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Thread: Water and Lighting Info

  1. #1

    Default Water and Lighting Info

    Looking for any tips or ideas/suggestions you guys may have for lighting and water setups for my new enclosure...is it best to let me tegu soak in the tub??

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Posts
    768

    Default

    They dont naturally spend a lot of time in water, but will appreciate the odd soak, particularly when shedding. Its up to you; you can have a large water vessel in the cage (this will also help with humidity) for them to lie in, or offer regular baths. The problem with a large water container is obviously trying to drain and clean it regularly, as they will often poo in their water.

    There is a lot of debate on lighting, but general consensus is that you will need a basking light for heat and a UVB source, usually in the form of a fluorescent tube designed for reptiles (eg ReptiSun, Reptiglo etc). You can get combined Mercury Vapour Bulbs too, but these come in high wattages and will heat a smaller cage up to dangerous temperatures, so are best used for fairly large/high enclosures. You may need to do some experimenting with lights to get your cage temperatures right; I was using a 100W in my smaller viv when my tegu was younger, which gave a 110F basking spot and around 81F ambient background temps.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    fl
    Posts
    136

    Default johelian...quick question about your cage..

    hi, im a little new to these forums. i was looking at your album and saw pictures of your cages. very nice. im making a cage with a friend of mine for my blue tegu and i wanted to know how many vents should i put. those little circles on your cage are vents right? also what is it that you installed that is on the back wall? thanks for any info. take care.
    1.0.0 american pit bull terrier
    1.0.0 arg. b/w tegu
    0.1.0 crested gecko
    1.0.0 hogg island boa
    0.1.0 southern painted turtle
    1.1.0 calabar burrowing pythons
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    R.I.P. Bert Langerwerf & Steve Irwin

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Posts
    768

    Default

    Heya,
    Yup the circles are soffits used to let air through the cage; depending on the size of the cage, I would probably put at least two or three at the bottom corner of one side of the cage, and the same amount at the top corner of the opposite side (the height difference lets hot air leave at the top, consequently dragging new cooler air in at the bottom to give a good airflow). Try to avoid putting vents on the roof of the cage, as you will lose a lot of humidity through the top.

    The black wire on the back wall is the probe for my thermostat, which just reads the temps of the cage and then turns on the heat mat where needed to keep it warm enough (its always off until night time, as the cage is warmed enough by the lights) The gadget that is on the back (only in the old photos at the moment I think, but it is in the new cage now) is a digital thermometer/humidity gauge. It shows the ambient temp of the cage air, and also lets me keep a constant eye on the humidity which is pretty important.

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