Getting the basking light to stay on

[lifesagame]

I don’t actually have my skink yet but he’s getting here on Saturday and my setup that was working fine has decided not to cooperate the past week.

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When I have the heat lamp on with the 60 watt bulb and higher the temps seem to be pretty much spot on going by the caresheet, especially the add ons for northerns. Cool end high 70s (ambient) and the basking spot is high 90s or low 100s on the actual rock and gets to around 110 on the fake rock I made (with the temp gun). Not sure what to do about that, would it be best to move the light slightly so it’s all on the fake rock and have that as the basking spot, though it moves it closer to the sideline the vivarium? That’s not really the main issue I’m having but if the difference is a problem then I’ll work on that too.

Anyway, the main problem is I can’t get the basking light to stay on, this then means the warm end drops to around the mid 80s and no basking spot. I have it on a dimmer thermostat as if I don’t it just gets way too hot in there even when dimmed if on all the time. I’ve tried various bulbs, at the moment I have a 40watt in and giving it a go but the basking temps don’t seem to be getting as high. Maybe moving it so the fake rock is the basking spot (now about 100) would fix that or I’ll lower it again. Also having checked on it this one is already dimming, I’ll leave it on for tomorrow and see what it does with a whole day of just that rather than switching bulbs but I’m worrying about if/when we get warmer weather, I guess I’ll be getting a 25 watt for then! Also, when it comes to lowering lights what’s the head clearance/height a skink can reach, I don’t want to move the bulb too low.

The vivarium is 4x2x2 and a wooden one with just the front glass if that helps

[kayla990]

Tricky one! Of course I don't know if it's the best route - but I would be tempted to use the 40w as a basking light (is it a reptile specific one?) on a timer to be on throughout the day, then have a separate heater on the thermostat (we use a ceramic heater from 'White Python', but as you may be able to guess would need an additional plug, ceramic specific socket and a guard, as they can get ridiculously hot).

The reason we don't use the basking spot on a thermostat is the type of bulb we have wears down quickly from switching on and off frequently from the thermostat, I believe it needs to stay on for a minimum of 8 hours to prolong the shelf life. I can't recall the bulb strengths we have, but will gladly find out if you think it would be useful ^__^ The distance from the bulb to basking spot for us is between 22cm-30cm (difference from the 'rock ramp' underneath).

Goodluck for getting your Bluey today!!

[lifesagame]

At the moment my 40watt is turning off too which is annoying so it can't be the basking spot light on the whole time without it getting too hot in there. I'm looking for some non reptile specific ones but the only ones I can find here now are the equivalent energy saving ones and most aren't a standard screw in bulb. They might actually work for this though as they'd have the light but not give out as much heat so stop the vivarium in general from overheating. I do already have the whole setup for a ceramic bulb, with bulb holder and guard cage thing, so can add that if I need to.

The bulbs I have are pro rep ones, I've been using them for years with my beardie and they tend to last well with the dimmer stat. The current 100 watt bulb I have lasted 3 years and still going.

I'm thinking of going for a 25watt and seeing if that works. If not I can make a barrier at the bottom at each end, open the Viv doors slightly and have a fan going. I did that before for my beardie but was nervous doing that for a BTS but as I'll be working in my room tomorrow anyway I can keep an eye on him. We have plastic A4 sheets that can be stuck securely on and way too high for him to climb over at the moment, we could use mesh and cover the whole of each end but I'm scared of it climbing the mesh and hurting itself if it falls.

Thanks, he (I'll go with he for now) got here and he's so cute and exploring. I keep wanting to go and watch him but have to stop myself so he can settle in!