Hello, I have a 40 gallon terrarium setup for my 8 inch beardie (2.5 months old). 8.5 inch dome with 100 watt exo terra halogen basking spot sitting on top of steel cage mesh. Digital thermometer only reading about 89 degrees at basking spot. I've tried a couple different 150 watt basking bulbs and nothing seems to get the temp any higher. If I were to cut out some of the cage mesh would that allow for more heat to get into the terrarium? It seems like the mesh/cage must be absorbing too much of the heat. Any suggestions appreciated as I'm new to this.
Could you post up a picture of your setup so we can see?
You should definitely be getting warmer temps than that with such a high wattage bulb.
The mesh wouldn't cut out much heat actually. Cutting into wouldn't help too much.
Are you leaving the probe in place for at least 10 minutes to allow it to acclimate to the temperature?
Above is a pic of my set up. The basking temp got close to 92 the other day. It's been colder weather for socal lately and the room temp may only be in the mid 60s at times...
I think you may be getting a reading in the wrong spot. I suggest placing the probe directly on the top of that rock where the basking area is and let it get a reading over 30 min or so and see what that says. At that distance you should be able to easily reach basking temps with a 150w bulb. You can probably just tape the probe down so it stays in place there.