Hi there! I just bought a 30gallon octogon setup with just one Chinese Mountain Lizard today and I need help with the heating. I know these guys do alright at room temp, but my house gets a little cool at night. I dont really want to leave the uv bulb on all night, but there isnt a set up for any other type of heat lighting so I was wondering about a under the tank heating pad. There will be some gravel on the bottom covered by a nice layer of bark. Do you think this will help at all at night for an arboreal lizard? I thought it could help with the humidity as well. Suggestions? Im going shoping in the morning to give the tank a makeover.

try a simple incandescent night blub. They are blue/purple and come in different wattages. 40 watt should do you good. It raises my 29 gallon by a few degrees.

__________________
My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

My tank isnt set up for that. Im gonna have to hack away at the lid to make another light work, thats why I was suggesting the under tank heating.

An undertank heater only heats the bottom of the tank and would do very little for an arboreal animal.
You may have to either go with a radiant heat panel on the side of the enclosure or alter the top to allow a supplemental heat source.

__________________
Merlin,
What's Life Without A Little Magic!

What about a reptile heat cable that you can actually wrap around branches and such? Do a google search for "Zoo Med Reptile Heat Cable." I've never used one, so I cannot endorse or recommend it. You may want to find out about any reported instances of one shorting out.

__________________
~~Steph

"This I believe: That the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world." John Steinbeck

those heat cables might be plagued with hotspots like the hot rocks are. I honestly cant trust a heat source that any of my animals can get in direct contact to, you dont really want a baked or electricuted lizard now do you?If you get a ceramic heat bulb, it should be able to warm the top of your enclosure by a few degrees even if there is a lid. if you end up altering the lid, make sure your lizard cant get out/jump out/ climb out and touch the heating source. Under Tank Heater's wont do squat for your arboreal lizard.

ceramic heaters get too hot and can cause burns. Its only a 30 gallon tank, a simple light bulb would do better. I have a 40 watt in my 29 gallon fire belly toad tank and it keeps the temp around 71 instead of the 65 my house is set at.

__________________
My name is Liz
Do what's best for the animal, not what's best for you.

Thanks for all the info everybody. I did try the under tank heater (if anything just to raise the humidity) and it seems to be doing pretty good. Ive been keeping an eye on the temp and will add a light if I need too. I had an idea for a setup and it seemed to work. I put a one inch layer of fishtank gravel on the bottom and then covered it with the apropriate substraght. I kept the substraght over the heater a little thiner and you can really feel the heat comming from it. I think the gravel heats up as well to add umph to the heater. I have natural plants as well, so the heater and gravel helps keep the humidity up. You would need additional heat for sure if your critter requires higher temps, but this seems to be working for my temperate setup. Ill keep you all informed.