Help maintaining temperature at night

[Ralis]

So I have a 100W CHE already but last night this wasn't enough to keep the temp in the tank much above about 65F on the ground. I wasn't so concerned when Gorbash slept on his basking spot because I could position the CHE above him, however last night he wanted to sleep under his basking log and the temp there when I woke up this morning was 64F. I'm seriously concerned about him getting too cold at night so I'd like some advice about how to keep the temperature up, especially since we have a storm warning tonight.

I've heard some people give their beardies blankets. Is this a comfort thing, a heat thing or a little of both? He has a resin cave that he doesn't use much. If I encouraged him to sleep in it, then pointed the CHE at the cave, would it help heat up inside the cave? (my knowledge of thermodynamics is failing me right now) At the moment he's housed in a 20G glass tank with a mesh top so I'm not sure what I can do about heat conservation.

I still have the red bulb that came with the tank setup but I'd prefer not to use it. The one time I turned it on Gorbash woke up and went nuts so I took it out again.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Taterbug]

Where is you cage? Is it near a window or against an exterior wall? If so can you move it? Windows tend to be drafty and exterior walls can be surprisingly cold.

I don't know much about CHE but they are similar to light bulbs in that objects can "shadow" the heat coming out. I believe they work almost exclusively by radiant heat and as such are better at heating items than air. If you have tiles or real rocks in the enclosure they will hold heat better/longer than plastic or glass. My big basking stone takes hours to drop to room temperature.

You can also try insulating the tank. Glass is pretty bad at conserving heat.

The pink or blue extruded polystyrene foam boards at home improvement stores are easy to cut up and tape together. You could cut a board to cover the walls and help trap more heat. If you can ensure ventilation and humidity will be adequately controlled you can also obstruct some of the screen with foam as well. I do this for my snakes when it get too cold and dry in the winter. Be careful with the light/heater fixtures as they can get hot enough to melt the foam of its too close.

Blankets work well for mammals because we can produce our own heat. The blanket helps trap that heat close to the body. Reptiles don't have that ability so it could help insulate but not increase heat.

Ground heating (flex watt and undertank heaters) are usually not recommend for dragons but may be an option if you use them in conjunction with a thermostat. Not sure your temps are low enough to go that route.

Good luck!

 

[Ralis]

Thanks. I'm going to move the tank tonight so it's closer to the wall heater in the bedroom. It'll put it in the way of everything but I'd rather that than have him get too cold. I have some of those gel hand warmers but they're my emergency supply for if the power goes out and I don't have a neighbour to take him to. I'm not going to be able to get to the store to get foam insulation. I do have an awful lot of cardboard boxes laying around the house. Could I wrap the tank in cardboard or would that be a pointless exercise?

 

[Taterbug]

I honestly can't say cardboard would be worth it or not. It couldn't hurt, but probably isn't a big benefit. As long as it's not a fire hazard.

Just moving the tank might be enough to get you by. I think they can be ok as low as 60, but can't say for sure. It's a number is see almost as frequently as 65. I don't care to let it get that cold myself.