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Post by mark68 on Feb 7, 2009 12:00:40 GMT
Very funny. Thanks very much for sharing.
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Post by mark68 on Jan 19, 2009 15:57:40 GMT
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
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Post by mark68 on Jan 13, 2009 11:01:34 GMT
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.
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Post by mark68 on Jan 12, 2009 20:05:20 GMT
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.
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Post by mark68 on Jan 9, 2009 19:56:41 GMT
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".
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Post by mark68 on Oct 25, 2008 14:55:17 GMT
I think then you are doing the right thing. Maybe this animal is near the end of its life ? Still i wouled keep it somewhere cold indoors if its general condition looks good.
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Post by mark68 on Oct 18, 2008 6:22:54 GMT
Do they normally hibernate outdoors without intervention ? Or have you brought them indoors over winter in the past ?
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Post by mark68 on Oct 6, 2008 14:55:24 GMT
There is a "mainstream" reptile forum that i am a member of that recently moved over to a v bulletin board, with no loss of old posts (as far as I can see). So I think it is possible.
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Post by mark68 on Oct 6, 2008 14:52:20 GMT
In Portugal it is very sunny still with temps 21c day 5c night. Most of the adult lizards have stopped eating, but the young continue to grow and feed well. A couple of tortoises hatched naturally in the last few days.
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Post by mark68 on Sept 29, 2008 18:29:46 GMT
Examples...
Australian water dragons in London kept outdoors ALL YEAR ROUND, in a greenhouse for the winter with only enough heating to kept frosts out.
Jacksons chameleons in London outdoors down to 2-3c at night (though no lower than this, this is the most extreme tolerated).
Bearded dragons, down to 10c or less not a problem at all.
Its all down to enclosure design and doing research on native habitats, which often get alot colder than you might think.
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Post by mark68 on Sept 28, 2008 7:51:18 GMT
I am not suggesting keepers should start keeping species which would do poorly outdoors in outdoor vivs. Though from personal experience in the UK there are plenty of species which people think of as tropical which are in fact good candidates for keeping outdoors for at least part of the year. For example many chameleons, Australian water dragons and even bearded dragons. There are many other reptile forums that are very busy, so it is simply not about people not having enough time. I think there is (sadly) much less interest in this aspect of herp keeping than in the indoor side of things. As I said before it is easy with the low level of activity to write a post or reply and not notice you have a reply many weeks later. Also there have been times where no posts have been made for a month or more ! So what is the incentive to check this site ? I'm afraid it is a vicious circle that will be very difficult to break
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Post by mark68 on Sept 27, 2008 18:00:55 GMT
Hi Barb Normally it is used for incubating eggs of course. I think it is too light for a substrate, but I have used it mixed in with loam and coir for egg laying boxes indoors and out with good results.
I think it would right through the body of a reptile undigested. In fact my leopard geckos seem to eat alot of it !
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Post by mark68 on Sept 27, 2008 17:54:13 GMT
I personally don't have a problem with the layout of the site. I like it as it is. I think its a "critical mass" situation where there would be a snowball effect if only there was more activity on the site. There maybe also a fundamental problem that too many reptile people love keeping reptiles in indoor cages ?
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Post by mark68 on Sept 20, 2008 10:51:01 GMT
Undoubtably this site is too quiet. I have a suggestion for why this might be. When you post a message it does not seem possible to be notified by e-mail that you have a reply. Somebody might comment on what you have said a month or more later, but you unlikely to notice ! Then the thread is likely to "die". You can check back a few days later to see if anybody has commented, but it is quite likely since the site is so quiet you might just not bother, or not get round to it.
It might be alot of work to move this forum to a new forum "board" or whatever you call it, but it might help to get the site more active.
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Post by mark68 on Jul 21, 2008 19:28:57 GMT
Good to see you here Barb. Any eggs from the eyeds yet ?
Give photobucket a go. I got a little confused by it at first, but its quite simple really.
Nice pic Rob
ps Barb on my computer at least the red letters are very difficult to see.
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