Varanus99
12-10-2008, 08:03 AM
Hello boys and girls. Me again. The Oozer of Knowledge. Big fat thank you to my significant other for those choice of words. Onward.
Novice varanid keepers can experience a host of problems. I often hear "I just got (fill in the blank) monitor and he wont eat". Well, there could be any number of reasons for that. From stress to improper food choices. But I would say the most common reason a captive reptile, and this is across the board, refuses to feed is inadequate temperatures. The problem is compounded due to the fact that varanids require higher temperatures than most people think.
If you read the old books and even a few articles online you may find authors suggest hot spots of 90-100 degrees. I've seen 110 as well. For most reptiles this is just fine. But not for varanids. Not quite.
I believe it was Frank Retes once again who first popularized the idea of high basking spots. He was doing things nobody else was doing. And his animals were breeding like crazy. Not that I consider breeding the ultimate in determining whether or not your husbandry is on point but its certainly a good sign. His monitors were going through normal life events. Thats what healthy monitors do. They breed, they burrow, they eat like slobs. If your monitor isnt doing those things something is off. Retes was using hot spots any where from 130-160 degrees. At the time people said he was crazy. You're gonna fry your lizards! But what I think a lot of people missed was he was talking about surface temperatures, not air temperatures. There is a difference.
On a warm, sunny day try this. Go outside and find a rock sitting in the sun. Take your temp gun (You have one , right? :) ) and check the surface temp. The air temperature might be 80 degrees but you will find that rock is much higher. Any where from 100-200 degrees since its been soaking up the suns heat. And on these rocks you will find reptiles basking away without harm. Usually for short period of time. Lizards dont live to bask, they bask to live if that makes any sense. Basking is dangerous business unless they can find a warm spot under cover. But the idea is bask, warm up, get the heck out of there. Go back to foraging for food, chasing a female or sleeping in a burrow. If you have a monitor that basks seemingly nonstop that should tell you that your temps are too cool.
The magic number seems to be 130 degrees. Thats the minimum I want to see in my basking spots. And I go higher for adults. Mine range from 140-160. And I have yet to have a lizard get burned. Thermal burns are caused by a lizard in a cold cage trying to get warm in too small of an area. Which brings up the next point. The basking spot should be large enough to cover the lizards entire body including most if not all of his tail. And thats it! Its just a spot. It should not cover 1/3 or even 1/4 of the cage. Just one lizard-sized spot. You wont find this in a science book but I believe that when lizards absorb heat over their entire body they seem to understand that better. Want proof? How many lizards have been burned by a hot rock? Quite a few. Especially if that was the only source of heat in the cage. So we have a lizard that often was larger than the hot rock itself in a cold cage trying to get warm. He lays on the rock...and lays there...and lays there. But his body temperature is not reaching happy land. So there he stays and a thermal burn results. And Im not even talking about defective hot rocks that have blazing quarter sized areas thats a whole other story.
Plus for varanids I much prefer an overhead heat source. I dont like to use any type of heat tape or heat mat for varanids. But then again I have them in a room with background heat. If the room is very cold you could use those devices to *help* keep your temps where you want them. But they should not be your one and only source of heat nor do I think you should blaze them. I strongly believe the main source of heat should be overhead bulbs. Sue me.
Back to the basking spot. I use normal flood light bulbs. Not spot lights as they shoot the heat down in too small of an area. The floods as their name suggests throw the light over a larger area and thus disperse the heat better. For a small lizard I use a single bulb. For larger lizards I use a bank of bulbs. It might be 2, 3 or more. Whatever I need to cover its entire body. I tend to line mine up but Ive seen keepers use a traingle of bulbs to good effect. I use the smallest wattage I possibly can. Small wattage bulbs are safer and cheaper to run. Plus they dont dry out the air like a monster 250 wattage bulb would do. I use 30-50 watt bulbs in call my cages and I hit my temps no problem. The trick is to move the lizard closer to the bulb with an elevated basking platform or move the bulb down. Not by increasing the wattage. Ive talked about this before. Big fire, sit far away, small fire, sit close you get the idea.
