Outdoor Lizards

[barb1]

Anybody got lizards out and about today?
My female Eyed's were out. Very mild and only a watery sun occasionally.
Very much the brumators!

[chrisd]

A fewof my eyed lizards have been out the last few days. I,m a little worried as it has been pretty cold. I'll be watching them carefully.

[barb1]

Hi Chris,

I was certainly surprised to see mine out but no sign of the male. One went back in, the old female was in the cold frame, so had to get her out as it was getting dark and there are no winter sleeping quarters. I put her in the sleeping chamber. She was quite lively but very cold. No signs of them today thankfully. Has anyone done any research into their metabolism?
Barb.

[chrisd]

Hi,

How's everyone coping with this cold snap ? Tonight the temp was down to -4 as came in about 7 O'clock. (I live in East Yorkshire between York and Hull ) The Temp hasn't risen above freezing for the last few days. I have sand lizards, viridis and eyed lizards outside in the greenhouse. I'm praying that they are ok as they won't be used to this type of weather from where they come from. I think a few of them are inside a branch which I have wrapped with a few layers of bubble wrap to help protect them further. I also have some young in a shed with gentle heat at night but even then the water bowl froze over the other night! I can't wait until spring again ! Has anyone any ideas on how to gently heat greenhouses ? Especially environmentally friendly ones rather than using the expensive to run electric heaters. I've asked before about wind turbines and solar power on this website with no luck. Is there anyone out there who is practically minded in these sort of things and can help ? Anyone considered woodburning stoves ? A greenhouse nearby has one with a chimney sticking out of the top. It looks just the thing to give a little heat in winter. Obviously it would need to be screened. Any suggestions ?Thanks.

[barb1]

Hi Chris,

Yes, I guess we are all a bit concerned. There's not much I can do because my adult Eyed's are right outside but they are in an underground tunnel which I have covered with leaves. Tonight I put a tarpaulin over that. We will just have to wait until spring. My juvenile's and torts. are in boxes in the garage with a frost stat, so it should not drop below freezing. However I did lose one last week and that was carrying the least weight.
I am not sure about modern greenhouse heaters. I know my dad used to use a heater in his greenhouse for the plants, that may have been paraffin but I guess you have to be sure you do not kill off your beasts with the fumes! Have a look on the internet, or may be someone can recommend one.

[mark68]

Hi Chris and Barb

Chris I am in central Portugal in the middle of Eyed lizard country. It was -5c here last night. This is normal. I can't keep Eyed lizards (Timon lepidus) it is illegal here, but I do keep Timon tangitanus, Timon pater, sand lizards and Green lizards outdoors in open air enclosures. I am not worried about them. They had -7c one night last year. The water bowls in the enclosures were still partly frozen late this afternoon. It is natural ! They are used to it. The lizards are all underground safe from the frosts.

We have both solar water heaters and solar photovoltaic systems ( to heat our tap water and provide electricity). I know a little about this area. I would strongly advise you not to consider any wind turbine or solar system. BUT consider passive solar heating. Basically you need to increase the potential for the greenhouse to store sunlight energy in the daytime. This means lots of black painted stone work and maybe a large container or two with water. This stores solar heated stone/water and slows down the cooling process in the night. The best idea is to put up bubble wrap on the insides of the greenhouse to insulate it as well. With this I think where you are the lizards should be ok as long as they can stay frost free where they are "sleeping".

[chrisd]

Thanks for your comments mark, its great to have some reassurace from someone who can give accurate advice. You have gone a long way to putting my mind at rest and have really given me something to consider regarding heating the greenhouse. I saw something similar on the programme 'Its not easy being green' when they constructed a passive solar heater by digging a hole in the floor of the greenhouse and filling it with safe ground up glass which absorbed the heat and returned it back to the greenhouse later in the day through a pipe as it was needed. As you suggest that may be the way to go, I may do something similar with my next greenhouse and keep you informed.

[mark68]

Water has a very high specific heat capacity which basically means it takes alot of energy to heat it up and it gives a lot out per kilo as it cools down. It would be much better in my opinion than crushed glass. There are plenty of good examples of water filled containers being used in poor countries for cleverly designed greenhouses that keep the frost out even in very cold climates. I bought a very interesting book about passive solar heating last year !!

Also we live in a house that has very thick stone walls but NO insulation. We do not use any electrical heating or any other means of heating other than our wood burning stove. Certainly no central heating !! But we are comfortably warm. So I think a wood burning stove would be far too powerful for a normal sized greenhouse and it would quickly get cold again once the wood ran out.

I am considering another stove in an outbuilding where we breed our insects but only if can get one to heat a water tank that would then give out heat when the flames die down ! Otherwise I would have to visit the building every couple of hours to put more wood in.

Lastly forgot to say before than a thermostatically controlled greenhouse fan heat set to provent frosts would be greener than the environmentally damaging amount of batteries you would need to store all that solar and wind energy you wwere asking about.

[morbid]

Mark:

What is the name of that book? Perhaps a link?

[mark68]

Hi Miqe

"Solar heating in cold regions- A technical guide to developing country applications" Jean-Francois Rozis & Alain Guinebault.

Isbn 1 85399 329 0

The cover shows a solar water heating panel but this is misleading. This sort of technology is not discussed. The book only covers passive solar heating where the sun is used to heat buildings and especially where the design is such that heat is stored and released at night. The focus is all low tech. NO heat pumps, water pumps, solar voltaics, printed curciut boards etc

If you are interested in iso-parrafins this is the book for you.

[morbid]

Thanks man!!

I shall have a look for named book..

Actually, I don´t know squat about isoparaffines.. What is that? Used for?

[barb1]

Hi Mark,

Just to say at least one outdoor lizard is still alive! One of the females was out today. No sun, but about 10 degrees. No sign of the others, so just hope for the best. She still looked in good condition.
Barb.

[mark68]

Hi Miqe

Iso parrafins are solid at room temps but with heat can be melted but this takes a lot of energy to do so. As the liquid resolidifies it releases high quantities of "latent" heat. Theoretically it is the best material to use to store heat in "solar buildings" (greenhouses etc). In reality for people like us water is a good material to store heat with stones/bricks/soil good but not as good as water.

Its weird Barb, my adult eyeds were not seem in the winter months. Why would they bask in the winter in the UK and not in southern Europe ! The same for my adult Timon pater/tangitanus. But this years young have been out very frequently in the sun even though temps may have only been 6-8c

[morbid]

Thanks Mark..

[Iowarth]

I am in south UK with, until the last few days, similar temperatures to those reported by Mark in Portugal. I have only had appearances from juvenile bilineata and agilis in the outdoor vivaria in the last few days. Like Mark, I have never seen adult T Lepidus up in mid winter outdoors, even though they appear to be brumators rather than true hibernators, although one male has appeared briefly in the greenhouse. Also in the greenhouses in the last few days I have seen adult Galloti stehlini, Laudakia s.brachydactyla, Glass Lizards and Australian Water Dragons up and about. My main concern is simply that they put themselves away once the sun has gone off them. If they do (and so far they have) then generally they come to no harm. All of these species come from areas in the wild where sub-zero temperatures in mid-winter occur - as do days plenty warm enough for basking. Incidentally, my greenhouses are totally unheated but most contain ponds, dense vegetation (which also generates heat - albeit mild) and have insulation block north and east walls. Even though we have had temperatures down to -7C none of the ponds in the greenhouses have frozen.
Chris