New Iguana/cage !Not hot enough!

[wedrowned]

I'm getting a liiittle worried. Not only is my new baby terrified of its newfound environment, but it's cage is but 70 degrees farenheit! The bulb is 60 watts and and faced directly on top of the vinyl mesh.

My question is simply how long I can keep this up before it starts affecting my iggy. Money is an issue.

[ChamZilla]

Hello there,

I saw you put money is an issue... iguana's arn't pets to own if money is an issue. Sorry to say that... they are very expensive pets to maintain and need a lot of lighting, food, supplements, heat lighting..... I'm sure you know about that.

But on the other hand.... if you have a dollar store around you... you can buy a light bulb there that is a bit higher in wattage and it will bring the temperature up. 70 for a baby is ideal for nighttime temperatures... but his day time temperatures should be around 80F but DEFFINATLY NO HIGHER than 95F. Iguana's suffer brain damage at temperatures over 100F when they can't get out of the heat at a safe distance. Your enclosure should have a warm basking area then an area that is 15 Degrees cooler.

Hope you are able to find some different bulbs... I hope you are also providing UV lighting as well. Don't be afraid to ask more questions if you need be

[reeve1987]

i found that using regular light bulbs to provide extra heat works well. however i am changing his main basking ligt (60watt spot light) for a ceramic heat bulb. camzilla would this be okay?

[ChamZilla]

to a CHE? as long as he/she can't reach it AT ALL. They can cause SEVERE burns in a second... I know this from personal experience on my own arm... Make sure you monitor the temperatures for the first few hours CLOSELY and for the next few days after that. CHE's pump out a lot of heat, so they can cause burns VERY quickly if not watched closely for the first few hours. Also CHE's don't do well in an enclosed basking light (the kind with the dome around it) They have special light holders for them, they look like this... store.everythingreptileinc.com/pt2062.html The CHE will last longer with a clamp lamp like this.

Let me know if you need to know anything else Don't forget to monitor the temps Che's are really handy as they can be used night and day with no visible light