Lets beat the dead horse some more.

Let's beat the dead horse some more.

Why? Because it's important. I'm new to this too and I just today experienced first hand how off temperatures from a guage style thermometer can be. If you take one thing from this post, make it this; Buy the digital probe thermometer or infared temp gun BEFORE the dragon.

I currently have a ten gallon tank (I know it's not going to last long, granted he starts eating more) setup pretty close to the picture, only the guage was moved directly above the basking spot, the food bowl moved to the front right corner, and theres a greens dish in the right back.



I was originally running a 50 watt with no UVB and undertank heating pad and the temp on the basking spot ran only about 80 degrees according to the guage. I went and picked up a 100 watt basking bulb and a 18" Repti Glo 10.0 UVB, ditched the under tank heater, and the gauge read around 90. I couldn't believe this big bulb and UVB couldn't heat up a ten gallon tank. After reading how inaccurate these gauges can be, I ordered a Zoo Med Mini Infared Gun last friday from Petco (http://www.petco.com/product/115362/Zoo-Med-Repti-Temp-Digital-Infrared-Thermometer.aspx?CoreCat=certona-_-ProductListTopRated_Reptile_4-_-Zoo%20Med%20Repti%20Temp%20Digital%20Infrared%20Thermometer-115362).

The gun came today and I was shocked at the results. The spot directly below (almost touching) the gauge on the basking spot read a BLAZING 138 DEGREES! The temperature gauge was off nearly 40 degrees!

No wonder the guy didn't go up on his basking spot but very briefly and often perched vertically on the right side of the hide! I swapped the 100 watt for the 50 watt day light bulb and peak temperatures on the basking spot were around 100 degress. I know the younger beardies like it bit hotter, but not 30 degrees hotter. I'll soon be swapping out the 50 watt for a 75 watt with a dimmer to be able to adjust the temps to exactly what I'll need.

Lesson learned? Having a reliable way to monitor the temps is absolutely vital and you don't have to break the bank to do so. If you can't afford the $20 to get an infared temp gun or digital thermometer with probes, you have no business owning a beardie.

Thank you for reading and for all knowledge some of you have posted on these boards!

- Zak

Those cheap thermometers aren't very accurate, true, but they also only measure air temperature, not surface temperature. The air temperature may very well have been 80-90 degrees. But, just like how you can go out on an 80 degree day and burn your hand on a hot car hood, the surface of the basking spot was much hotter than the surrounding air. Kudos for getting a temperature gun though, they are excellent for spot checking your temperatures to make sure everything is still hunky-dory.

You're very right and that's a great comparison. Surface temps and temperatures are completely different. I did expect there to be some difference, but not a difference of nearly 40 degrees. That said, what surface AND air temperatures are we shooting for at basking spot, warm side, and cold side? I'm not sure I've ever seen this information nor a differentiation between the two when someone posts temps.

I'd be interested to see how accurate this little temp gun is compared to pricier ones. I believe I still may pick up some cheap digital probe thermometers from Petco to see how the temperature may vary.

Exactly why I created the thread stickied at the top of this forum. To prevent this from happening to others.
Either way, glad you were able to get an accurate thermometer and will be fixing the temperatures.

Actually, I think I will add a link to this thread into my thread if you don't mind.

-Brandon

xXxZeusxXx":32lqqe7t said:

That said, what surface AND air temperatures are we shooting for at basking spot, warm side, and cold side? I'm not sure I've ever seen this information nor a differentiation between the two when someone posts temps.

Click to expand...

The three recommended temperatures in the tank ( I believe I go through this in the thread I mentioned earlier) Is:
Basking SURFACE: 105~ depending on the age of the dragon
Hot side: 90s
Cool side: 75-80s

The difference between air temperature and surface temperature should only really be different directly under the basking area, all other parts of the tank should have a pretty close comparison to the surface and the air surrounding it.

This is the reason I always capitalize basking SURFACE when I mention temps to people.

-Brandon

Brandon, absolutely add it to your post.

I did read it and a great informative (a lot of info) read it was, however I was already 3-4 days into owning the little guy. I've owned a few snakes in the past and as much as I know not to listen to anyone who works at Petco, the whole "oh it's pretty much the same thing" statement from them had me thinkng it actually was until I had some time to do more research and hop on the forums. I rarely impulse buy, but that exactly what this was; I wish I would've done my research first.

The three recommended temperatures in the tank ( I believe I go through this in the thread I mentioned earlier) Is:
Basking SURFACE: 105~ depending on the age of the dragon
Hot side: 90s
Cool side: 75-80s

Click to expand...

Great to know. Thank you.

Thanks for this . I will definitely be buying a temp gun in the next few days