxy S3


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