# Ackie night time heating



## Fizz (Jan 18, 2014)

I am currently setting up an ackie enclosure and wanted to ask what people do about heating at night time. In the winter my flat can get pretty chilly (high 50's - low 60's over night last time I checked I think) I have read that ackie tolerate temps as low as 65 at night so I am guessing my flat is too cold to leave the viv unheated? 

In my skink's tank I have a night time drop set to 65ish but of course this rarely kicks in atm and probably wont until the weather gets much cooler. She sleep under the sand so I have no qualms about just using her usual light emitting bulb over night in any case.

Where do your ackies sleep ? Do they burrow and settle in for the night ? (in which case it shouldnt be a problem to carry on with the normal heat light) or do they sleep somewhere where a light would bother them ?

Thanks


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## Creed (Apr 2, 2014)

Pretty much the most reliable way to know what an animal can handle is to look at conditions in the wild. You can check average temperatures from all different western Australia locations on this site: Climate statistics for Australian sites - Western Australia. Mind you these are average ambient temps. Meaning temperatures might be a bit lower or higher than the number given.

Using UV-A (visible light) emitting bulbs isn't recommended for any animal during night time. A daily night/day cycle is important, even if they do burrow. I've heard multiple reports about animals 'burning out' when using 24-hour UV lighting. The pineal eye that ackies possess(just like most other diurnal lizards) plays a part in this too, I think we already went indepth about this in a previous thread.

My enclosures face a pretty steep winter nighttime drop too (below zero if I don't use any heating). I generally use a small electric heater to raise the room temperatures up to 10C/15C (I put the heater right next to the vivs though). In the enclosures I use ceramic bulbs for the large ones and heating mats in the small glass tanks.

From what materials is your enclosure made of and how much ventilation do you use? An extra fitting for a ceramic bulb might do the trick for you to. 

Good luck

:2thumb:


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## Fizz (Jan 18, 2014)

I dont have the viv set up yet. Thanks for your reply 
Ok so, no go on the idea of leaving the heat lamp on at night. I will check out that site and see what the temps drop to over there and go from there. In the worst case I will maybe hook up a ceramic to a stat for night time use.

Would it work to use a light emitting bulb for basking during the day but to run a ceramic on a stat as a back up ? I have read that ceramics arent great for monitors ? (something about drying the air too much ?)


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## Fizz (Jan 18, 2014)

Well that site is quite interesting. If I understand it correctly it seems to be giving temps as low as 10 - 12 degrees C in their winter months. Does this mean that my living room isnt such a terribly cold place after all ?

I may still prefer to offer some heating at night just to be sure but this has got me wondering...


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## Robbrown 52 (Sep 25, 2012)

Creed said:


> Pretty much the most reliable way to know what an animal can handle is to look at conditions in the wild. You can check average temperatures from all different western Australia locations on this site: Climate statistics for Australian sites - Western Australia. Mind you these are average ambient temps. Meaning temperatures might be a bit lower or higher than the number given.
> 
> Using UV-A (visible light) emitting bulbs isn't recommended for any animal. A daily night/day cycle is important, even if they do burrow. I've heard multiple reports about animals 'burning out' when using 24-hour UV lighting. The pineal eye that ackies possess(just like most other diurnal lizards) plays a part in this too, I think we already went indepth about this in a previous thread.
> 
> ...


your thoughts on the light and dark cycle and the pineal eye are to my thoughts correct. and all my vivs are timed to their natural day lengths from there origin , dead easy to find with the jolly old google :lol2:.
The European lizards have no extra heating other than their basking and UV lights, but the Kims have a ceramic on a separate system. it serves 2 purposes , in case of the basking bulbs failing it is set to come on and keep the viv at a minimum temp so they end up with a cool day but not one that would be harmful to them. the stat I use a thermostat that can detect light and dark and in the dark has the ability to use another temp setting stopping the viv dropping below what they would find in the wild, again google is great for finding this sort of info, look for weather records and then at ground temps.
Also remember things like stone , sand and soil will hold heat long after the sun goes down, go and stand next to a west facing brick wall after the sun goes down and feel the heat being thrown back at you, so masses of rock and earth, will help to stop wild swings in temps.
Also remember that in desert /arid areas where there is no cloud cover to hold in the heat the air temp can fall very low, but the ground holds the temp, certainly the substrate in the laying box maintains a steady 85F without and additional heating.
Hope this all makes sense.


