Basking temp

[Kyle1985]

Ideal basking temp? I just built a 4x2x2 enclosure out of melamine and mounted a 40 watt flood light on the ceiling. It's out of reach but the basking area is around 110 in an area of about a square foot and the heat dissipates to around 75 on the cool end. And ideal humidity? Also, is there any way to post pictures directly from an iphone on here?

[jdheff1982]

First off, welcome and what skink? We need to know that first.

For a northern, the basking temp should be a bit lower; closer to 100. Are you measuring the air temp or surface temp of the basking area? I find it hard to believe that a 40 watt flood lamp could provide enough heat since the bulb is designed to spread the light in a wide area. I'm using a 75 watt halogen standard bulb in a 10 inch dome at 10 inches from basking area. It is pointed at a piece of slate and the surface temp is about 95 to 100 degrees. Cool end is about 75 degrees, also.

As for humidity, we need to know what skink you have first.

[Richard.C]

Hi kyle,welcomce to bts.net,to post pics from your fone hit the reply button instead of the quick reply button,as the uploads attatchments part only works with the reply button,when the text box appears,scroll down under that and highlighted in blue is upload attatchments,when u click that theres a browser so click that and then search your fones galleru for pics u want to post,i often have to crop mu pics first as there marginallu to big to post,im on a samsung galaxy though,so could be different

Your temps sound spot on to me,especially if a more tropical species,as long as 110 is just at basking spot and they can get awau from that warmth easy things are good,i personally find it hard holding your cool end temp though as it gets cold here ,but one of the joys of a big temp gradient is it gives them choices and i find its alot more forgiving of minor errors to,i offer some of mine even higher basking temps,usually thoigh there in big cages and i have a huge temp gradient,especially in the cooler months

[Kyle1985]

Not sure what kind he (not sure the sex but I'll refer to it as a he) is maybe you can help me with that too? A little history here he's been in the family around 10 years. Was full grown whenever my brother got him and had a partial section of regenerated tail. My brother moved out a couple of years ago and he's been at my parents ever since. I just recently purchased a home and we have an 8 year old who loves him so I decided to build a cage and bring him home with me. I have experience keeping monitor lizards and various snakes but this is my 1st BTS.

Anyways, the basking temp is being measured on the surface with a probe. I've attached a few pics of the lizard (named subzero) along for identification. Thanks for the help

[jdheff1982]

Oh yeah, he/she is a Northern! Nice skink and nice enclosure! Need a better bird's eye body shot for guessing the sex.

[Kyle1985]

Thanks and thanks! I was pretty proud of the cage myself. Probably the first thing that I've ever built that came out exactly as I pictured it lol

Here are the best pics that I could get for now without disturbing him too much for just getting acclimated to the new home. There's the tail that I was talking about as well.

Also, any advice on humidity levels? Thanks again

[DianaBlueTongue]

wow! beautiful northern! that's great he's been a loved family pet for so long, I always love hearing happy stories like that.

humidity for a northern should be anywhere from 20-40%. you can provide a humid hide too for him to use when he's getting close to shedding for that little extra oomph of humidity but honestly, whatever you've done for the last 10 years I think it's safe to say is working brilliantly, he looks in great shape!

The cage looks great to BTW, awesome job! Subzero, im sure, will adore it

[YouSureSkink]

What is everyone's thoughts on having no hides in the tank? I'm not trying to say he needs them but I'm just curious. You guys are the experts and say that it looks good, so I'll take your word on that. I guess if they have substrate to burrow in it's OK?

[jdheff1982]

What is everyone's thoughts on having no hides in the tank? I'm not trying to say he needs them but I'm just curious. You guys are the experts and say that it looks good, so I'll take your word on that. I guess if they have substrate to burrow in it's OK?

If they have adequate hides, they tend to not burrow so much. However, adding more decor would make the enclosure more appealing. Plus, adding things for the skink to climb on and inspect adds environment enrichment and exercise. Heck, the small food dish I leave in the enclosure disappears every once in a while. Sometimes, I'll find it buried in a hide. Not saying that is enrichment, but it does give an sense of personality from the skink.
Your enclosure has TONS of room, go wild and set it up.

[NorthEastBlue]

Nice looking BTS and enclosure, it looks huge, hes going to love it. Great job.

Can i make one suggestion , in your last picture it doesnt look like you sealed the joints with anything. You might want to consider sealing the joints with an aquarium type sealent to help keep the moisture away from the particle board inside. Particle board hates water, in my job we call it fallaparticle board. A couple of spilled water bowls or to much humidity will turn that stuff to mush if it gets inside.

Jeremy

[Kyle1985]

Thanks everyone! There is a hide box in the cage it just isn't pictured. I put it in after taking pictures of the initial setup. I've got it buried on the far left side. The cage will have more decorations soon. My main goal was to make the cage, get it setup, and make sure he was comfortable and eating before I started making additions to the enclosure. It being in the living room it's important that it looks nice. The entire time he was at my parents he was in a large aquarium with heat pad and newspaper. I was really anxious to see how he'd react to the new home lol so far so good. Wandering/basking/digging/eating really well.

And Jeremy, that was the plan but whenever I was buying materials from lowes I couldn't find any, and it completely slipped my mind. I'll seal it all up whenever I'm off work this weekend. How long does it take to dry?

[DianaBlueTongue]

You can usually find aquarium silicone at most pet stores, that would do the trick or just some basic caulk. It's best to let either sit at least 12 hours I think

[Kyle1985]

Thanks for the help Diana