Hey everyone! We'd like the group's expert opinions regarding our Sulcata, especially heat advice.
Rex is almost 5 years old. We purchased him at a reptile shop in Feb. 2018. He fit in our hand then. Just last week the vet weighed him at 83.3 pounds! He's approx 24" in length, measured along his plastron. He's a big guy for 5, and incredibly strong.
We've been dealing with health issues since August 1, 2022 (possible RI-awaiting a followup from vet, plus moderate levels of pinworms and entamoeba cysts as per the latest stool sampling). Since we know proper heating is crucial for good health, we're thinking it's time to update Rex's current heat setup. We've been doing more research on TFO and have instigated some changes to his habitat, but are getting confused! Due to his size, we're thinking that the normal juvenile heat protocols aren't appropriate for him any longer.
In January 2022 we replaced his sleeping hide/bedroom(which is enclosed) CHE with a wall-mounted Zoo Med SZMRH20 40-Watt Repti Therm Habitat Heater with thermostat. This increased the average temps in his bedroom from 70-75° range to 80-85° range.
Advice on TFO seems to suggest that larger individuals need heat mats to warm their bodies properly from their underside, so we just added a Kane heat mat to his bedroom floor. The wall-mounted mat and the Kane mat are plugged into an Inkbird thermostat. The wall mat heat range is set to 85-90° and the floor mat heat range is set to 81-85°. We lowered the floor mat temp setting because the mat was heating upwards of 125° according to the infrared thermometer gun when the floor mat heat range was set the same as the wall mat, and that just seemed too hot. A separate thermostat/moisture gauge shows the overall ambient temp range of 80-83 degrees.
This new setup has been in action for only 2 days, so it may be too soon to determine anything. Rex slept soundly throughout the first two nights with the new floor mat, with his body half-on and half-off the floor mat. Each of the following two mornings he left the heated bedroom and walked across his 8'×10' enclosure (approx 100sf total enclosed space) to sit for a few hours in his unheated hide which is also enclosed like his bedroom. This is different behavior. Before adding the Kane floor mat, Rex would typically leave his bedroom and move immediately to his basking lights - aka Sunroom - which has UV lights and a UVB strip bulb to heat himself up. Heat from the lights ranges from 95° in the cooler area, to the basking area of 104°. Another change we are about to make is replacing the UV heat lights with regular incandescent flood lights and 2 more UVB strips (for a total of 3) as recommended by Tom the Dog Trainer.
Our overall house temps range between 71-75° year-round.
Rex's different behavior over these past two days has given us pause. Is the floor mat necessary? Is he getting too hot with it? Yesterday he avoided the sunroom completely. Looks like today, day #2 with the Kane mat, may be the same.
Thoughts, questions, advice are all appreciated!
Rex is almost 5 years old. We purchased him at a reptile shop in Feb. 2018. He fit in our hand then. Just last week the vet weighed him at 83.3 pounds! He's approx 24" in length, measured along his plastron. He's a big guy for 5, and incredibly strong.
We've been dealing with health issues since August 1, 2022 (possible RI-awaiting a followup from vet, plus moderate levels of pinworms and entamoeba cysts as per the latest stool sampling). Since we know proper heating is crucial for good health, we're thinking it's time to update Rex's current heat setup. We've been doing more research on TFO and have instigated some changes to his habitat, but are getting confused! Due to his size, we're thinking that the normal juvenile heat protocols aren't appropriate for him any longer.
In January 2022 we replaced his sleeping hide/bedroom(which is enclosed) CHE with a wall-mounted Zoo Med SZMRH20 40-Watt Repti Therm Habitat Heater with thermostat. This increased the average temps in his bedroom from 70-75° range to 80-85° range.
Advice on TFO seems to suggest that larger individuals need heat mats to warm their bodies properly from their underside, so we just added a Kane heat mat to his bedroom floor. The wall-mounted mat and the Kane mat are plugged into an Inkbird thermostat. The wall mat heat range is set to 85-90° and the floor mat heat range is set to 81-85°. We lowered the floor mat temp setting because the mat was heating upwards of 125° according to the infrared thermometer gun when the floor mat heat range was set the same as the wall mat, and that just seemed too hot. A separate thermostat/moisture gauge shows the overall ambient temp range of 80-83 degrees.
This new setup has been in action for only 2 days, so it may be too soon to determine anything. Rex slept soundly throughout the first two nights with the new floor mat, with his body half-on and half-off the floor mat. Each of the following two mornings he left the heated bedroom and walked across his 8'×10' enclosure (approx 100sf total enclosed space) to sit for a few hours in his unheated hide which is also enclosed like his bedroom. This is different behavior. Before adding the Kane floor mat, Rex would typically leave his bedroom and move immediately to his basking lights - aka Sunroom - which has UV lights and a UVB strip bulb to heat himself up. Heat from the lights ranges from 95° in the cooler area, to the basking area of 104°. Another change we are about to make is replacing the UV heat lights with regular incandescent flood lights and 2 more UVB strips (for a total of 3) as recommended by Tom the Dog Trainer.
Our overall house temps range between 71-75° year-round.
Rex's different behavior over these past two days has given us pause. Is the floor mat necessary? Is he getting too hot with it? Yesterday he avoided the sunroom completely. Looks like today, day #2 with the Kane mat, may be the same.
Thoughts, questions, advice are all appreciated!