Too cold at night

Somehow I managed to forget to turn on not one but TWO heaters, resulting in a pretty cold night for little Ash (6-7 month juvenile.) (Normally I turn on the thermostat in the room, but it is hard because here in California it is still getting warm during the day, up to 75 or so, and then cold at night, down to 39... so I have to turn on the heater during the night, then switch it to AC during the day, then remember to turn the heater BACK on in the afternoon!)

To help prevent problems from that, I set up my tank with a 75w ceramic heating element bulb in the dual enclosure with his normal basking lamp, and I connected that to a digital thermostat so that it stays on whenever the ambient viv temperature is less than 69 degrees.

BUT I recently did a full-tank cleaning and had to take the lamps off for an extended period of time, so I must have switched the CHE off at that time and forgotten to turn it back on!

When I showed up to check on him this morning, the room was 52 degrees! (the tank was 59, because the basking lamp had been on for about an hour.)

He was sitting there in his basking spot, seemingly bright-eyed and alert and as healthy-looking as ever but... should I be worried? Could he get sick from this? How cold is truly the coldest they can tolerate? (I can't seem to find a definitive answer on this on the internet... I saw a vet say it should be low-70s in the tank at night; I've heard some say it can lead to respiratory infection if below 65. But clearly my guy survived 52... what signs would I look for if there were a resp problem to develop? )

While not ideal, one cold night shouldn't be a problem at all. That temp isn't anywhere near freezing. They are designed to handle winter by slowing down and brumating. There have been dragons who are left outside in freezing temps who just slow their systems down and have survivedhttps://www.kcrg.com/content/news/Dubuque-County-Deputies-Save-Frozen-Bearded-Dragon-369178371.html

Don't worry about one cooler than normal night. He will be fine - just turn the CHE back on as needed. I have mine set to kick in above 67 and turn off at 73 but that's just a general guide that has worked well for me.

Hello,

I agree, it definitely isn't the greatest scenario, but, he wasn't in the elements like rain, snow,
etc so he will be just fine. They are pretty well equipped to handle some extreme measures
like cold weather.
Just pamper him with some nice warm nights now, he will be good as new.

Tracie

Thanks. He seems to be fine (in fact... he seems to be MORE happy and energetic when it is on the cooler side at night? I have noticed when I let the room go cold and have the CHE on, he avoids the warm 85 degree spot and sleeps in the 64 degree one -- and the rest of the tank is even cooler -- and when he does that, he seems a lot happier and more energetic the next day than when I have the heat on and the whole room stays about 70 degrees)

It's natural for them to have a cooldown period. I set my heat emitter to keep one side of the tank no higher than 73 and no lower than 68. The other side of the tank sometimes gets a bit colder into the low 60s on very cold nights but it's always 68-73 under the heat emitter. I don't really heat it up too much otherwise.