basking bulb

[NachoBeardie]

Hey there! So I'm trying to get my basking spot to the ideal temperature. I have a 60 gallon tank and I can't seem to get his basking spot hot enough. I tried a 65 watt flood lamp and the temps got about 10-15 degrees too hot so I went and got a 45 watt one because that's the only other one I could find and the temps didn't get higher then 83-84 degrees, I let it sit for about an hour. Any suggestions? Oh yea I'm using a digital thermometer with the probe. I have bought my Beardie but have not brought him home yet because I can't get these temperatures right.

 

[lzzrdboy]

I'm no expert compared to most of the members here I'm sure but when I experienced a similar issue I remedied it by adjusting the position of the basking platform. If it's too hot try distancing it a little further from the bulb. If too cool try raising it a little. Just a thought. Good luck as I know you want to bring your Beardie home!

 

[NachoBeardie]

Thank you for responding. I am messing with different bulbs and am on my third one now. The people at the stores probably all think I'm nuts going back and forth returning bulbs lol. Im sitting at 107.1 right now and its going down. ill check again in about 30 minutes see where I'm at and adjust it accordingly. I just want my baby home! I went and visited him today though which I plan to do every day until i take him home haha.

 

[jenneelk]

I know when mine just went out after 7 weeks of use, I bought a different brand in the same wattage and it was way too hot. I had to adjust his basking log and sometime even now he moves to lay further away.

Mine seems to just move to a lower spot or further away if need be.. do some not do this? I have two branches laying on top of one another and the longer branch going from left to right is about a foot long so he just changes where he perches.

 

[jenneelk]

Here's what mine does, he just moves way to the left and usually stays there to bask. You can see he's not under his bulb directly now. :/
But he seems to like it.. He's got attitude and is relaxed it seems. :mrgreen:
Don't mind them messy cage, he just went through major shedding and we are moving him to his bigger cage tomorrow hopefully.

 

[NachoBeardie]

Awe he looks so comfy! I have tried a 65 watt light was too hot, a 45 watt one and it was too cold, now just tried a 60 watt halogen and was at about 115 ugh so if I could find a 50 watt it would probably be perfect but I can not for the life of me find one. I switched out his basking spot with a shorter one and that helped but still a little too hot. I'm nervous he will not move from the hot spot and burn himself. So I'll try yet another light lol. He's not even here yet and I'm already his slave

 

[Sauzo]

Buy a cheap lamp dimmer from Home Depot or Lowes. The ones rated for 300 watts. That will solve your problem as you will be able to dial in the perfect temps. Then you can get a higher wattage bulb and dim it down. I use a 150 watt basking bulb on a dimmer and adjust it year round. Higher in the winters and lower in the summers.

As for them burning themselves, they will move if they get too hot. The only danger is if the thing you are using on the bottom of the light gets too hot as dragons sense heat from the top and not the bottom. I use a flat rock as Harleys basking spot and use a temp gun on the rock to get the temp. Just remember to give it a good long time to heat up the rock before checking as it takes awhile for the rock to reach peak temperature.

 

[lzzrdboy]

Buy a cheap lamp dimmer from Home Depot or Lowes. The ones rated for 300 watts. That will solve your problem as you will be able to dial in the perfect temps. Then you can get a higher wattage bulb and dim it down. I use a 150 watt basking bulb on a dimmer and adjust it year round. Higher in the winters and lower in the summers.

As for them burning themselves, they will move if they get too hot. The only danger is if the thing you are using on the bottom of the light gets too hot as dragons sense heat from the top and not the bottom. I use a flat rock as Harleys basking spot and use a temp gun on the rock to get the temp. Just remember to give it a good long time to heat up the rock before checking as it takes awhile for the rock to reach peak temperature.

I've used dimmers for my Leos but honestly never even thought about it for my BD. Genius. Although now I feel like a doof. Thanks for the advice Sauzo! Good stuff.

 

[NachoBeardie]

BLAST! My boyfriend will be happy to hear that. He told nee to do that from the beginning but I was being stubborn. I found a bulb that gets it to 105 in the basking spot. If it doesn't do that consistently then I will install the dimmer.

 

[Sauzo]

Np. I had the same problems with having to swap bulbs all the time to get the perfect temps.