BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hey there guys

So I just recently moved, and have been working on putting together a reptile room. For my two BTS I'd bought custom 5 x 2 foot, 18 inch tall, Animal Plastics cages with screen sides and glass doors, and mounted a 4 foot Reptisun T5 5.0 UVB tube in each of the cage roofs.

But as it turns out with these cages, the bulbs are making it too hot! Even with the basking light turned off, the ambient temperature throughout the entire cage is around 80F.

I'm completely at a loss as to how to troubleshoot this. Usually I keep my cool side at 74-75F, so I need to cool it down about 5-6 degrees. Would switching to a T8 light instead make much difference at all? It'd only be going from a 54 watt to a 32 watt so I dunno, and that'd be $170 down the drain from the two fixtures.

Anyone happen to have any ideas?

The skinks are in their temporary 40 gallons right now while I get the cages set up btw

Admitably don't have much experience with the lights you have - but I would be tempted to:


1) first try adding a fan for increased ventilation. If placed on top of an ventilation strip, it could potentially bring in the room temperature to help cool it.
2) While we've not tried it for a Bluey, for other tanks we have placed a mesh panel (by using different DIY ideas: chicken mesh placed in the sliding partition, or I've cut a piece of acrylic which we drilled holes into, and also used a method involving a mosquito mesh sewn in between a metal frame the same dimensions as the glass sliding door). A mesh panel could be a way to get the tank to the room temperature (depending on your subspecies, it may not be appropriate if you need humidity, and will need to be checked for escape attempts!). I don't have a write up of these panels yet, but plan to one day.

However, from my understanding Blueys of all subspecies should be fine with an ambient of 80F, as long as it drops down to cooler temperatures at night - as I know in summer months it isn't possible for everyone. Although agree with you it would be most ideal to have a gradient long term

Agreed. 80 degrees Fahrenheit on the cool side is an appropriate temperature. My reptile room/basement usually stays at that temperature throughout the summer, even at night.

Thank you for the replies, I'm sorry my response was so late it's been a bit hectic around here.

I took your suggestion for the fan Kayla and put one at one end, it's managed to lower the temp by a few degrees so I think that should work for now. Your other idea is a good one too but I'm afraid that level of DIY is way too far above my head haha.

I'm glad to hear that 80 shouldn't be too warm, and it's not that I don't believe you but I guess it would still make me more comfortable if I could get more of a gradient going? I think I might order a shorter T5 so it doesn't cover the entire cage, and if that makes the cool end a little cooler that'll be great, but if not then it shouldn't be the problem I initially thought.

Thanks!

Glad to hear the fan has helped a little! I would presume the shorter T5 should work too (and perhaps the lower wattage as you mentioned, but tricky to say how much of an impact that would have). Let us know how it goes if you do decide change the tube - would be interesting to know the result