jonnieriendeau04
New member
Good afternoon,
My bearded dragon is approximately five years old and is living in about a 50 gallon tank, that has a height of about 17 inches. The light fixtures rest on top of a mesh cover. I have the recommended reptisun 10.0 uvb light strip, along with a regular dome fixture that is compatible with 150w bulbs. The last couple months, my bearded dragon has had problems passing stool and I have been trying to trouble shoot the problem and in the process, make the enclosure better suited for my beardie. The problem I'm currently running into, is even with the 150 watt bulbs I'm having trouble getting the temperatures to reach the basking area. I have a thermometer sitting on the basking rock that currently reads 76 degrees Fahrenheit, which is a problem. I have read through all of the forms on this page about increasing the basking area temperature, but have not found any concrete information to remedy a solution aside from one helpful tidbit about wrapping the tank in blankets for added insulation and to make a raised platform, but that does not help for the ambient temperature. Focusing on the basking area temperature first, I believe the solution is going to be to find a new dome fixture that better concentrates the heat. I wanted to know, if any of the people in this community have had the same issues I'm having and what fixtures they are using, or which dome fixtures would be best for concentrating heat. The second part of my problem is the ambient temperature, its currently 50 degrees Fahrenheit outside of my home, so the temperatures tend to stay on the lower side, especially at night. I have always used a night light, but while doing research trying to find out more information to increase the temperatures at night, I found that using lights at night can actually be detrimental to a bearded dragons health, as it keeps them from entering a natural sleep cycle. I'm looking into getting a ceramic bulb to heat the enclosure at night, but need a suggestion on what fixture would be best, keeping in mind that temperatures dip quite significantly in the winter in the northeast. As mentioned in the beginning, she is five years old and has been happy and healthy over the past four winters, but I feel even though there are not visible signs of stress, the added ambient heat and added basking area heat will make for a better quality of life and help her pass stool more easily, if anyone has any suggestions or advice please don't be afraid to reach out. I'm trying to give my beardie the best possible life. Also, I know it was asked in other threads so wanted to provide more context, the brands of bulb I use are almost exclusively zilla.
Thank you all
Jon
My bearded dragon is approximately five years old and is living in about a 50 gallon tank, that has a height of about 17 inches. The light fixtures rest on top of a mesh cover. I have the recommended reptisun 10.0 uvb light strip, along with a regular dome fixture that is compatible with 150w bulbs. The last couple months, my bearded dragon has had problems passing stool and I have been trying to trouble shoot the problem and in the process, make the enclosure better suited for my beardie. The problem I'm currently running into, is even with the 150 watt bulbs I'm having trouble getting the temperatures to reach the basking area. I have a thermometer sitting on the basking rock that currently reads 76 degrees Fahrenheit, which is a problem. I have read through all of the forms on this page about increasing the basking area temperature, but have not found any concrete information to remedy a solution aside from one helpful tidbit about wrapping the tank in blankets for added insulation and to make a raised platform, but that does not help for the ambient temperature. Focusing on the basking area temperature first, I believe the solution is going to be to find a new dome fixture that better concentrates the heat. I wanted to know, if any of the people in this community have had the same issues I'm having and what fixtures they are using, or which dome fixtures would be best for concentrating heat. The second part of my problem is the ambient temperature, its currently 50 degrees Fahrenheit outside of my home, so the temperatures tend to stay on the lower side, especially at night. I have always used a night light, but while doing research trying to find out more information to increase the temperatures at night, I found that using lights at night can actually be detrimental to a bearded dragons health, as it keeps them from entering a natural sleep cycle. I'm looking into getting a ceramic bulb to heat the enclosure at night, but need a suggestion on what fixture would be best, keeping in mind that temperatures dip quite significantly in the winter in the northeast. As mentioned in the beginning, she is five years old and has been happy and healthy over the past four winters, but I feel even though there are not visible signs of stress, the added ambient heat and added basking area heat will make for a better quality of life and help her pass stool more easily, if anyone has any suggestions or advice please don't be afraid to reach out. I'm trying to give my beardie the best possible life. Also, I know it was asked in other threads so wanted to provide more context, the brands of bulb I use are almost exclusively zilla.
Thank you all
Jon
