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Hi guys,

ive been thinking about the basking temps for my baby chucks.

ive had the basking temp at around 110-115f previously and have just put it up to 115-120f
they seem to prefer it now its slighty hotter.

i have read that hatclings do better with a slightly cooler basking temp, reading that adults like it to be around 130f

ive also been thinking that as much as chucks may be observed in the wild basking in these temps, in nature it would not consistantly be at this high temp would it? they would have winds to cool them down?
130f seems crazy hot. but saying that i am british! lol.
i must say that the chucks seem to do well with the extra heat and dont spent that much time in the cool end of the viv, which due to being summer is in the low to mid 80's.

they also seem to choose the very hottest spot on the basking stone often though not all of the time. in the afternoon they seem to like basking in the areas that are around 100-110f.

ambient temps are in the mid 90's in the warm end gradually reduce to a minimum of 80f on the furthest corners of the cool end. as i said, it is summer at the moment so in the cooler months i expect the cool end to drop to around 75F

i use an infra red temp gun to get my temps and have digital max/min combined thermometers/hygrometers in my vivs too.

oh and thier body temps are usually around 98-100f but i do only tend to check when they are most active.

130 is fine as long as they can get to a cool spot. Damn sometimes the rocks they bask on in the wild are so hot they bask on you can hardly touch them. Also I would not rule out putting a humid hide in the cage also as I mentioned in one of the other post.

Tom

yeh it seems like a brilliant idea and ive had a few thoughts on how i can trap the humidity without it becoming too humid but ill post more about this when i have a go at it in an empty vivarium which should be next week.

im thinking of using terracotta plant pots and saucers as lids because the material allows the sand to breath but keeps most of the moisture in and providing i keep the damp soil low down in the pot and have a larger surface area at the top of the pot than the bottom the humidity hopefully will disperse in a way that doesnt bring the humidity in the viv up. but as i said, got to trial it!

what temp do you keep your cool sides at? the slate i use for the basking spots gets pretty hot but is still comfortable to touch but saying that i can take some things out of the oven without using gloves lol.