Help: Halogen bulb temp vs Incandescent infrared heat bulb

So I recently built my 6-month-old female bearded dragon a new cage and it is 15 1/2in tall. I'm switching out my heat lamp normally I buy the 70 Watt halogen flood light but it wasn't producing enough heat at that height so I bought a 125 watt infrared heat lamp incandescent. My question is how high do I put it and is it going to produce to much heat and possibly burn her? It's made by Westinghouse and it says on the box that it's ideal for heating bathrooms and animal habitats but most of the stuff online is about baby chickens. so far I've just been standing in front of the cage and watching the temperature climb but I don't want to walk away just in case it gets too hot. I'll post pics of the bukb box and cage and we are making the lid today for her cage so don't judge me on on the lid lol
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CooperDragon

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Those look like the lamps used for chickens. Since they are producing bright white light, they should work for basking. I would set up a temperature probe on the basking surface and monitor the reading. You may need to change the height of the bulbs a bit in order to get the basking surface around 100-105. If the temps are way off, you may need to try a different bulb. It all really comes down to surface temperature readings.
 

rainbow181

Member
Original Poster
Yeah that's what I thought, thank @CooperDragon! It was reading 98.9 but if I point the lamp full vertical I get 100. I'm in the process of making the lamp shade taller so I can keep it vertical. I'm still getting the hang of this site so hopefully I replied back to your suggestion right ☺️
 

CooperDragon

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The bulbs you have use a bulge reflector (BR) so they stick out more than a parabolic (PAR) one would. You could get an adjustable lamp stand to hang the fixture from. That will allow you to keep it straight overhead and also adjust the height to change the temps as needed.
 

rainbow181

Member
Original Poster
CooperDragon":1ksjsxqh said:
The bulbs you have use a bulge reflector (BR) so they stick out more than a parabolic (PAR) one would. You could get an adjustable lamp stand to hang the fixture from. That will allow you to keep it straight overhead and also adjust the height to change the temps as needed.
I will be working towards getting one but for now I have made a cage to extend it higher
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and I using a heat probe thermostat because my gun broke. You wouldn't by any chance have a non-expensive suggestion for a temp gun?
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
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That looks like it should work. Just double check the temps to the sides to make sure the structure isn't cutting down too much on the width of the beam. You want the basking area to be at least the diameter of your dragon's length to allow for even basking. (an 18'' wide beam of 95+ degrees for example, doesn't have to be exact) If it cuts down too much width, try flaring out the base to continue the cone of the fixture a bit.

The probe thermometer should be just fine for recording the surface temps and adjusting the lighting. It's good to have a temp gun for spot checking though. This is a good basic one that won't break the bank. https://www.amazon.com/Etekcity-Lasergrip-774-Non-contact-Thermometer/dp/B00837ZGRY/
 

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