# Hot enough to burn?



## redtail2426 (Feb 28, 2008)

When my tegu was almost 3 months old his basking spot was 125-135 for about 3 weeks due to the fact that my infrared temp gun was off. Most of the time he would lie next to his basking rock and not on it.My question is , is 135 degrees hot enough to burn my tegu? This was a few months ago but I wa just wondering.


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## shiftylarry (Feb 28, 2008)

It's hotter than I'd put it at, but not horrible. Maybe 120 is better. I use 135-150 for my monitors, but tegus come from a different climate. What wattage bulb are you using?

Whenever I set the temperatures, I just keep raising them, until my lizard wont go under them anymore, than I lower the temp a few degrees and I have an ideal temperature.


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## redtail2426 (Feb 28, 2008)

I have them fixed now I have two rocks one is at 100-105 and the other is at 110-115 so he has a choice of what he wants my temps were only that high before because my temp gun was off. I was just wondering if that was hot enough to burn.


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## DZLife (Feb 28, 2008)

I doubt that it would actually burn him, but that is still too high.


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## shiftylarry (Feb 28, 2008)

Again, what wattage bulb are you using?


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## redtail2426 (Feb 28, 2008)

It was a 100 watt basking bulb on a dimmer when he was in a 20 long (thats when the temps were to high) and now he has a 150 watt basking bulb and a 160 mega ray in his 6.5x40x27 enclosure.


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## shiftylarry (Feb 28, 2008)

Even in my largest enclosures, I never go above 65 watts (we're talking 8x4x6). I just use multiple bulbs. Higher wattage bulbs increase the risk of burns on an animal. I don't care if they're marketed for reptiles, experience has shown me that burns are much less common with low wattage bulbs. I find that people who use glass aquariums with screen tops, which have next to no insulation end up using higher wattage bulbs to compensate. This just ends up drying up the cage.

For your basking spot, I'd recommend 3 50 watt halogen flood bulbs in a row, so that your lizard doesn't have to keep shifting his body back and forth to get warm.

-Chris


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## redtail2426 (Feb 28, 2008)

I dont have any issues with my setup now that my temp gun works my temps are right on so I am not concerned about it. And isnt using 3, 50 watt bulbs the same as one 150 watt bulb it equals the same amount of power. Also my tegu dosnt really shift around to much. Thanks for the advice. And I am not worried about burns from touching the bulbs as the bulbs sit on top of my enclosure and are protected with a 1/2" screen mesh and he also has no way to reach them. I was more concerned with the temp on his basking rock being to high.


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## shiftylarry (Feb 28, 2008)

Not exactly the same. I think 3 50 watt bulbs would generate more heat, but in a less concentrated area. That's my basic point. To create a "bath of warmth" for lack of a better term, as opposed to a narrow beam.


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## RehabRalphy (Feb 28, 2008)

Basically Shiftylarry is trying to say that hes spreading the heat to a larger area by putting more bulbs in one spot. Yes 3 50 watt's can equal 150watt's of power, but thats not where we are going with this.

Having 1 bulb puts a small area of circumference for heat. 3 bulbs creates a larger area, and of a chance for burning.


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## redtail2426 (Feb 28, 2008)

Gotcha


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## shiftylarry (Feb 28, 2008)

> 3 bulbs creates a larger area, and of a chance for burning.


Really? 50 watts don't get as hot as 150 watts. I understand the surface area argument, but if you were to touch both bulbs, I think the higher watt bulbs would be more likely to burn you. It's like putting one really sharp knife in the enclosure as opposed to a few dull ones, and saying "well, the surface area is smaller, so you're less likely to get cut." 

I said this before, but I still think it's nice for the lights to run the SVL so that the lizard doesn't have to move around.

-Chris


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## redtail2426 (Feb 28, 2008)

My basking rocks are 16"x16" and the whole rock heats up and gets warm so my tegu has more then enough basking area. Also I dont think your reptiles should be able to get to your lights maybe you should put a protective screen over them.


