I adopted an adult female beardie from craigslist and for her basking light they were using a CHE. Is a CHE warm enough for a basking spot? The tank came with a zilla dial thermomemeter that sticks on. I know those are not accurate and will be getting a probe thermometer today. I would just like to know what I need to buy while I'm out today. I got her a new reptisun 10 bulb because the one that she came with "had just blown out". Also, it seems like they have always used the CHE bulbs for her basking spot.
Lighting question for adult beardie
- Thread starter Magz
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Reptilelady
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Hi,
Grats on adopting your beardie
CHE's are really used for additional nighttime heat, not for basking day bulbs. What you need is a bright white basking bulb you can get this from a hardware store or from pet store although you will probably pay more for the brand name, etc. The wattage will depend on how big your enclosure is. Could you please describe how big the enclosure she is in? Is the new reptisun 10 linear bulb a T8 or T5HO?
Grats on adopting your beardie
CHE's are really used for additional nighttime heat, not for basking day bulbs. What you need is a bright white basking bulb you can get this from a hardware store or from pet store although you will probably pay more for the brand name, etc. The wattage will depend on how big your enclosure is. Could you please describe how big the enclosure she is in? Is the new reptisun 10 linear bulb a T8 or T5HO? 
Yeah definitely get a bright white basking light. PAR38 halogen flood lights from the hardware store work well. You can set them on a lamp dimmer to fine tune the output as needed. I would get two digital thermometers so you can have a probe on the basking surface and one on the cool side surface to monitor the gradient in real time. Using a high quality UVB light is also quite important so if you can provide more info about your tank size and distance from the lamp to the basking spot as Reptilelady requested it would be helpful so we can help find a proper fit for your setup. The CHE can be held back and used as overnight heat if the temps in the tank drop below 65. If the temps stay above that, then the CHE won't really be needed.
I bought her a 40 gallon breeder because she was in a smaller one before. It's the reptisun 10 mini compact 13 watts. Over email the woman made it seem like she had a "very big" tank and all the accessories. They had lost interest in her and said they didn't know enough about beardies dispite having her for a year, after "rescuing" her from another person. I'm just trying to do right by her now and hopefully get her comfortable.
EDIT* I went to a local reptile shop and they suggested just getting the reptisun 10 mini compact, which I ended up getting from them.
EDIT* I went to a local reptile shop and they suggested just getting the reptisun 10 mini compact, which I ended up getting from them.
The mini compact won't put out nearly enough UVB for a dragon. In a 40g breeder you'll be best off with a 22'' T5 tube with reflective fixture like this or the ReptiSun 10.0 version http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/22-t-5-ho-fixture-high-output-with-arcadia-d3-12-ho-bulb/
After reading more about lighting on this website, I realized that the person has given me the wrong information, kind of annoyed about it consider the person is the owner of REPTILE shop and owns many beardies along with other reptiles. I will be getting a 22" as soon as I can. Any suggestions on what probe thermometer to get? The same person suggested a non-probe one that only reads ambient temperature and humidity, after I had said that the tank came with a stick-on dial zilla.
Unfortunately a lot of stores and even manufacturers are misinformed (I hate to think they simply don't care). Fortunately, you don't need much with the probe thermometer. Just one with a long enough wire to reach the basking spot easily (you can zip tie it in place if needed). Something like this should do https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0017N8W90/ and I'd get one for each side. You can also go with an IR temp gun like this which will measure surface temps https://www.amazon.com/Nubee-Temperature-Non-contact-Infrared-Thermometer/dp/B00CVHIJDK and allow you to spot check areas. It's still good to keep an eye on ambient temps but I tune the lighting according to surface temps.
Can't beat natural sunshine =). When you have a chance, please post some photos of her. I'd love to see her and keep track of her progress.
She looks happy =). Nice bright colored beard.
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