Basking Surface Temp

[OneBigDude]

I have an accurite digital thermometer with a probe. I have a couple questions regarding the basking area. The probe end has a little sticky piece of rubber that attaches it to whatever you want to measure. Below is a picture of the probe. I feel as though it is measuring the temperature of the light shining on the probe...aka the temperature my beardies back and top of his head will feel. That temp is currently around 106-107. What I'm trying to figure out is whether the temperature I should be measuring is the temperature of the rock he lays on under the basking light...aka the temperature his belly is touching. Any advice would be appreciated. Below is a picture of my probe, as you can see, there is a little rubber sticky pad that attaches it to the rock.

 

[zandi202]

You measure the temperature of whatever it is he basks on.

 

[OneBigDude]

You measure the temperature of whatever it is he basks on.

So disregard the temperature that his back would feel?

 

[zandi202]

Yeah, the temperature on his skin isn't the actually temp. Zy and Jace's temp on their basking spots might be 105, but their body is about 92-98-ish.

 

[OneBigDude]

Yeah, the temperature on his skin isn't the actually temp. Zy and Jace's temp on their basking spots might be 105, but their body is about 92-98-ish.

Not exactly what I was getting at. The temperature the probe is reading is 106-107 because the light shines on it. The temperature of the rock that his belly touches under the basking spot is less than 106 (i'm assuming because black plastic heats faster than sandstone or whatever the rock is made of). Should the temperature I'm trying to get be the temperature of the actual rock, i.e. what his belly is resting on? Meaning should the ambient temperature that would be hitting his back be significantly higher than the rock its self, since it would need to be 130-135 to get the rock into the 110 range?

 

[OneBigDude]

Maybe this will help explain what I am asking...With my 60 watt halogen flood bulb and the sticky pad on the probe attached to the rock, the probe measures a temperature from 115-120. I think this is the ambient temperature due to being in direct sunlight...aka the temp my beardie is feeling shining on his back. Tonight I flipped the probe over so the sticky portion has the light shining down on it, and the portion of the probe that normally is upwards is now resting on the rock. In that configuration, it is reading 106 which I'm assuming is the temperature being reflected off the rock...aka the temp my beardies belly feels. Look at the picture I posted and imagine the probe "upside down". So, which temperature needs to be between around 110-115? The temperature my beardie is feeling on his back due to the direct sunlight, or the temperature reflected off the rock?

 

[zandi202]

That temperature seems really high. It should be 100-105. I'm still not sure if I'm getting what you are saying. Probes you need to put exactly where your beardie basks. I use a temp gun so I am unfamiliar with the prob. I'm pretty sure that theu probe should be measuring the rock's temp.

 

[OneBigDude]

That temperature seems really high. It should be 100-105. I'm still not sure if I'm getting what you are saying. Probes you need to put exactly where your beardie basks. I use a temp gun so I am unfamiliar with the prob. I'm pretty sure that theu probe should be measuring the rock's temp.

I appreciate the response and patience lol. I guess what I'm getting at is if he was sitting on a piece of black tile it would be a lot hotter with less ambient heat needed to get it to the temperature because of the material and color of the tile. He is really sitting on a sandstone? rock that doesn't heat up or retain heat the same as other basking spots like a branch, cardboard, vine, etc. All of these possible basking materials take different amounts of heat from the lights to get to/retain heat from the basking lamp. So to get my basking area (sandstone rock) to reflect a temperature of 105-110, it takes a hotter light shining down on it. My question, and you may have answered it but I was hoping for more people to chime in, is whether the basking temp is the temperature of the surface they are laying on or the temperature of the light shining on it. For instance, would a heat rock that holds a 110-115 temp be fine if there was a bright white light shining on it that doesn't give off any heat? ( I wouldn't do this, just hypothetical)
Should he basically be sitting on a 110 degree heat pad regardless of the temp shining on his back?

 

[OneBigDude]

IF the temp of the rock needs to be 110-115, it would almost seem necessary for people to only use a temp gun for the basking area because of the many things that would effect a probe type thermometer. In my case, the light absorption due to the probe being black. Same reason why wearing lighter colors keeps you cooler than black in the summer. In other cases where it is a stick type probe, the contrast of the heat coming from off the basking rock and the ambient temperature from being in direct sunlight would be contrasting, which is why thermometers come with instructions that say to not place in direct sunlight.
My beardie doesn't gape when he is sitting under the light and never really leaves his basking area unless he's chasing food or climbing into the tree at night to sleep, so is it safe to assume he isn't over heating?

 

[pulpz]

I understand your question perfectly, I too often wondered the same thing. Not ever really finding the answer to the question I resorted to...

I took Jinx out of his viv for a bit and let my lights do their thing on his favorite basking spot and let the temp (surface of the wood) get to 108F and then raised the light about 2-3 inches which dropped the surface temp down to 105F after about 45m - 1hr. I then put Jinx back in his viv and called it good at that point. Now with Summer approaching (live in Phoenix, AZ) I will have to recalculate his basking spot as the room temp is going to start increasing...which I can dim the light a tad to compensate.

