Need Help! Can't seem to keep enclosure warm enough!

Hi guys!

I have a beautiful 2 yr old male red who although refuses to eat his veggies (has rarely eaten any EVER.. but that's another post for another forum ) THIS post is about his enclosure.


he's in a large 200+ gallon tank with wood and tile floor. Reptisun 10.0 36" florescent (about 5 months old) and two 150 watt full spectrum bulbs and a 50 watt ceramic heater.



75 degrees cool end and about 95 basking. I'm having issues keeping the tank warm enough I think.. It's got open metal screen topping, which lets a lot of heat escape, but even with 150 watt spotlights the basking only gets to 95 tops.

Can you guys give me your advice for a heat/light setup that won't cost me an arm and a leg? I'm thinking maybe I need 200 watt spots and a 150 watt ceramic?

Even though he's a strait carnivore and lives in too cool of a home, he certainly LOOKS healthy!






If this was YOUR enclosure, what would you do with it?

Thanks in advance!

Roja":2btu4war said:

If this was YOUR enclosure, what would you do with it?

Thanks in advance!

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I would make sure there is no way for him to crawl out. Remove the screen... hang the lights lower and cover up half the enclosure with something solid like plexi glass or glass.

Unfortunately I cant help you with the light.
But I wanted to tell you that your Beardie lives in paradise omg his viv is beautiful.I hope that one day we have the money/space to give Spikey a room like this. She loves climbing and jumping and is always all over the place

Hmm... I'm not the handiest of people.. How could I 'hang' spotlights?

I hadn't thought of plexi for part of it, that's a good idea. Maybe just covering the area where there are no lights sitting..?

I would make sure there is no way for him to crawl out. Remove the screen... hang the lights lower and cover up half the enclosure with something solid like plexi glass or glass.

Click to expand...

Thank you so much!!

I got it for a steal at a petstore that was going out of business. Everything was like 80% off in the last few days then all the shelving, tanks etc just had "Make An Offer" taped to them. It was where they displayed their baby ferrets.. We lucked out BIG time. I paid less for it than I had paid for his first tank (40 gallon breeder) I had gotten when he was just a tiny baby!

Spikey92":3j5f1omz said:

Unfortunately I cant help you with the light.
But I wanted to tell you that your Beardie lives in paradise omg his viv is beautiful.I hope that one day we have the money/space to give Spikey a room like this. She loves climbing and jumping and is always all over the place

Click to expand...

My husband made a frame for me to hang Spike and Sampson's lights on. It is some type of metal that he got at TSC and put rubber stoppers on the ends He is kinda handy so it did not take long to make. Thought this might help. BTW, beautiful baby and tank!

Roja":2vie0e9r said:

Hmm... I'm not the handiest of people.. How could I 'hang' spotlights?

I hadn't thought of plexi for part of it, that's a good idea. Maybe just covering the area where there are no lights sitting..?

I would make sure there is no way for him to crawl out. Remove the screen... hang the lights lower and cover up half the enclosure with something solid like plexi glass or glass.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Yah even just covering up part of the cage is going to trap alot of the heat. I would try that for an easy fix.