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Uromastyx basking spot temps

F

Flatfish1

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I have a flat stone for my Uros to bask on. I have an infrared heat lamp that gets the surface of the stone to about 112-120 degrees in the hottest spot. My question is: Is this hot enough? I mean do you go strictly by temperature, or do you use the behavior of your animals as a guide? In other words, I realize that I should raise the temperature for my basking spot based on my temperature readings, but as I observe my lizards, they seem to be doing fine in the basking spot as it is now. They climb onto the rock, lower their bellies tight to the surface, and bask for about 5 minutes at a time. When 5 minutes are up, they usually climb down from the spot and go about their business for a while: Cruising, eating, digging, checking things out for 10 to 15 minutes, then going back up to the basking spot for another 5 minutes or so. Also, they usually don't get right under the hottest spot on the rock, just off to the side a little bit. My point is, by my OBSERVATIONS, it seems like my Uros are getting plenty of heat from their basking spot. But by pure numbers (TEMPERATURE) some might say I need to raise the temperature on my basking area. Any advise?

Wayne
 
Assuming you have a good IR thermometer and your temperature measurements are accurate, the basking spot should definitely be warmer, and that warm area large enough for both animals..

I have two Moroccans and keep the basking area at about 130oF. The rest of the enclosure should also be warm, and I have the coolest hide spot at about 85oF. I saw a noticeable improvement in activity and appetite when I brought my basking temperatures up from where you have yours.

I think that the fact that they return to the basking area every 10-15 minutes shows us they are getting cool when they are away. What are temperatures across the rest of the enclosure? Do you have areas that drop below about 80-85oF? Uros are desert dwellers that live in extreme heat and bask on very hot rocks in direct sun. Just because they get a little too cool when away doesn't mean they have to get into the very hottest part of your basking area to recover. Do you have them in a glass (high temperature loss) enclosure?

It could be that the basking light is too close/intense and the hot-spot is too hot while still not bringing the platform temp up where it needs to be. That would explain why they don't get directly under the heat lamp. Is the area under the light large enough for both lizards? You may do better with two smaller heat lamps than one big one which might provide more overall heat without having an intolerably hot beam.

My breeder gave me very good advice, have you spoken with yours?
 
Hot Spot

They are in a 4 x 2 x 2 melamine cage with background made of carved insulation foam. Losing heat is not an issue. The cool side is about 85 to 87 degrees. I need to get a good quality temp gun. I have a hard time trusting what I have now. I'm going to turn up my hot spot by 5 degrees and see how that goes. It's just hard to imagine that anything could thrive in such hot temperatures, so I'm going to sneak up on it slowly! Thanks for your advise.

Now if I may, a related question: My Herpstat is awesome and allows me to set a night time temperature and also allows me to set ramp times. I currently have it set 10 degrees cooler at night and an hour ramp time both ways. Is 10 degrees a good temp difference between night and day or should the difference be greater?

Wayne
 
Cage Picture

Here is my cage.
 

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Infrared lights are not good for uros, a wide spectrum, halogen outside flood bulb is a lot better, I kep a 90w in one end of my 4x2x2 enclosures and a 35 in the cool end, temps are close to the same, but I've been keeping/breeding uros since 1990 and read and researched all I could find.
 
Infrared lights not good for Uros

I did not know that about infrared lights. Of course the "EXPERTS" who sold me the bulb knew I was getting it for Uros and didn't say anything. So I wanted to change it out anyway because I just don't like the look of the red light. So another "EXPERT" sold me an infrared ceramic heat emitter. Is an infrared ceramic heat emitter going to be bad for Uromastyx too? Seems like the more I learn, the less I know!
 
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