Help! 134 degrees???!

[usmcfamily]

I don't know what's going on. I freaked out today after I went in to check our new bulb and temped the hot spot at 134!! Wth? I pulled Spencer out, opened the doors, and turned off the lamp for a while and put back in the old bulb.

Problem is, the previous bulb is a ZooMed 25watt basking light and it was only keeping the hot spot at 84ish. A 100watt ZooMed bulb came with our new viv (36x18x18) so I tried that one and viola- almost had a baked dragon. Is there an in between? I can't find a 50watt or even a 75watt and now I'm scared of how to control the heat. There are two round vents on the back wall, slider glass doors in the front.

Please help, these lights are killing me. They're either way too low or waaaaayy to high. I think the lights screwing up are affecting his mood and his feeding and his shed. His tail shed a week ago and his body is white and nothing's happening. He's only gained .2 grams in two days. Not really thrilled about that since the first couple days he was gaining 3-5 grams a day.

 

[CooperDragon]

That's odd. That bulb should be fine for a tank that size. Can you raise it up a little bit higher or put it on a dimmer to cut a little power? How hot did the cool side get? They know to move and self regulate if they have options available.

 

[usmcfamily]

That's odd. That bulb should be fine for a tank that size. Can you raise it up a little bit higher or put it on a dimmer to cut a little power? How hot did the cool side get? They know to move and self regulate if they have options available.

I am using a temp gun and I temped the branch were he sits from 2"-8" away. The "cool" side was 113*. :-( He was as far from the lamp as possible and still warm. Am I using the gun wrong? Is there a way to double check? I will say it felt terribly hot.

I can't move the heat light, it's built in to the roof of the viv.

 

[CooperDragon]

Poor guy. I'm glad you caught that quickly. Temp gun is probably right. I'd hook the bulb to a lamp dimmer and cut the power a bit until you have a good gradient. I've found it's easier to cut down a higher wattage bulb than boost a lower wattage one.

 

[usmcfamily]

Poor guy. I'm glad you caught that quickly. Temp gun is probably right. I'd hook the bulb to a lamp dimmer and cut the power a bit until you have a good gradient. I've found it's easier to cut down a higher wattage bulb than boost a lower wattage one.

I wouldn't even know how to hook it up to a dimmer. It's currently plugged into an extension cord, which is plugged into the wall.

Like this? So then the 100watt bulb plugged into socket, and cord plugged into dimmer and dimmer into wall?
Lutron TT-300H-WH Electronics Plug-In Lamp Dimmer, White https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000BYEF6/ref=cm_sw_r_awd_CnZgwb57M3Z9P

Is that an add-on think? Are there 50 watt basking bulbs?

 

[CooperDragon]

Yeah that's the dimmer I'm talking about. You can use it to cut a little power as needed. There are 50w basking lights available as well but they may not be powerful enough to get the temps up to basking levels.

 

[usmcfamily]

Yeah that's the dimmer I'm talking about. You can use it to cut a little power as needed. There are 50w basking lights available as well but they may not be powerful enough to get the temps up to basking levels.

Thank you, I will get it ordered and see how that goes Wednesday.