Posted by iZ's mom on July 30, 2000 at 14:57:15:
In Reply to: Thanks everyone! Now another question... posted by Cindy on July 30, 2000 at 11:54:16:
if you really want to get the point across to people, ditch the tank ... it's *not* gonna be big enough for an ig for very long anyway and even if you *tell* people that, it's not gonna sink in ... unless, maybe ... if they see that you've had to specially build a 4'x4'x6' (minimum guess here) enclosure cuz that cute little iglet is gonna be 3' long within a year ... even after you see it, it is unbelievable how big, how *fast* they get!
if the room temperature is at least 70-75 degrees at night, i wouldn't worry about night-time heating ... otherwise, go with a Ceramic Heating Element (CHE) and a ceramic ight fixture (see below) ...
daytime temp of the enclosure should be around 85 degrees, basking spot 95-100 degrees ... i use red heat lamps purchased at Menards/Walmart/etc and a clip type light fixture, bought at the same place ... these are just as good if not better than anything a pet store of herp supply place will sell you and much cheaper ... (make sure to get *ceramic* light fixtures)
make sure the igs can *not* possibly in any conceivable way, touch the light bulbs!!! they will cause serious burns to curious tongues/toes ... (been there, done that, major guilt trip plus trip to the vet on a holiday wkend) ...
UV light ... ZooMed 5.0 is i believe the one you want ... (someone correct me if i'm wrong please) ... it should be positioned about 8" above the ig's favorite hangin' out spot during the day ...
NO Hot Rocks!!! a human heating pad, set on Low is acceptable to warm up a basking spot a bit more or for a night time sleeping shelf if the temps get down a bit ...
flat plates or *very shallow* bowls for food ... water bowl can be a bit deeper ...
substrate ... don't use any kind of "litter", no sand, etc!!! igs check *everything* out with their tongue and the risk of them eating something they shouldn't + becoming impacted is great ... newspaper, paper towels, astro-turf, etc is ok ...
water source ... at the very least a bowl of fresh water ... igs tend to prefer moving water tho ... i made iZ a little water fountain using a "sand-shark" water pump in a large dog water bowl ... he drinks out of the part that bubbles ... (cute!) ...
tree limbs (cleaned with bleach/water solution to get rid of any possible critter infestation) to climb on and hang out on ... silk/fake plants + vines for ambience and to create a 'hiding spot' for ig's to get away from prying eyes ...
it can be as simple or as complex as you want to make it ... well, igs are never really *simple* ....