Reptile — breeding (owner-practical care, Merck Veterinary Manual pet-owner)
Source: first-hand Merck Veterinary Manual pet-owner text, saved to source_file; every claim below is a C1 byte-substring of it.
Claims
Housing of Reptiles Housing requirements for reptiles include an appropriate enclosure and sources of light, heat, and water.Potting soil, commercially available leaf litter, and smaller amounts of sand are appropriate substrates for many species of lizards, turtles, and tortoises.Heat lamps should be used with extreme caution because overheating is common.Heat sources should be attached to programmable thermostats that automatically turn on and off the heat when the temperature gets too cool or too hot, respectively.In addition, all enclosures should have at least 2 thermometers (one in the cool end, away from the heat source, and the other in the warm end, nearest the heat source) to ensure maintenance of the species-specific recommended temperature range.Under-tank heaters are also useful heat sources for lizards and snakes.Community housing of highly social species that are active during the day often requires several stations for basking (laying out under a heat or ultraviolet light bulb), eating, and drinking that are all out of the view of dominant animals from the same species and of any human observers.Most reptiles prefer overhead bulbs as the source of heat and light for basking, perhaps because these provide heat and light in a way most similar to their normal environment.Basking lights can be an incandescent bulb, infrared device, mercury vapor lamp (providing both heat and UV light), or a ceramic bulb heat emitter.When used with a basking light, under-tank heaters can provide heat at night as well as during the day.However, under-tank heaters should cover no more than 30% of the available cage space to allow reptiles to move out of the heat, and they should be designed specifically for use with reptile tanks.Infrared panels are produced in many sizes and can easily be attached to the roof of the cage to radiate heat downward.
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Source: pdf-raw/owner-care/merck_reptile.txt · https://www.merckvetmanual.com/all-other-pets