BLUE TONGUE SKINKS

Here is my setup that I put together last night. I'm having a couple issues with temperature and humidity maybe you guys can help. I have the basking rock on the ground and I let the light run for an hour last night and it only got up to around 84-88 degrees. I think if I elevate it it will be hotter but I'm not sure. Also, I'm not sure how accurate those needle humidity gauges are but it says the humidity in the tank is 70-75 degrees. This is way to humid right? Any suggestions on how to get it lower?







It is a 48x24x20 tank, the picture quality is pretty bad because I took it with my cell phone. I'm not sure if I need to put in more substrate either.

Please let me know if you guys have any recommendations/suggestions.

-Ben

It looks basically fine, I'd put more substrate in the cool end and raise the basker, so he'll have another hide and get the temp up, Humidity gauges read in % not degrees,have you got the right one?I'd leave the set up running longer than an hour , let it go at least all day ,that way everything in there gets a chance to dry out/heat up at what would be normal running.I cant see a UV light ,do you have one? Sorry to pick holes but lots of people recomend putting a back drop around the back and sides to give the new dweller some privacy and help with being less scared and settling in, again sorry but I hope this helps

Thanks for the response and I don't mind criticism at all, thats what I was looking for. I will add more substrate tonight, the bulb is UVB bulb so it has both UV and heat. I will let it run all day and I'll let you know what happens. It is also percent not degrees my fault. Where should I get a backdrop from? I should be getting a baby very soon so I just want everything to be perfect before it comes.

Thanks again
-Ben

I think I know your heat problem.

Unless you bought a Mercury Vapor Bulb, UVB bulbs produce little/no heat.

I have that I believe, here is a link to what I bought.

http://www.reptileuv.com/megaray-sb-100 ... b-lamp.php

Yes, that should produce heat, and a decent amount of it.
I would try lowering the bulb, or raising the basking spot, as other have recommended.

My basking spot consists of small but thick squarish rocks with a larger flat one on top, and I also add a third layer.

Basically this allows for a huge temperature gradient.

This is the theory behind it:
http://www.proexotics.com/FAQ2.html#50

what subtrate do you use?

Carefresh, they didnt even have big bags of aspen at petco in stock.

How long does it normally take you guys to get the heat rock to 95-100 degrees?

A few hours.

Ahh maybe I am ok then nomad, I only let it run about an hour. Thanks for all help! You are not far from me in boston where did you get your skinks from?

I bought mine from Ray in Florida.

My others came from a petstore and a teacher.

Hey Nomad,that link was full of info mate, I got toally side tracked and spent ages reading it

Proexotics has one of the best "general" information on reptiles I have found

NomadOfTheHills wrote:A few hours.

Depends on what kind of basking spot you have, if it's a flat kitchen tile, it would be heated up in well under an hour, or an hour max depending on how high or low your light is from it...

I remember you talking about something you have that retains the heat well after the light is off. Something like that would take a long time to heat up.

I use big thick pieces of shale, maybe 3-4" thick.