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## shiftylarry (Feb 28, 2008)

I don't let my animals get too close to the lights, but accidents can happen and I do my best to prevent them.

When I first set up my enclosures, I build wire cages for all my lights as you suggest. Here's the problem: The light super-heats the wire surrounding it. Even if it's coated, which it was. Lizards like to climb, and the wire encourages them to climb on an investigate. If one of my arboreal lizards were to jump on the mesh, thinking it was something to climb on, he would have a longer period of time where he would be exposed to heat because he would be attached to something (their sharp, curved claws are designed to hook into things such as the crevices in branches). With the naked bulbs, the interval of the lizard touching the hot area would be very short. My experience has shown that the lizards simply avoid the hotter areas altogether. They're smart enough to know what's hot. The mesh just extends the hot area further out than it has to be.

I know I sound like an incredibly stubborn person, but believe me, I do a lot of experimentation before I settle on a final method. If someone introduces me to husbandry theories that seem more logical than mine, I have no problem abandoning my old ones.

-Chris


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## redtail2426 (Feb 28, 2008)

Are your lights on the inside or on top of your enclosure??


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## shiftylarry (Feb 28, 2008)

Definitely inside. You cannot maintain 80% humidity with a screen top enclosure. All of my enclosures are contained, even the ones for animals with lower humidity requirements. Well insulated cages have less heat loss and maintain humidity more easily.

Some of my enclosures are very tall, so I even use outdoor light fixtures, to place the lights in the middle of the cage. Otherwise I would have too much fluctuation.

Luckily, tegu enclosures don't need to be that tall, so this isn't something you should worry about.


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## VARNYARD (Feb 28, 2008)

shiftylarry said:


> It's hotter than I'd put it at, but not horrible. Maybe 120 is better. I use 135-150 for my monitors, but tegus come from a different climate. What wattage bulb are you using?
> 
> Whenever I set the temperatures, I just keep raising them, until my lizard wont go under them anymore, than I lower the temp a few degrees and I have an ideal temperature.



135-150? What monitors are they? I know of no monitors that bask when the weather is 135-150, that will burn. And 120 is too hot for tegus really, mine start going underground if it gets much over 95.

And for the record, *Death Valley is one of the hottest places on earth,* attaining the highest temperature ever recorded in the U.S., *134 degrees F. on July 10, 1913*. Summer high temperatures commonly run above 120 degrees F.

So I think you temps are way too high, these kind of temps can kill.


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## shiftylarry (Feb 28, 2008)

Let me clarify. The temps that are being measured, are not of the surrounding air. They are the BASKING SURFACE. These temperatures can only be measured with a temp gun. 

Have you ever wondered how you can cook an egg on the sidewalk? Surfaces get much much hotter than the surrounding air. 130-150 seems crazy, but it's not. When I measure a surface temp of 125 in my roughneck enclosure, the surrounding air near the light in the enclosure is about 97.

Check your surface temps in your enclosure. You'll be surprised how hot they are. I'll bet at least 115-120.


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## VARNYARD (Feb 28, 2008)

shiftylarry said:


> Let me clarify. The temps that are being measured, are not of the surrounding air. They are the BASKING SURFACE. These temperatures can only be measured with a temp gun.
> 
> Have you ever wondered how you can cook an egg on the sidewalk? Surfaces get much much hotter than the surrounding air. 130-150 seems crazy, but it's not. When I measure a surface temp of 125 in my roughneck enclosure, the surrounding air near the light in the enclosure is about 97.
> 
> Check your surface temps in your enclosure. You'll be surprised how hot they are. I'll bet at least 115-120.



Thats better, I will go along with that, but lets not get people thinking the temps need to be 120 to 150 inside the enclosures. If tegus are kept at 95 with no way to escape the heat they will die.


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## shiftylarry (Feb 28, 2008)

Surface temperatures reaching 150 would be ideal for large African species such as Albigularis and Exanthematicus.


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## shiftylarry (Feb 28, 2008)

When I say 97 degrees near the light, I'm talking about 4 inches away. Go out about 10 inches and it's 85. I'm not making lizard jerky LOL!


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