bluetongue lizard preferred body temps.

[critterguy]

Just curious if anyone with a tempgun or probe has figured their animals preferred body temperatures. Here are a few papers.(all selected have to do with scincoides)

http://www.jstor.org/stable/1440719?seq=5
mean body temperature of experimental animals given access to sun-shad at 32.6 celcius(90 degrees farenheit). Apparently they can achieve higher body temperatures compared to ambient temperatures.

http://ajplegacy.physiology.org/content ... 1490.short
Here blueys preferred a temperature of about 29.6(84 degrees F) and voluntarily cooled during periods of inactivity.

http://www.springerlink.com/content/etp ... ltext.html
Field body temperatures measured with radiotransmitters in tropical region again at about 32 degrees celcius. Based on the locality of this studies these animals were likely what we'd recognize as intermedia.

[critterguy]

bump? Anyone here own a temp gun/probe?

[Coomassie]

I own one but I've only ever taken my surface temp with it. I never thought to take a reptile's temp with it. In using the temp gun, I've found that snakes and leopard geckos will chase laser pointers.

[Katrina]

bump? Anyone here own a temp gun/probe?

I own temp guns, but I find the temps that they go to vary quite a bit. My hot ends are quite large, so quite a big range in temps, and they show no preference that I can tell, other than the highest, warmest spot if it is still early and the enclosure isn't fully warm yet. Otherwise, it seems like convenience to me.

Because reptiles have a layer of keratin, I don't think they are really as sensitive to temperatures as would be required to 'prefer' 29 to 31 C. They can't really detect temperatures other than warm or cool very accurately, which is why some can get burnt from UTHs or those plug in heat rocks that don't work properly - they can't tell that it is too hot until it actually burns through the keratin to the dermis, where there are nerve endings. So people misinterpret that as either being stupid or not feeling pain (because they can burn quite severely before realizing and moving away).

I'm not sure that they have a preferred body temp (especially not one down to the degree), but rather can tell if it is warm enough to digest or not. Would be interested to hear what others think though.