Heating and Lighting Questions

[Darkotic948]

Right now he stands at the edge of his hidey log and basks in both, getting hit by the bulb and the tube ^_^ I'll get a bigger one when I upgrade his tank. I found a tank for 103$ at this Carters Pet Depot, a 40 gallon. Is that a good deal?

 

[SARBEAR]

Right now he stands at the edge of his hidey log and basks in both, getting hit by the bulb and the tube ^_^ I'll get a bigger one when I upgrade his tank. I found a tank for 103$ at this Carters Pet Depot, a 40 gallon. Is that a good deal?

If you're going to upgrade his tank, I would suggest trying to invest in a bigger one. A 40 gal is the minimum size an adult beardie should have, but your beardie will thrive in a bigger one. I'm pretty sure you can find a bigger tank on Craigslist for about the same price as the 40 gal one.
I have my 10 month old in a 40 gal and I'm thinking about upgrading her soon. She barely has enough room to move around :?
Just my thought anyways
But to answer your question, I know we sell 40 gals at Petsmart for $109, I'm just not sure if there's anywhere that sells them cheaper.

 

[Darkotic948]

I could try to make room for a 50 gallon tank but I'm not gonna be living where I am for too long so a 50 gallon tank would be a little bit harder to move. Do you think builiding a viv would be a better option? I know nothing about building but it seems simple enough, maybe I could get someone to build me one. lol N' if I did get a 40 gallon I could always upgrade to a 50 later n' then use something else for the 40 gallon. ^_^ I can never have too many pets. lol having an extra aqarium gives me an excuse to get more of them. "Well, I already HAVE an aquarium, might as well fill it" As it is i'm not sure what i'm gonna put in the 20 gallon when my beardie gets too big for it. You have any ideas? ^_^ and about a heating pad, its about getting winter n' its getting a bit chilly, do you guys recommend a heating pad or should I get one of those heating bulbs that aren't really bulbs but heaters that screw into the lamp. n' does anyone know of a good brand for basking lights? Cuz I'm not really sure if the 75 watt house bulb I'm using is heating it up to a good temperature, it is for the time being but its gonna be cooling off soon. Something that's bright n' gets warm but not too warm, for a 20 gal tank. Thanks a lot for all of your input everyone, I really appreciate it!

 

[SARBEAR]

I could try to make room for a 50 gallon tank but I'm not gonna be living where I am for too long so a 50 gallon tank would be a little bit harder to move. Do you think builiding a viv would be a better option? I know nothing about building but it seems simple enough, maybe I could get someone to build me one. lol N' if I did get a 40 gallon I could always upgrade to a 50 later n' then use something else for the 40 gallon. ^_^ I can never have too many pets. lol having an extra aqarium gives me an excuse to get more of them. "Well, I already HAVE an aquarium, might as well fill it" As it is i'm not sure what i'm gonna put in the 20 gallon when my beardie gets too big for it. You have any ideas? ^_^ and about a heating pad, its about getting winter n' its getting a bit chilly, do you guys recommend a heating pad or should I get one of those heating bulbs that aren't really bulbs but heaters that screw into the lamp. n' does anyone know of a good brand for basking lights? Cuz I'm not really sure if the 75 watt house bulb I'm using is heating it up to a good temperature, it is for the time being but its gonna be cooling off soon. Something that's bright n' gets warm but not too warm, for a 20 gal tank. Thanks a lot for all of your input everyone, I really appreciate it!

You can try building your own, there's lots of stuff in "enclosures" that can get you started. But then you will have to make room for a 4ftx2ftx2ft if you follow peoples directions cause that's what most of them are.
No, don't get a heating pad. Beardies can't feel heat from underneath and will often burn their tummies. They need heat from above, and as far as what to use at nightime I would use a ceramic heat emitter.
What are your temps? You should be using a digital thermo with a probe to take the temps, those are the most accurate. You don't need a name brand basking bulb, regular house bulbs should do fine. And I used a 50 watt in a 29 gal so I'm thinking your temps are plenty high..I hope you've been keeping an eye on them! As far as it cooling off, you can just put a higher wattage house bulb in there and it should be okay.
What kind of UVB do you have?

 

[UpstateNYPets]

As it is i'm not sure what i'm gonna put in the 20 gallon when my beardie gets too big for it. You have any ideas? ^_^ and about a heating pad, its about getting winter n' its getting a bit chilly, do you guys recommend a heating pad or should I get one of those heating bulbs that aren't really bulbs but heaters that screw into the lamp. n' does anyone know of a good brand for basking lights? Cuz I'm not really sure if the 75 watt house bulb I'm using is heating it up to a good temperature, it is for the time being but its gonna be cooling off soon. Something that's bright n' gets warm but not too warm, for a 20 gal tank. Thanks a lot for all of your input everyone, I really appreciate it!

Hmm, for the 20 gallon tank a pair of Leopard Geckos would be a good choice (two females or male/female only, not two males).

Bearded Dragons need heat from above, so I would recommend the ceramic heat emitter, which is the non-light emitting heater that screws into the dome fixture. Basking lights and house hold flood lights are really no different from each other, just price and brand name. I would just go to lowe's or home depot and buy a 100w flood light (100w if the 75w flood is too low). It will be cheaper, and will still give off the heat and nice bright day time light. You really need to get a good thermometer if you don't know your exact temperatures. You shouldn't be saying "I'm not really sure it's heating to a good temperature", you should know what the temperature is at all times. That's one of the keys of keeping Beardies healthy.

