Baby J's Temp Home

[magicmagni]

Your recommendation is not far off from what Dr. Howard came up with in his field study. When I was researching recently, I came across this video interview that was super helpful and interesting. He explains how he used a SolarMeter 6.5 to measure the UVI of 100+ Bearded Dragons in the wild at various times in the day. He plots this data in the slide below.. what shocked me was that some individuals were exposing themselves to a UVI of 10.0+ in afternoon! Not to say I would want to provide that high of a level in the enclosure lol. If I recall correctly he observed that they were out in those extremes morso for social reasons like territorial disputes etc.. and not actively seeking the UV... probaly moreso tolerating it and at that a good amount of heat too I would guess. Amazing how tolerant they can be of some really extreme conditions.

*Screenshot from the Video Interview linked above

He averaged all the datapoints in slide above to come up with a recommendation of 4.1UVI at the basking spot in captivity using the "sunbeam method". It is believed that at this average the D3 blood levels would be at the same levels as those of a wild BD.

*Screenshot from the Video Interview linked above

 

[magicmagni]

I'm trying out this wireless thermometer on his setup..

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BRMDT5DT?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

I really like that it comes with two sensors. I have one on the basking side and another on the shade side. It's all wireless so don't have to worry about a bunch of wires inside the enslosure that he can get tangled in. It also gives a lot of flexability as to where to place them. It was a bit trial and error to get them to pair up to the master unit, but after a few tries it worked. It's pretty clean and I like that all the temps are displayed on one unit.

The Sensors have suction cups that allow you to stick them to the glass walls. I would rather a command strip or simular. The suction only fell off once, but after wetting the suction and cleaning glass well, they have not fallen off again. A nice touch is that they are replacable and can unscrew from the back of the sensor. So far it's as accurate as the digital probe thermo it replaced. They use a standard watch battery that I'm guessing will need to be replaced once a year.

I like that they are white so you are less likely to get false high readings. Black when exposed to IRA/B from basking bulb will heat up a lot more then actual ambient temps and make it seem hotter than it is. Also the sensor is encompased in the box which is vented at the bottom, which also helps, but I still try to keep them out of the direct heat lamp exposure for the most accurate readings.

 

[Claudiusx]

If I recall correctly he observed that they were out in those extremes morso for social reasons like territorial disputes etc.. and not actively seeking the UV...

Right. It's one thing to be able to gather data, it's a whole different skill set to validly interpret said data..

Dr. Frances Baines, who i've seen you mention before also, is a member here (although not a very active member, she comes by when asked during a heated lighting debate ) and she also believes around a 3.5 UVI at the basking site is suitable for our goals in the enclosure, which is adequate D3 production.

-Brandon