BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Hi all
I am just finishing off Doug's new 6ft viv and wanted some advice please. What do you think is the best way to heat it?
I read in a book today that it will need a heat lamp for basking area (which I have) and also a heat mat. Would you all recommend that I use a heat mat too?
I am in England so it does get quite cold. If I use the heat mat aswell should it be right up the hot end?
Would appreciate any comments as I would like to move him into it this weekend. (I will post pics) Thanks

Your best bet is the heat lamp.

How cold does you house get at night? The coldest I would let my skink take on a regular basis would be about 15C.

If it does get cooler than that, you may want to consider using the heat pad, its up to you. Just note that you would have to monitor the temp of the pad to determine how hot it gets. I would do this before adding the skink.

For the basking spot, you want it near 37/38C, which you should be able to reach easily with a 75-150 watt bulb, depending on how tall the tank is, and how high your basking spot is.

I have been checking temps in the new viv and the hot end is getting to 38 degrees. The heat is not on at the moment and I've just looked and it is 19 degrees, it gets quite cold overnight probably about 15.
If I use a red bulb on a thermostat will it be ok to come on at night? I know that a sunlight bulb would disrupt his sleep, but will the red disturb him? I think that they can't see red? Or have I got this wrong?

I like the ceramic heat emitters from ESU, Exoterra etc. They work well for me in the winter.

Steve

A ceramic heat emitter produces heat but no light, you could possibly use one of those.

Gotta agree with the ceramic heat emitter as opposed to the heat pad, as you don't want them to have direct contact with whatever it is that heats them (other than a basking rock thats heated from a basking lamp above, much like the sun warms rocks.)

You could use a red bulb, that won't disrupt his sleeping pattern.

Thanks for the replies. Can a ceramic heater fit into a normal bayonet light fitting? How much do they cost?

im going to say something completly different. i use a heat mat aswell. the heat mat stays on 24hrs a day and loki loves it. splits his time between each end of the tank.

So do you have the heat mat on the opposite end? How big is your viv?

its only a 2foot viv at the mo as loki is still quite tiny. i just have a heat mat at one end with a big piece of wood over the top and substrate over the mat. then on the other end, no heat but a big pile of dry moss. there will be a basking light over the wood as well, but i nicked the fitting for another viv. got some more coming in the next few days. got a timer for the basking light, not that the little wretch ever seems to come out. he swims under`the substrate, sometimes i watch a wave go from one end of the viv to the other. lol

If in a 6ft viv I'd put the heat mat in the middle,so youd get a better fall of temps from hot to cold end, can you put a theremometer in the room, to see how cold the room actually gets, I would say that the viv would be a few degrees above the room temp.

Personally, I wouldn't bother using the heat mat, they can be tricky and need to be monitored carefully so that they are not heating up the glass too hot. You would also want to turn it off at night so they can have their natural nightly cool down period which I believe is essential and explained on the carepage in more detail.

Good luck!