It should be noted I do no use any special lighting. No UVB, no UV, none of that. Whether or not they need it or if its helps them is debateable. I can tell you this my animals are thriving and breeding with no UVB. Retes doesnt use them, Robyn at ProExotics doesnt use them, most of the breeders I have spoken with do not use them. I do not think they will do any harm but I dont think they are necessary at least for varanids. Perhaps for veggie eaters. I believe monitors need heat more than they need UVB. Personally, and this is just my opinion, I think those bulbs are just expensive lights encouraged by the pet trade to get the money out of your pocket. And most of them throw so little UVB its not even funny.
I shoot for 130-150 for my adults and just a little lower around 120-130 for babies. On hot days my spots have gone over 160 and there are the lizards flopped out, appendages spread out wide to catch as much heat as possible and loving it. Sometimes just kicking that temp from 110 to 130 can make all the difference. Often a novice may have a monitor that is doing alright, eating ok, in other words surviving but not quite *thriving*. Sometimes its as simple as kicking the heat another 10-20 degrees and it makes all the difference in the world. They are exposed to these temperatures in their natural habitats and Im sure they use them. And, when it gets too hot, they retreat to cooler area. And thats exactly what your lizards will do if the cage is set up properly.
My guys have a routine. I turn my lights off at night. Some folks run their lights 24/7 and you can do that but I prefer to give them a night cycle. Call me crazy. Anyway I hit the lights in the morning and within a short period of time out they come. Not all of them all the time but quite a few. They come out and head up to the basking spot to warm up. After a while they are satisfied and go about their business. Maybe back to the burrow for a nap, do some digging, look for food, chase that comely female whatever is on their agenda for the day. They may return later in the day and they will very often hit the basking spot after a big meal. The basking spot is a husbandry tool and they are using it as such.
Some folks still believe those temps are too hot. I say its all about choices. Give them the choice and let them make the decisions. I think the more choices WE make for our monitors the worse off they will be. They dont use the hottest spot of the cage every day but its there if they want it. I always advocate a gradient. Since I use Retes Stacks (All Hail) my lizards can choose what temperature they want to be at any given time. And I always make sure I have a cool side floating around 75-80 degrees or even a little lower IF they want to use it. Which they usually dont. They spend most of their time on the hot side. But I do see them on the cool side and they may even have a burrow over there. Fine. Do whatever makes you happy. You scaley little devils.
:cheers:
Novice varanid keepers can experience a host of problems. I often hear "I just got (fill in the blank) monitor and he wont eat". Well, there could be any number of reasons for that. From stress to improper food choices. But I would say the most common reason a captive reptile, and this is across the board, refuses to feed is inadequate temperatures. The problem is compounded due to the fact that varanids require higher temperatures than most people think.
If you read the old books and even a few articles online you may find authors suggest hot spots of 90-100 degrees. I've seen 110 as well. For most reptiles this is just fine. But not for varanids. Not quite.
I believe it was Frank Retes once again who first popularized the idea of high basking spots. He was doing things nobody else was doing. And his animals were breeding like crazy. Not that I consider breeding the ultimate in determining whether or not your husbandry is on point but its certainly a good sign. His monitors were going through normal life events. Thats what healthy monitors do. They breed, they burrow, they eat like slobs. If your monitor isnt doing those things something is off. Retes was using hot spots any where from 130-160 degrees. At the time people said he was crazy. You're gonna fry your lizards! But what I think a lot of people missed was he was talking about surface temperatures, not air temperatures. There is a difference.
On a warm, sunny day try this. Go outside and find a rock sitting in the sun. Take your temp gun (You have one , right? :) ) and check the surface temp. The air temperature might be 80 degrees but you will find that rock is much higher. Any where from 100-200 degrees since its been soaking up the suns heat. And on these rocks you will find reptiles basking away without harm. Usually for short period of time. Lizards dont live to bask, they bask to live if that makes any sense. Basking is dangerous business unless they can find a warm spot under cover. But the idea is bask, warm up, get the heck out of there. Go back to foraging for food, chasing a female or sleeping in a burrow. If you have a monitor that basks seemingly nonstop that should tell you that your temps are too cool.
