Getting the $%#$* Temps Up!

[ElectricPaladin]

I'm having a hard time getting my temps up. My current setup includes a 150 watt ceramic heat emitter, a 60 watt ceramic heat emitter, a 150 watt basking bulb, and a UV lamp... and the hot side of my viv (where all the heat and light is) is still only about 90° during the day. Moving the viv isn't an option in this apartment - we hope to move soon, but that's still a ways off.

I'm considering getting an under-tank heat pad. Barring that - or encouraging it - any suggestions? What's worked for you?

 

[Grogshla]

geez man. How big is your enclosure?
perhaps using a small oil heater in your room
try covering half the top of the enclosure in so the heat cant get out.

 

[grasspack]

Hi, I am new but I had the same problem. I had a 150 w light bulb for his basking spot and could only get it to about 98 degrees. So, I turned my house thermostat up two degrees and instantly got a warmer basking spot. Also, what kind of thermometer are you using? I love my tempgun and I trust it more than my probe, but so far they have been within one degree of each other. Good luck.

Alice

 

[Grogshla]

some people find that some globes work better than others eg tight beam to broad beam etc. So try a few different bulbs, move them a bit closer to the basking spot and see how you go. 100 is good for an adult beardie but babys need up neart 110.

 

[ElectricPaladin]

Thanks for all your feedback. To answer your questions (and get close to the best possible answer):

* Changing the temperature of my apartment doesn't seem to help much.

* These are the readings I got with my oven thermometer - my stick-on thermometer has proven totally useless.

* I'll try a few different bulbs and see where that gets me, but I am looking for a short-term solution as well.

 

[quigleysmom]

You can try a halogen bulb. They have them now that screw in just like a regular bulb, but they give more heat than a regular bulb. I also have a hot rock for mine to rest on. He seems to love it and I have it wrapped in a pair of my sons old underwear so my beardie can't get burnt by his hot rock. They can get real bad burns and can literally melt themselves to the rock so when they move off of it their belly skin is still stuck to the rock. Either way good luck. I am having the opposite now that I have a megaray uvb bulb. It provides uvb and heat and it really cranks out the heat.

 

[spurlee01]

You really need to get a digital thermometer with a probe to make sure you are getting accurate temps. Also, are you measuring at the very hottest point in the tank?

 

[Buggsy]

I think the problem here is not having a good thermometer, the cooking ones are better than the dials and stick on ones, but not good enough really, you need one with a long wired probe (acurite from walmart is very good and cheap, but any one will do) or a temp gun, the type mechanics use. With the gun you will get an instant reading, with the thermometer you need to put the probe exactly on the basking spot and leav it for 30 min before taking the reading.

Sorry if it sounds patronizing but many people have problems taking acurite temps, with all that input im sure its far too hot in there, but without the right thermometer you wouldnt know! lol

 

[catUK]

I have had a similar problem and also use a ceramic heat emitter. I just bought a digital thermometer with probe and noticed my temps were too high at the basking spot as i didn't have the CHE and thermostat set up correct :shock: . I've just manage to get them right. I use a thermostat attached to the CHE and ive placed the thermostat sensor (which looks like a probe on a long lead) in the middle of my tank- this enables me to get higher temps at the hot end by positioning the thermostat dial at about 32C. At first i had the sensor at the hot end and temps would only reach 95F or below, now with it placed in the middle they go between 105-110F at basking spot.

 

[ElectricPaladin]

Well... I didn't spring for a new, expensive thermometer that I wouldn't know how to use, but I did buy an under-tank heat pad. And although I'm now sure I have no idea what the actual temps in my tank are, the most important measure - the lizard approval ratings - are pretty good. Jabs spent most of the time post-installation sitting on his hide (his favorite basking spot) occasionally (but not constantly) gaping to reduce his temp. That, I am given to understand, means that he's pretty happy. It's a vast improvement over sitting on the top of his highest branch (nearest the lights and heat emitters) with a miserable stress-marked belly, which is what he used to do.

So, take home lesson: I've got to get some kind of better temp measurement system going on, but I think I'm ok for now.

 

[spurlee01]

Well, be very careful. If your temps aren't right it can hurt your beardie quickly, even proving fatal.

 

[diamc]

That is a LOT of wattage, what size tank is it? As Sara and others have said, you NEED to get an accurate thermometer, either a temp gun or digital thermometer with a long wire & probe end. If the temps are too high (which I suspect they are), it can cause heat stroke and rapid dehydration and death!

 

[DragonsNDoodles]

I also thought my temps were wrong, when I was using the wrong type of temperature gauge. I bought a temp-gun type thing (an infrared thermometer) and it turned out that my temps were exactly right, if not on the high side a little bit.

Another tank was actually too cool on the basking side, but turning on the ceramic heat emitter and leaving it on all the time fixed that problem.

 

[Buggsy]

i agree its an awful lot of wattage! You need acurite thermometers for a healthy beardy, its just a must. I would also say to return the UTH, beardies are not designed to sense heat from below, and if it shorts, or heats up too much, which they often do he will just sit there and get burnt. I have delt with thermal burns before and they are really bad!! Please reconsider. Put bluntly, for the price you paied for the UTH, you could have got 2 decent thermometers. (they really are $12, or a temp gun with is $25-30)

 

[ElectricPaladin]

Hey, all. Sorry to scare you, but here's three pieces of information that will hopefully help you help me and make sure Jabberwock is safe:

1. My thermometer is a RediCheck Remote Remote Cooking Thermometer (http://www.amazon.com/RediCheck-Remote-Cooking-Thermometer-Settings/dp/B0000AQL24). It has a probe on a long wire and everything. Is that an accurate thermometer? Can anyone provide me a link to a better one if it isn't?

2. My viv has a full screen top, rather than a solid top with air holes, which could account for a lot of heat loss.

3. Our apartment is tiny and kind of a mess right now, so Jabs is (unfortunately) close to a window, which could also account for a lot of heat loss.

Honestly, he looks happier than he ever has before. He spends his time in his hide or running around his tank, his belly a very good color. Before I added the UTH, he spent his time on his highest branch with varying degrees of stress-marks. I'm still open to advice, however.