Cage temps for meru's

[christineacero]

I have my female meru's enclosure set up and got a temp gun today. It's reading 83F basking, 74F in the middle and 72.5F at the bottom. This is okay right?

I'm also concerned about her risk of burning if she decides to crawl on the top of the enclosure. Any thoughts on this??

 

[CarlC]

Middle to low 70's as a high and low 60's at night would be how I would keep them.

Carl

 

[christineacero]

So would you suggest no basking bulb then? Or like a 20 watt incandescent? I have no idea how to drop temps that low at night in my house!

 

[CarlC]

All of the montane species benefit from the cool nights.

I use 20w under cabinet lighting on my cages.

Carl

 

[christineacero]

I will grab some 20W bulbs tomorrow and switch out the other ones. Do you think a circulating fan on at night would help with a temp drop??

 

[CarlC]

Unless you have a way to keep the humidity high at night I would skip the fan. It is just going to dry the cage out.

Carl

 

[Action Jackson]

Mine have been seeing temps in the mid 80's during the day and mid to upper 60's at night.

 

[CarlC]

Mine have been seeing temps in the mid 80's during the day and mid to upper 60's at night.

My montane stuff is seeing the same since its been a warm summer. I am a firm believer in a 10-20 degree drop at night. I think its even more important with fresh imports. Getting a good drop can be difficult to provide when montanes share living areas of our houses.

Carl

 

[christineacero]

I've read somewhere that people will sometimes put an ice back in the bottom of the enclosure. Does that work?

 

[CarlC]

Do you have a basement?

Carl

 

[Action Jackson]

I've read somewhere that people will sometimes put an ice back in the bottom of the enclosure. Does that work?

Looking at the weather in your area it says your night temps are from the low 50's to low 60's. How warm do you keep your house at night?

I use 40 watt bulbs on my indoor Meru cages.

 

[christineacero]

I do, but it's cold and unfinished. Would that be okay for daytime temps?

 

[christineacero]

Our AC is set at 23 C right now. It stays that way throughout the night

 

[christineacero]

The basement is definitely cooler though. You feel a huge temperature difference down there

 

[christineacero]

So I used my temp gun, and my upstairs is sitting at 69.5F upstairs. I checked downstairs and it's 66F. I'm thinking I may move the enclosures downstairs...

 

[CarlC]

Time to start thinking about finishing a section of the basement.

Carl

 

[christineacero]

Time to start thinking about finishing a section of the basement.

Carl

It's funny you say that! We're starting to save up to do that in about a year or two. May have to add a cham room to the plans!!

So would those temps be okay for them if the basements ambient temp hovers between 65-70ish during the day? It's probably closer to 70F on regular occasion, but I guess hubby was hot last night and has the AC set at 21C

 

[CarlC]

If you can't keep them outside then yes I would go for the basement. It is almost always easier to heat an area then it is to get it really cool.

Set their cages up down there for a few days and monitor the temps.

The sternfeldi will also really benefit from the cooler temps.

Carl

 

[christineacero]

I moved the whole setup downstairs last night. I'll check the temps later on this afternoon. As much as I'd love to have them outside, we live in a wind tunnel and it's a setup for guaranteed disaster. We've had unbelievable weather here and I really wouldn't want to risk it!

 

[Saldarya]

As others have said:

I keep my Merus at daytime temp of 75, basking of 82, nighttime of 61. The day/night differential is key.