Hot side Temps

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Hello new beardie owner here. i bought a starter kit for my beardie since i only had a leo setup i needed a better tank anyway so i purchased the starter kit and i got everything i need. my question is as far as my hot side temps go my heat lamp is always on because i dont have an UTH at the moment is this a good investment to make. my hot side/basking area gets to about 95 degrees. this is monitored with a digital thermometer/hygrometer. also how humid do i need to make it and how do i maintain that humidity. my substrate is vitasand as well its what the kit came with if its advised to change it then i will. my beardie seems to not mind the sand and i was informed that if its ingested it should pass through. if i was misinformed please let me know. sorry a little off topic trying to give detailed information but i would like to know how hot exactly do i need it on the hot side during the day. because i want it to be the right temp all the time also how cool do i make it at night? my cool side from what the analog thermometer says is about 75-80 but i never trust those sticky thermometer strips. any and all info is greatly appreciated. when i hold my beardie he/she seems warm to the touch.
 

destiny1998

Extreme Poster
Photo Comp Winner
Hi. I hate to say this, but those kits are crap. Vita sand bad. Replace with tile, paper towels, non adhesive shelf liner, carpet. If it came with those round dial stick ons. Those are very inaccurate. A temp gun or a digital with a wire probe. Is the uvb light coil/or compact? Long tube? Brand? Size of the enclosure? Also they don't need a heat matt. Just a nice white basking light and a good uvb.
 

NewBeardieOwner421

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Original Poster
i just went with what i could afford at the time of purchase i think the uvb bulb is a coil and the brand i want to say is reptisun or something like that and i have a basking light as the kit came with a mini dome combo the heat lamp and the basking light are both 100W and i have a digital thermometer with a probe on the hot side of the tank. its a 20 Gallon terrarium. the other thermometer that came with it is one of the strip ones you stick on the glass. i will get my beardie off the sand. and onto some paper towel as soon as i can. then replace it with desert carpet later. i just want to make sure that i give my beardie the proper amount of heat. im just trying to get as much info as i can as i have never had a bearded dragon before.
 

ruben0311

Juvie Member
you are ok using the coil bulb for now, the 100W bulb will get nice and hot so you're ok. The issue you will get, if the lamp dome is wired as one and not individually wired to each bulb, is that you will not be able to individually modify the distance of the heat and the UVB to your little guy. although the temps may be good the UVB could be either way to close or much too far to actually provide any usable radiation. If you can send the details for the set up, (how far to basking site, with photos if possible, that would greatly assist in getting you some good pointers. we all have to work with what we can so dont fret about not being able to get the big time stuff.... i never have :D
 

NewBeardieOwner421

Member
Original Poster
i think my problem is that i just recently lost a reptile (not through fault of my own) but i want to make sure im giving my little guy the right care and i got two separate lighting fixtures on looks like a fish tank light (UVB light) the other is a mini combo dome (with two separate light fixtures and are individually wired one for the heat lamp the other for the basking light. the heat lamp and basking light are on the op wire mesh of the terrarium over where my little guy likes to hang out (ie over his rock cave and his hammock) the uvb light is on the opposite side of the terarrium. i was unsure of how to set it all up so i put the lights beside each other on the top of the terarrium. i am unsure of how to attach pictures into the posts i have pictures of the setup just not sure how i would attach them into a reply on the thread
 

ruben0311

Juvie Member
As far as loading pictures, if you look on the right hand side the upload manager link is listed under the Other Fun Stuff heading. afterwards you would just link the photos onto the message using a button (XIMG) located along the top of the input screen (along with Bold, Italics, Quote etc...) there are threads on how to do it also. since the UVB is separate then i retract my concern about the lamp domes giving you issues all together! the temps are then easily raised by using a stronger bulb, however if it is a tiny bulb/lamp set up you might not be able to get much hotter. If getting a stronger bulb is not an option then you will be doing some construction to get the basking spot closer to the heat source!.. all easy things to do though.
 

diamc

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hi there. A 100 watt bulb is an awful lot of wattage for only a 20 gallon tank. You need to place the probe end right on (touching) the basking log or rock and then wait about 45 min for the temp to stop rising before getting the final basking SURFACE temp. Then you place the probe way over on the bottom of the cool side and wait the same amount of time there.

Would be a good idea to get a Repti-Sun 10.0 fluorescent tube as soon as you can. There have been some health issues from using the coil & compact UVB's. Also, those bulbs won't prevent your beardie from getting metabolic bone disease because the UVB output declines very rapidly.

The UVB & basking bulb should actually be right alongside each other so your beardie can get the benefit of both bulbs at the same time.
 
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