Lighting (hear me out)

Okay so yes, Im aware this belongs in enclosures... But I almost never get answers there. My beardy's regular temps have always been lower than they should, the warm side of her tank only reaching into the 80s. That being said, her basking spot(s) up and down her log have always been 95-105 pending where she is on the log. Since her basking temps were good, she did at least have a gradiant ranging from 70 to 105 in the tank, and it never dropped too low, I didnt plan on replacing bulbs till her lights got raised again. Well i finally got her lights set up properly so i upgraded her 75W bulb to a 100W bulb and... no temperature change. Warm side was 82F average after raising 75W bulb and when replaced with 100W bulb. Today I had her tank top off for an extended period of time where as its usually only set off to the side while remaining on the tank and immediately moved back. Within 10 minutes, her tank temps on the warm side rose from 81F to 91F and even after replacing the top, it took several hours to cool back down to its usual 81F. In fact, it wasn't that far down until her lights were off all together for the night. Its what I assume to be a usual metal top? But seems to be SEVERELY inhibiting any heat since its screen is basically like a heat sink. Any suggestions? Different type of top/material or maybe remove altogether?

The warm side (under the basking area should be between 90 and 95 so you are good there. Cool end needs to be between 75 and 80. What did the basking temp get up to and, how do you get the readings?

Gormagon":1yunlmix said:

The warm side (under the basking area should be between 90 and 95 so you are good there. Cool end needs to be between 75 and 80. What did the basking temp get up to and, how do you get the readings?

Click to expand...

Basking was around 105 taking by thermometer with probes. Will she be fine having no top given the UVB? Its a T5 HO tube raised above the tank. The general temps on each side are too low with the top on

Drache613":1qjbku7r said:

Moved by Moderator from General to Enclosures

Click to expand...

Enclosures is practically dead, Ive waited for months on a response here and the threads still have no answer

Deabrua":1iolqu09 said:

Drache613":1iolqu09 said:

Moved by Moderator from General to Enclosures

Click to expand...

Enclosures is practically dead, Ive waited for months on a response here and the threads still have no answer

Click to expand...

I always check "New Posts" when I come on here. That way if I can help, I will add something. I never look at individual sections unless I am looking for something specific. A lot of folks look but can't give you an answer, it really depends on the question.

Just make sure the UVB is within 12" of your dragon's basking spot (no screen)!!!

The other two questions gone unanswered were how much space do people give between levels of a multilevel enclosure and any suggestions on what to add to a baby beardy's tank. Both of which many people here have dealt with.

Deabrua":h9x076xn said:

The other two questions gone unanswered were how much space do people give between levels of a multilevel enclosure and any suggestions on what to add to a baby beardy's tank. Both of which many people here have dealt with.

Click to expand...

As long as your ventilation problems are taken care of as far as heat transfer I would say they could be stacked easily.
As far as a baby's Viv, decorate it with what you wpould want him to have when he is an adult, they don't like change.

I noticed her dislike of change when I rotated the tank so that she wasnt facing a corner of the room when she's basking. She still chose to go to that quadrant of the tank.

Not sure what kind of things to put in the tank. She currently has a piece of drift wood angled up for basking, one of those wooden hide huts, and food/water dish. Its only a 20G long tank while she's a baby. This won't be the multi-level attempt. When she's a little bit older, she'll be moved to a larger tank where she could comfortably grow to full size. Im wondering if it would be large enough that I could make solid platforms to give her much more room to roam. Im not sure what kind of things to put in either tank since there always seems to he such contradicting opinions.

She only has a 20G long tank for while she's younger since she doesnt need a huge amount of space yet. I took her tank top off and replaced her 75W bulb with a 100W bulb and the warm side of her tank is still only 81-88F. I dont know what to do :sad:

Is the tank off the floor? Is the room cold you have her in? that has a lot to do w/ temps in the tank - some times if you keep door closed w/ room she is in it will help w/ tank temps-- you can always add a heat emitter like a 100 watt no light CHE- or you can close off the top of tank to keep the heat from getting out but you still need ventilation -- I have Hiccup in a 120 gallon Zen Habitat tank and his tank stays warm -- and I live in MN but I also keep door mostly closed not latched to keep the heat in the room especially on really cold days but days that are sunny his tank really heats up w/ the sun coming in -- to give you an example-- I keep a 100 watt heat emitter on 24/7 during winter and off during summer- his tank gets down to 70 or so at nite - but he has different temps all over tank - basking is 90-105 depending on room temp- cool side of tank is around 80 and middle of tank is around 86 UVB area is 86 and basking today is 107-- it is odd you are having such a hard time getting that temp up in such a small tank -- how are you taking temps? w/ a probe thermometer or are you using a IR heat gun?
Karrie

As stated above, the temps drop with the top on. The room she's kept in is generally warmer between her lights and my PC constantly running, usually around 70-75F. Directly below the lamp at 12 inches away is 100F even. But even just a couple inches away from directly below and the temps drop to 80F. I'm using a probe thermometer.

Probes are not accurate-- please get a Infrared gun from Walmart or Home Depot etc..... they are around $10 --- please check w/ that before you do anything drastic- what is your dragon doing? Is she/he basking doing any gaping w/ the mouth?
Karrie

While I agree that you should invest in a temp gun I don't agree that probes are inaccurate. Probes are good at telling you the air temp and temp guns are good at telling surface temps.

Multiple diff thermometers have been used, each giving within 1F results of each other. I'm going to trust those results. No gaping, almost always basking. She's occasionally dehydrated (skin wrinkles on her sides), she's given droplets of water on top of her nose when that occurs. Aside for food, she doesnt move from directly underneath the lamp.