savannah monitor,

[crayfishguy]

The cage sounds like its in the ballpark...
Not sure what you mean by large lamp? but using spotlights instead of floodlights can cause burns on monitor lizards,
Its best to use lower wattage (45watt to 75watt) halogen/incandescant, flood light type bulbs and get them close to the animal.
Higher wattage bulbs that are placed further away from the basking spot, tend to dry out the air in the cage to much, which is not one the goals if you keep monitors.

assuming the range of light covers the entire animal when up close, yes. Otherwise you need more lights.

 

[Edwardo]

assuming the range of light covers the entire animal when up close, yes. Otherwise you need more lights.

Yes....
A basking spot the size of the monitors snout to vent lenth is used by alot of keepers, but I wouldnt think covering the entire animal would be a bad thing, just not to practical when you keep 6 or 8 foot lizards.

 

[kasaki89]

The cage sounds like its in the ballpark...
Not sure what you mean by large lamp? but using spotlights instead of floodlights can cause burns on monitor lizards,
Its best to use lower wattage (45watt to 75watt) halogen/incandescant, flood light type bulbs and get them close to the animal.
Higher wattage bulbs that are placed further away from the basking spot, tend to dry out the air in the cage to much, which is not one the goals if you keep monitors.

its not a lie; i had a 200 watt repti basking spot lamp. read that its better to have multiple smaller ones instead of one larger one.. so thats what i did.

 

[crayfishguy]

Yes....
A basking spot the size of the monitors snout to vent lenth is used by alot of keepers, but I wouldnt think covering the entire animal would be a bad thing, just not to practical when you keep 6 or 8 foot lizards.

If you don't it is harder for them to heat up properly and they have a hard time telling if they are hot enough/ too hot.

 

[A. gigas]

If you don't it is harder for them to heat up properly and they have a hard time telling if they are hot enough/ too hot.

As long as the head and body of the monitor are covered, the basking spot is large enough.

 

[kasaki89]

so quick question about basking spots, how would i know if its to hot for my monitor , ive gone and touched it and i couldn't keep my hands on it to long, could this burn my monitor ?

 

[A. gigas]

You ought to have an infrared temperature gun. However, basking temperatures hot enough that it's hard to keep your hand there are somewhat normal for monitor lizards, and not that uncommon in nature. Just think about the pavement during the summer... Find a rock on a sunny day, and it's the same thing.

 

[A. gigas]

The more important thing is that he has a basking area large enough for him to sit on and have his entire body covered. Otherwise the part directly under the light can be burned while he is still waiting for the rest of his body to heat up.

 

[Edwardo]

Invest in a temp gun as mentioned, it really is a must have if you keep monitor lizards.
You can buy them cheap now on the internet.

Try and get a basking spot of around 135degs with the gun, I add a block of wood the approx thickess of the lizard, then set temp, this gives you more of an accurate reading.