help! temperature questions

[Arctopus]

i moved into my girlfriends apartment and took my dragon, destro, with me. its winter here and very cold. at night his enclosure stays about 75.6 degrees f where he likes to sleep, but in the day time his hot side only gets to about 80 degrees with a zoo med 50 w spot light, and a 75 w heat light for gradient temperature. i use an undertank heater for night time so he doesnt freeze. the uvb is reptisun 10.0 in a 20 gallon long tank. I have read that the hot side is supposed to be around 90 degrees. directly in his basking spot its 110 degrees. my question is, how do i increase his temps all around for the enclosure or do i need to even raise them? he is eating like a champion and is seems very healthy.

thanks in advance

 

[diamc]

Moved here from General Discussion forum.

Actually, a 75 watt bulb AND a 50 watt spot lamp seems like an awful lot for only a 20 gallon tank. What type of thermometer are you using, a digital strip, round gauge, temperature gun or digital with long wire & probe end. Where exactly are you taking the temps?

 

[Arctopus]

zoo med digital. the room is very cold it self. taking temps on cold and warm sides in the middle of each side panel

 

[diamc]

Is it a digital strip like this?

If it is, they can be off as much as 20 degrees. If you have a Walmart near you, they have the AcuRite brand digital with probe that will give you both readings and a humidity level for about $12.00. It should be in the area where the plastic outdoor thermometers are sold. You actually need to know the temp of the basking spot so you would need to place a probe thermometer there and then get a reading of the cool side. It sounds like right now you're just getting a reading of the glass so I suspect the temps are much higher.

 

[Arctopus]

its digital with a wire and probe at the end, not the strip you posted. it reads in C and F. ive managed to get temps in the high 80s on the hot side, mid 70s on cool side, and 110 on the basking spot.

petmountain.com/photos/11442/product/standard/511729.jpg

i have two of those

 

[diamc]

Oh ok, that's good that you have a digital with a probe. Make sure you place the probe right on the basking spot and then wait about 45 min for the temp to stop rising before getting the final reading. And also wait the required time before getting the temp for the cool side with the probe placed on the bottom of the tank.

 

[Slave2Scarlett]

You also may want to get rid of those two bulbs and try a halogen indoor flood bulb or spotlight bulb.. Halogens put off a good bit of heat..

 

[diamc]

You also may want to get rid of those two bulbs and try a halogen indoor flood bulb or spotlight bulb.. Halogens put off a good bit of heat..

I agree but this member is only using a 20 gallon tank right now so I imagine that it would get too hot.

 

[Slave2Scarlett]

Right but I guess my thought process was that a halogen couldn't be any hotter than the two bulbs that are already in there.. But I'm like you that has to be extremely hot in there.. :?: Maybe a low watt halogen?

 

[diamc]

:dontknow: It's hard to say but when I was using a 20 gallon, I only needed a 40 watt on the basking side and a 25 watt on the cool side so 125 watts is concerning to me.

 

[Arctopus]

the room is sooo cold itself. i changed the lights, 50 w basking and 60w ambient air temp

 

[diamc]

That's good that you changed the lights, how are the temps now?

 

[Arctopus]

110 basking, 87 warm side, 75 cool side. between 75 and 78 at night

 

[diamc]

Those temps sound good. Just curious, how were you able to drop down from a 75 watt to a 60 watt and get just about the same temps? Did you wait longer this time before getting the final temps or perhaps put the probe in a different spot?

 

[Arctopus]

waited and changed probe spots! my dragons loving it. just shed and eating like a wolf! and he loves his greens, which is good for a young guy to be getting into