The way I see things is simple really...I do what I can to regulate his basking surface temp and if for some reason he becomes a lil' too warm he has the sense to move to a cooler location or he can even drop himself down a bit where the basking surface temp will be lower. Same goes for if he wants more heat, he does have the option to go higher and closer to the light.

Hope that helps a bit and hope I understood your question like I think I did! =)


--peace & hairgrease!

 

[OneBigDude]

I understand your question perfectly, I too often wondered the same thing. Not ever really finding the answer to the question I resorted to...

I took Jinx out of his viv for a bit and let my lights do their thing on his favorite basking spot and let the temp (surface of the wood) get to 108F and then raised the light about 2-3 inches which dropped the surface temp down to 105F after about 45m - 1hr. I then put Jinx back in his viv and called it good at that point. Now with Summer approaching (live in Phoenix, AZ) I will have to recalculate his basking spot as the room temp is going to start increasing...which I can dim the light a tad to compensate.

The way I see things is simple really...I do what I can to regulate his basking surface temp and if for some reason he becomes a lil' too warm he has the sense to move to a cooler location or he can even drop himself down a bit where the basking surface temp will be lower. Same goes for if he wants more heat, he does have the option to go higher and closer to the light.

Hope that helps a bit and hope I understood your question like I think I did! =)


--peace & hairgrease!

Sounds like you got it. It just concerns me that it takes a pretty high temperature to get his rock into the 105-110 range. I wasn't sure if the high heat on his back 120-125 was unhealthy and being so small, I wasn't sure if he has the sense to move if he overheats.

 

[OneBigDude]

I guess what I could ask is, what is everyone's temperature at the height of their beardies back in the direct light of the basking lamp? Not the surface temperature of their beardie's back, but the temp of the light shining on their beardie?

 

[BIGJAY21]

125 is sooooo hot. If your getting readings of 106 107, thats probably money. 110 on the basking spot is about as high as I or I would say many other people would feel comfortable with. I have gone through many trial and errors with getting a basking spot dialed. I totally understand where your coming from. A temp gun makes it so much easier because you get instant data feedback. Remember you can go to the hardware store and buy a selection of clear incandescent bulbs. 100 watts are hard to find but you can order them online. Also you can get a dimmer they cost about 11 bucks and you plug them into the outlet and then the light into the dimmer. This way you can adjust the brightness and in turn the heat instead of changing to a diff wattage. Also remember you can raise the height or lower the height of the basking area, stacking bricks works well for this... I feel you man I obsess over temperatures so good luck and dont worry about nailing it to the tenth of a degree temperatures fluctuate in nature. If the probe is where he basks and you have left it there for 45 minutes then that is your reading. Also if your dragon has been under a high heat he might appreciate a bath... hydration does wonders! Hope this helps.

 

[OneBigDude]

125 is sooooo hot. If your getting readings of 106 107, thats probably money. 110 on the basking spot is about as high as I or I would say many other people would feel comfortable with. I have gone through many trial and errors with getting a basking spot dialed. I totally understand where your coming from. A temp gun makes it so much easier because you get instant data feedback. Remember you can go to the hardware store and buy a selection of clear incandescent bulbs. 100 watts are hard to find but you can order them online. Also you can get a dimmer they cost about 11 bucks and you plug them into the outlet and then the light into the dimmer. This way you can adjust the brightness and in turn the heat instead of changing to a diff wattage. Also remember you can raise the height or lower the height of the basking area, stacking bricks works well for this... I feel you man I obsess over temperatures so good luck and dont worry about nailing it to the tenth of a degree temperatures fluctuate in nature. If the probe is where he basks and you have left it there for 45 minutes then that is your reading. Also if your dragon has been under a high heat he might appreciate a bath... hydration does wonders! Hope this helps.

It's just frustrating. I've been using a 60 watt halogen flood light and it has been holding the basking spot steady at 111-112, but twice it's gotten up to 120 in the last two weeks. Not sure why it does this. Good thing I work from home and regularly check on the little guy. When I bump down to a 50 watt halogen, the temp drops to around 100 and his belly and beard get really dark. I bath him daily since he won't "go" in his enclosure, only in the bath. But like I've been saying, I have a 10-15 degree difference between the temp of his rock and the temperature of the direct light from the bulb that hits the rock. I guess i'm going to go and get a dimmer switch tomorrow and set the 60 watt to read around 107 in direct light, that way I should feel comfortable if it climbs a little during the day. But still not sure if his belly temperature is high enough. I've got a buddy bringing over an IR temp gun this weekend so I should be able to get some actual surface temps.

 

[OneBigDude]

I think Lowes and Walmart have to be tired of me buying and returning so many different bulbs by now