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## Fizz (Jan 18, 2014)

I have one of those magic eye stats on my berber viv, I love it! It faces towards the uv (which is on a timer) so when the uv switches off the stat knows its night time and lowers the desired temp so that it doesnt usually come on over night. Im really not worried about it disrupting bella day night cycle because she buries herself deep under the sand at about 4 in the afternoon and stays there until the next morning. 

So do you run your heat light during the day without a stat and run the ceramic on a stat along side ? (just checking I understand) This seems like a good idea as then I guess the basking temp never gets dimmed . You would just need to be sure that the heat light cant over heat the viv. What area do Kims come from btw ? and what temperature do you set their night time drop to ?


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## Robbrown 52 (Sep 25, 2012)

Fizz said:


> I have one of those magic eye stats on my berber viv, I love it! It faces towards the uv (which is on a timer) so when the uv switches off the stat knows its night time and lowers the desired temp so that it doesnt usually come on over night. Im really not worried about it disrupting bella day night cycle because she buries herself deep under the sand at about 4 in the afternoon and stays there until the next morning.
> 
> So do you run your heat light during the day without a stat and run the ceramic on a stat along side ? (just checking I understand) This seems like a good idea as then I guess the basking temp never gets dimmed . You would just need to be sure that the heat light cant over heat the viv. What area do Kims come from btw ? and what temperature do you set their night time drop to ?


These days I do run without the lights on a stat, just adjusted temps by using lower wattage bulbs, I now use 50watt, which keeps a good constant temp. some people turn the basking lamps off before the UV ones to indicate a change in the light level.
Kims come from areas in northern Australia.
Varanus glauerti 
one area is rocky with scrub which is where they get their name but in the 2nd area they live in trees, which is why my viv is set out as it is.


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## Robbrown 52 (Sep 25, 2012)

Talking of Kims here's U2, looking rather dark because he has been spending time in the soil in the space under the laying RUB.

















Think this is K2 licking his lips after the large locust meal I posted last night.
Varanus glauerti
and an akie care sheet from same source 
Varanus acanthurus (no longer in our collection)


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## Fizz (Jan 18, 2014)

Aww, I love your Kims! They're gorgeous. Thanks for the link


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## Robbrown 52 (Sep 25, 2012)

Fizz said:


> Aww, I love your Kims! They're gorgeous. Thanks for the link


your very welcome, the best one is no longer available from Nightgecko (Jasc) his site was lost and along with it the best odatria care sheets I have yet found.:sad:


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## Creed (Apr 2, 2014)

My system is pretty much the same as rob's, a couple of ceramic heaters connected to the thermostats 

My basking spots/UV lamps aren't connected to a thermostat. This way the temps can fluctuate a bit beneath the basking spot, depending on the temps outside. If my UV lamps where connected to a thermostat they would most likely break. The brand that I use gives a good amount of UV-A/UV-B (about 210/140 pW/q cm from 45/60cm from the lamp), but needs to warm about for about two minutes. If I'd use a thermostat and it would switch of before the lamps properly heated or cooled they'd break. 

If you're worried about the humidity use a large enclosure with a thick layer of substrate and little ventilation.

The best 'caresheet' I've found is this facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Varanus-acanthurus-NL/155811327888791?sk=photos_stream). It's all in Dutch but well worth the trouble of translating. Just click on the click on the fotoalbum for each subject ('verblijven' is the dutch word for enclosures ).

Good luck


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