A 40 gallon tank will be fine, you don't need a 50 right away. Once you move, then you can consider upgrading to a different size but it's not detrimental that you have the 50 or higher now. Mine lives completely comfortable in a 40 breeder. However, I do plan on building my own viv soon that's 4ft x 18in x 18in. But again, it's not something that's going to hurt the health of your beardie if you house him in the 40 for now. Like the previous poster said "it's the minimum" size, so it's still big enough for your adult. They would just do better in a bigger tank.

 

[Darkotic948]

I went to Wal-Mart today and purchased a GE Halogen 100 watt floodlight for Kif to bask, with a light output of 1500 n' I used it to replace the 75 watt soft white house light bulb I was using cuz it wasn't making it warm enough in there. N' immediately when I turned it on it said it was 140 degrees in there! and it clearly isn't! It doesn't feel like it is at all, it said it got so hot after a few minutes the readout was registering H*F, like the H stands for hellish or something. It was noticably warm for sure and he was basking and waving and seemed happy as opposed to the 95-100 degrees it said the 75 wat was doing, he looked way happier. I have an analog thermometer and an analog hygrometer and it was reading approx 100 degrees, which those are unreliable. I use the zilla brand digital thermometer with a probe. Am I missing something? Can someone help please? I'm a noob when it comes to all this lol
Here is the thermometer I'm using: http://www.zilla-rules.com/products/specialty-equipment/digital-termometer-for-terrariums.htm
and this is the floodlight: http://www.amazon.com/GE-Lighting-2...ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=hi&qid=1255327087&sr=8-3 thank you everyone!

 

[Buggsy]

Wow, it may be the batteries etc are fautly, i know when is at 100, it feels warm but not hot by any means!

I would get another therm, just to be sure, and make sure your leaving the probe in place for 45 min before taking the reading as it takes time to equilibrate!

 

[Darkotic948]

Thank you all for all of your input. ^_^ It's registering as 123 degrees right now and i just turned it on, it was at 138! N' the light is barely on. Last night I had it all the way up at first and he seemed to really enjoy it so I'm not really sure. I'm gonna take your advice n' get another thermometer today when I get more crickets, I don't trust this one I think I'm gonna switch back to the house bulb for now, the 75 watt one. The 50 watt is good enough for yours? How close is it to the basking area? Thanks for being so patient with me, everyone, I appreciate it ^_^

 

[UpstateNYPets]

Like the other poster said, get a second opinion with a new therm. A 20 gallon tank is what? 12 inches high? Depending on your household temperature, that 100w should be all you need. I wouldn't think it gets that hot, haha. I have the MVB 160w for my 40 breeder tank and it keeps his basking area between 103-107F. Sometimes if the sun is beating on the house, and my household temp gets higher, I need to prop up the bulb a couple inches because it can easily get up to 110-120F. During the summer I use my 100w MVB and even with the lower wattage, I still have to prop it up because it can soar too high. There isn't going to be a bulb that will work perfect, unless you have the dimmer or what ever. I don't have one, but I'm home all the time so I can always watch the temps.

Do you keep your probe to the thermometer permanently under the basking area? I have mine taped to where my dragon's belly would lay directly under the light. I can just glance over and peek at the temps whenever I need.

 

[Darkotic948]

I have this cow skull replica in there that I keep on top of his basking area and I put the probe with a suction cup in there on the side and I pull it out and put the wire under the skull where he usually sits and get a reading that way, then i leave it there for a while usually in the morning and when it gets to the right temperature or about right I just tug the wire and it goes back to the suction cup where I had it n' gets it out of the way. We just got a few digital people thermometers that you put in your mouths. Do you suppose I could try that out n' see if it gives an accurate reading just to be sure if my other one is working? Cuz I'd hate to have to fork out $15 again for another one if this one works

 

[minimanspike]

I am getting a new baby beardie in january and i want to be the best pet owner ever. My best friend just got a beardie and i asked her should you keep the uv light on at all times and she doesn't know because she doesn't even have a uv light. So if anyone could answer my question i would really really really appericate it.

 

[Buggsy]

minimanspike, you can start your own thread and prob get many replies!

As for your Q yes, you needs UVB on about 12 hours a day, you want a long strip tube (ReptiSUN if in US or Arcadia if in the UK).

If you pst your friends set up (including all brand names etc) we can go through it, hopefully you can learn for your new baby while offering her some advice aswell!

Buggsy

 

[UpstateNYPets]

I have this cow skull replica in there that I keep on top of his basking area and I put the probe with a suction cup in there on the side and I pull it out and put the wire under the skull where he usually sits and get a reading that way, then i leave it there for a while usually in the morning and when it gets to the right temperature or about right I just tug the wire and it goes back to the suction cup where I had it n' gets it out of the way. We just got a few digital people thermometers that you put in your mouths. Do you suppose I could try that out n' see if it gives an accurate reading just to be sure if my other one is working? Cuz I'd hate to have to fork out $15 again for another one if this one works

I really don't know if the stick thermometers that people use to take people temperatures will work, maybe someone else could clear that up for you. I've only used the thermometers that have the long cord with a probe on the end. You can pick up one for only like $12 at walmart that reads both temps and humidity. Try moving the skull thing away from your basking area and let the flood light hit the floor. Leave the thermometer directly under the light (so lay the term on the floor) and see how high the flood light heats up. It will be a few degrees cooler because you're moving the basking point down. The flood light you purchased should work fine, I dont understand how it's not, that's why we suggest it's your thermometer. It's always a trial and error when first trying to get the lighting and temperatures correct.

This is what I use for my basking area, and it's pretty dead on with the temperatures - http://www.exo-terra.com/en/products/digital_thermometer.php

And this is how it is in the enclosure -

As you can see the probe is taped right under the hottest point of the light. (it's reading 80F because it was just turned on, and I had to move his fat butt off it).