eek! heating and light help

[drunkenmonkeysmommy1]

we stupidly followed the girls advice for heating and lighting at the pet store. We have a baby (5.5 inches) and it is only getting to about 87 degrees. We have a 29 gallon tank that measure 30x18x12. She sent us home with the zoo med mini combo deep dome lamp fixture, with a exo terra 100 watt basking spot bulb, and repti glo 10.0 uvb compact.
I have already figured out that we need to switch to a repti sun 10.0 high out put that stretches across the tank. We are scrambling to figure out what to do to make it warmer. We are looking at switching to the Zoo med deep dome lamp fixture (the one that only holds one bulb) we are trying to figure out what wattage to use. My husband is looking at the exo terra sun-glo basking inferred spot lamp 150 watt. Is this enough?
We have a 250 watt red heat lamp. Is it safe to use this until we get the new bulb in?
Or do you have any other suggestions?

 

[morphmom]

Check out 'lighting help for newbies.' It's by Jess, a very respected member. You'll get all the info you need and pictures :wink:

 

[drunkenmonkeysmommy1]

she really does have great info, but after reading 15 pages of that thread, I still have not seen the answer to my particular question.

 

[Spikey07]

For a basking bulb it is best to use a clear/white bulb.

It does not have to be a reptile brand, it is ok to use a regular household spot bulb.

Can you raise the basking platform or lower the bulb to increase temps? If not try a 150w bulb first.

What type of thermometer are you using to measure the temps? It is best to use an infa red temperature gun or digital thermometer with a long wire and probe at the end... The dial and stick on types are not accurate.

 

[drunkenmonkeysmommy1]

thank you for responding! We are using two different ones, a dial kind and an accurite digital with a suction cup, it does not have a probe, (they both read the same temp for the most part)
http://www.amazon.com/Acu-Rite-00315-Suction-Thermometer-White/dp/B004V1XJ7U/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1342750369&sr=8-10&keywords=acu-rite+digital+thermometer
Is this one good enough? Lol, looks like I need to add something else to my amazon list.
Th basking spot goes up to about 6 from the top. There is not much more room to raise it. The lights sit on top of a screen right now. Hubby says he is going to exchange the red inferred for a white 150 watt tomorrow and cross our fingers that it gets warm enough. We played around with the lights today(uvb light was always on). With 250 red inferred by itself, it only got to 98, with just the white 100 watt light we had before, it got to 89, with both together it got to 104.
I wonder if it is like you say and the thermometer is not reading correctly?

 

[wilddanny88]

thank you for responding! We are using two different ones, a dial kind and an accurite digital with a suction cup, it does not have a probe, (they both read the same temp for the most part)
http://www.amazon.com/Acu-Rite-00315-Suction-Thermometer-White/dp/B004V1XJ7U/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1342750369&sr=8-10&keywords=acu-rite+digital+thermometer
Is this one good enough? Lol, looks like I need to add something else to my amazon list.
Th basking spot goes up to about 6 from the top. There is not much more room to raise it. The lights sit on top of a screen right now. Hubby says he is going to exchange the red inferred for a white 150 watt tomorrow and cross our fingers that it gets warm enough. We played around with the lights today(uvb light was always on). With 250 red inferred by itself, it only got to 98, with just the white 100 watt light we had before, it got to 89, with both together it got to 104.
I wonder if it is like you say and the thermometer is not reading correctly?

The infrared lights are bad for their eyes. It could be the thermometer not working correctly. An easy way to tell if you are reaching the right basking temperature is to see if your dragon is gaping. This is when open their mouth to regulate their body temperature, similar to a dog panting. Hopefully the 150 watt will do it!

 

[Spikey07]

you do have to be careful with the type of thermometer you use.

I am not sure if the accurite one you have is ok or not? Maybe someone else can tell you that...

That thermometer might be measuring ambient temperature when the actual temperature you need to measure is the surface temperature of the basking spot. Did you put the digital thermometer directly on the basking spot and leave it there a while before reading the temp? I prefer to use an infared tempoerature gun because it gives you an instant temperature reading of basking spot surface temperature. I know you can also use a digital thermometer with a long wire and probe at the end, you then put the probe on the basking spot and leave it for 45mins before taking the reading.

 

[drunkenmonkeysmommy1]

we just have it on the wall of the tank. I will put it on his basking spot in the morning and see what it reads. Thank you!! So you want her to gape on her rock? We took her outside for a good while today to get some sun, since we apparently do not have a good uvb light. She gaped quite a bit. As a matter of fact that was the only time she has eaten in two days as I shoved some salad in her mouth every time she opened up. I guess I need to post this is the feeding section, but she has not eaten since the day we brought her home (on Tuesday, today is Thursday) except the salad I gave her today, and the 4 crickets she ate when she first got home. I know it takes awhile for them to get settled in, but should I be super worried yet?

 

[drunkenmonkeysmommy1]

ok, happy update so far. First of all, we took the uvb light out until we can get the right one(we are taking her outside for a couple of hours to replace the uvb). I put the digital thermometer on her actual basking spot and it registered 101 degrees after 45 minutes.

 

[wilddanny88]

Sounds good. Were you using the 150 watt?

 

[drunkenmonkeysmommy1]

That was just with the 100. I know the ideal temp for the basking spot 105-110. Do you think the 150 would make it too hot?

 

[wilddanny88]

If the 100 watt is doing it, just use it.

 

[drunkenmonkeysmommy1]

Sorry to sound like an *****, I am so new at this I thought that the babies needed the basking spot to be between 105-110. The 100 is only getting it to 100. That is why I suggested the 150. Buuut, I guess it is possible that it is slightly higher since I only used my suction cup digital thermometer on the rock and not a probe.
This is harder than getting a human babies room ready

 

[wilddanny88]

You could try the 150 watt but I was thinking that it would get the temperature too high. It's definitely worth a try though.

 

[drunkenmonkeysmommy1]

I think your right. Since I am only using the digital stick on thermometer, I may not be getting accurate readings. It read much hotter today now that we are using a 100 watt from the hardware store vs the one from the pet store. I can not wait until the gun comes in so I can get a more accurate reading!