The magic number seems to be 130 degrees. Thats the minimum I want to see in my basking spots. And I go higher for adults. Mine range from 140-160. And I have yet to have a lizard get burned. Thermal burns are caused by a lizard in a cold cage trying to get warm in too small of an area. Which brings up the next point. The basking spot should be large enough to cover the lizards entire body including most if not all of his tail. And thats it! Its just a spot. It should not cover 1/3 or even 1/4 of the cage. Just one lizard-sized spot. You wont find this in a science book but I believe that when lizards absorb heat over their entire body they seem to understand that better. Want proof? How many lizards have been burned by a hot rock? Quite a few. Especially if that was the only source of heat in the cage. So we have a lizard that often was larger than the hot rock itself in a cold cage trying to get warm. He lays on the rock...and lays there...and lays there. But his body temperature is not reaching happy land. So there he stays and a thermal burn results. And Im not even talking about defective hot rocks that have blazing quarter sized areas thats a whole other story.
Plus for varanids I much prefer an overhead heat source. I dont like to use any type of heat tape or heat mat for varanids. But then again I have them in a room with background heat. If the room is very cold you could use those devices to *help* keep your temps where you want them. But they should not be your one and only source of heat nor do I think you should blaze them. I strongly believe the main source of heat should be overhead bulbs. Sue me.
Back to the basking spot. I use normal flood light bulbs. Not spot lights as they shoot the heat down in too small of an area. The floods as their name suggests throw the light over a larger area and thus disperse the heat better. For a small lizard I use a single bulb. For larger lizards I use a bank of bulbs. It might be 2, 3 or more. Whatever I need to cover its entire body. I tend to line mine up but Ive seen keepers use a traingle of bulbs to good effect. I use the smallest wattage I possibly can. Small wattage bulbs are safer and cheaper to run. Plus they dont dry out the air like a monster 250 wattage bulb would do. I use 30-50 watt bulbs in call my cages and I hit my temps no problem. The trick is to move the lizard closer to the bulb with an elevated basking platform or move the bulb down. Not by increasing the wattage. Ive talked about this before. Big fire, sit far away, small fire, sit close you get the idea.
It should be noted I do no use any special lighting. No UVB, no UV, none of that. Whether or not they need it or if its helps them is debateable. I can tell you this my animals are thriving and breeding with no UVB. Retes doesnt use them, Robyn at ProExotics doesnt use them, most of the breeders I have spoken with do not use them. I do not think they will do any harm but I dont think they are necessary at least for varanids. Perhaps for veggie eaters. I believe monitors need heat more than they need UVB. Personally, and this is just my opinion, I think those bulbs are just expensive lights encouraged by the pet trade to get the money out of your pocket. And most of them throw so little UVB its not even funny.
I shoot for 130-150 for my adults and just a little lower around 120-130 for babies. On hot days my spots have gone over 160 and there are the lizards flopped out, appendages spread out wide to catch as much heat as possible and loving it. Sometimes just kicking that temp from 110 to 130 can make all the difference. Often a novice may have a monitor that is doing alright, eating ok, in other words surviving but not quite *thriving*. Sometimes its as simple as kicking the heat another 10-20 degrees and it makes all the difference in the world. They are exposed to these temperatures in their natural habitats and Im sure they use them. And, when it gets too hot, they retreat to cooler area. And thats exactly what your lizards will do if the cage is set up properly.
My guys have a routine. I turn my lights off at night. Some folks run their lights 24/7 and you can do that but I prefer to give them a night cycle. Call me crazy. Anyway I hit the lights in the morning and within a short period of time out they come. Not all of them all the time but quite a few. They come out and head up to the basking spot to warm up. After a while they are satisfied and go about their business. Maybe back to the burrow for a nap, do some digging, look for food, chase that comely female whatever is on their agenda for the day. They may return later in the day and they will very often hit the basking spot after a big meal. The basking spot is a husbandry tool and they are using it as such.
Some folks still believe those temps are too hot. I say its all about choices. Give them the choice and let them make the decisions. I think the more choices WE make for our monitors the worse off they will be. They dont use the hottest spot of the cage every day but its there if they want it. I always advocate a gradient. Since I use Retes Stacks (All Hail) my lizards can choose what temperature they want to be at any given time. And I always make sure I have a cool side floating around 75-80 degrees or even a little lower IF they want to use it. Which they usually dont. They spend most of their time on the hot side. But I do see them on the cool side and they may even have a burrow over there. Fine. Do whatever makes you happy. You scaley little devils.
:cheers: