bitof a dilemma here, please help

rite, for the past 2days when ive taken thunder out of his viv ive found that hes not as warm as he used to be.Ive read all the beardie books and my fiance already owns a beardie so im not totally clueless when it comes to them but theres still a few things I worry about.

at night when I turn the UV off, should I leave only the basking light on with the heat mat off or vice versa or leave both switched on?

also in the daytime he only has his basking light and uv light on and the heat mat off, In your opinion, should I leave the heat mat on in the day also??Ive got a terrible feeling that hes not gettin enough heat, the temperature probes are reading that both ends of the viv are hot enough but I still dnt think hes getting the heat he needs.Im worried that if I dnt do something soon hes gonna die and id never forgive myself if that happened.please can you give me your advice!!!!thankyou

Hi.
They need dark at night, so dont leave any of the lights on. If it doesnt get any cooler than mid 60's (F) then you wont need any heat for them at night.

Heat rocks are generally considered to not be a good idea for beardies. They cannot sense heat from their stomach very well, and will lay there and possibly burn themselves.

If you dont mind my asking, what are your temps?

In my opinion you should not use a heat mat unless it is mounted on the back of the tank. Especially during brumation as while your beardie may be in a deep sleep he/she will not realize they are burning themselves. Beardies heat receptors are not on their bellies but rather on the top of their bodies. A better choice of heat would be a ceramic heat emitter. It does not put out any light only heat. Do not leave any lights on when it is time for your beardie to be sleeping it will only interupt their rest. In return can lower their immune system causing them to become ill.

I'm not sure where you are located, but I'm in California an our night temps are beginning to drop into the low 60's and high 50's so I have now put the heat emitters back into use. Once the day temps begin to drop I will probably need to leave them on 24/7 as I live in an old house with a wood burning stove and it can get quite cold during the winter. As long as your night time temps are above 65* you don't need the additional heat.

Hope that help some. :wink:

after reading all your replies, checking the temperatures at both sides of the vivarium about 1000 times lol and consulting a specialist centre for reptiles i now leave his heat mat on at night only (placed where thunder cannot burn his tummy), he seems happier, hes eating alot more and seems alot more active.I was right, the vivarium was getting too cold at night for him (im from the UK and it can drop very cold at night)but im sure that now he will be fine.thankyou for taking your time to read my post and to give me your help and advice, I reall do appreciate it

So, you're using a digital thermometer with a probe on the end? If so, when you check the temps, make sure you are laying the probe end right on the basking surface so that it is resting on it, wait about 45 min for the temp to stop rising before you find out the actual basking temp, then do the same thing on the cool side. What are you getting for basking & cool temps?

the thermometer is reading 48c under the basking light and 36c on the cool side of the vivarium.is this too hot?????and if so, how can I possibly cool it down without the temp dropping too low?

So, is it a digital thermometer with a long wire & probe then? If so, those temps ARE too high. The basking temp is 118.4 and cool side 96.8 which isn't allowing him to thermoregulate. The basking temp should be 95 to 110 which is 35 to 43 celcius and the cool side 75 to 80 which is 23.8 to 26.6 celcius. What wattage basking bulb are you using & what size is the tank? Could you also give us the details of the UVB & how close he is to that?

yes it is a digital thermometer with 2probes (labelled IN and OUT).the basking bulb is 60W (red), the tank is 2 and a half ft length and hes about 10inches away from the UVB light (which is a 2.0)-recommmended by the place he was purchased from

That's good that you're using that type of thermometer and it also saves time because you can get both readings at once. Make sure one of the probes is laying right on the basking area & the other probe laying right on the bottom of the cool side, then wait about 45 min for the temp to stop rising before you decide your temps. So, your tank must be about a 20 gallon then with those measurements? How wide & tall is it? Beardies do better with bright white basking bulbs, it is easier on their eyes and gives them more energy which also helps to increase their appetites. I suggest you replace the red 60 watt with a 60 watt household bulb then recheck the temps.

Is the 2.0 UVB a fluorescent, coil or compact bulb, what is the brand name? This is very important that you let us know. A 2.0 doesn't give off enough ultra violet rays for a beardie so he's really not getting any benefit from it. Here's a site that has the best fluorescent UVB you can get at a reasonable price. http://www.petmountain.com/product/fluorescent/504983/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-uvb-bulb.html With this good bulb, your beardie should be 6 to 8" from it and the UVB & basking bulb should be right alongside it so he can get both benefits at once.

after looking at the UVB i realisedid given you the wrong details, it is actually a 10.0 after all so that should be fine.I have now hooked his basking light upto a dimmer switch and I now have the correct temperatures in both the basking area and the cool side, the basking area now reads 38-41c and the cool side is reading 27-29c .......finally it seems to have worked and thuner seems alot happier and alert when in his vivarium.thankyou so much for all your help, it is very much appreciated and needed, especially for a newbie like me lol.

Hi, so you do have the Repti-Sun 10.0 fluorescent bulb? The dimmer really helped you to get the temps right, good job. :wink: Just wondering, did you replace the red bulb with a bright white basking bulb? How far is he from the UVB light?

That's great that he seems a lot happier, just making a few adjustments can make a big difference.

I tried jut a plain white bulb, it was reaching 70c so we hooked the dimmer upto it and it then dimmed the bulb far too much so im back to the red bulb as it seems to work better for me and thunder seems more than happy with it.hes about 9inches away from the UVB at the minute

Hi, what wattage lightbulb had you tried that gave you a 70 celcius reading (158 fahrenheit)? Was it a 60 watt or higher? With a 2 1/2 ft tank, you might even be able to get away with a 40 watt basking bulb. The colored bulbs are very rough on the eyes, he may seem to be doing fine now but it may start causing eye irritation or damage. If you could get him a little closer to the UVB, that would be a good idea too, try to make it within the 6 to 8", just a few inches could make a big difference. :wink:

the bulb that was kicking out so much heat was only a 40w........yeah we couldnt believe it either, it just kept creeping up and the digital thermometer couldnt read it anymore.ive now got a red bulb but the outside is painted pink so that the light isnt as harsh on his eyes, im now reading the right temperatures and he seems happy now.ive also placed things in with him so that he can climb closer to the UVB tube.........im sur everything is fine now

It's crazy the differences in bulbs and heat in everyone's vivs. I am so tired of messing with light bulbs. :roll: