Is my "hot spot" too hot?

[RedMist]

My temp probe measured 118F at the hot spot There are lots of cooler spots for him to go, but is it dangerous to have this high a temp in the tank? He tends to bask off the edge of the hot spot.

 

[Brezzy99]

Yes. Try to lower the basking spot or raise the light. What size enclosure? How many watts is the bulb?

 

[Taterbug]

My temp probe measured 118F at the hot spot There are lots of cooler spots for him to go, but is it dangerous to have this high a temp in the tank? He tends to bask off the edge of the hot spot.

115 is generally the recommended limit and it sounds like he is choosing to avoid it. How big is the area that's being heated? Spotlights can have a small area of high heat and not actually be heating the rest of the basking area enough.

 

[RedMist]

It is a 75W spot in a 15 gallon tank. The beardie is about 6" long. I will have to suspend the light to move it up a bit. What is the perfect temp?
Sorry about the noob questions. We just got the dragon yesterday and I want to get all this stuff dialed in.
Thanks for the help.

 

[jarich]

The problem isnt so much the 118F spot, but in a small tank that size I would guess that your coolest temperature is too hot as a result. There really isnt a 'too high' temperature unless it affects the lowest temperature available for them to cool off at. I keep my basking area at around 125F, but the cool end never goes above around 78-80F. Surface temperatures in Australia can easily reach 150F or more, which obviously the lizards dont use much, however in an enclosure they have to be afforded the ability to cool down too. So the cool end should be kept around 80F. That way the lizard can choose which temperature it wants within that gradient.

 

[RedMist]

The problem isnt so much the 118F spot, but in a small tank that size I would guess that your coolest temperature is too hot as a result. There really isnt a 'too high' temperature unless it affects the lowest temperature available for them to cool off at. I keep my basking area at around 125F, but the cool end never goes above around 78-80F. Surface temperatures in Australia can easily reach 150F or more, which obviously the lizards dont use much, however in an enclosure they have to be afforded the ability to cool down too. So the cool end should be kept around 80F. That way the lizard can choose which temperature it wants within that gradient.

The cool end is about 79F. I also have an urn in there for shade/darkness, but he doesn't seem to use it. Thanks for the help.

 

[didymus]

The problem isnt so much the 118F spot, but in a small tank that size I would guess that your coolest temperature is too hot as a result. There really isnt a 'too high' temperature unless it affects the lowest temperature available for them to cool off at. I keep my basking area at around 125F, but the cool end never goes above around 78-80F. Surface temperatures in Australia can easily reach 150F or more, which obviously the lizards dont use much, however in an enclosure they have to be afforded the ability to cool down too. So the cool end should be kept around 80F. That way the lizard can choose which temperature it wants within that gradient.

I was wondering the same thing as I am tweaking my new enclosure. With my original basking bulb (150W full spectrum) the basking perches hit about 112ºF max but the dark green liner I'm using below absorbs more heat and could get up to 118-120 but my dragon hardly ever hangs out there. He's always up on the perches. Then I got to thinking how it is in the wild where, I can imagine, many different colored and textured substrates reach very high temps and if the dragon doesn't want that temp, they simply move on.

Which brought me to think about the importance of the cool side and the gradient and how much you give them to self-moderate. Ultimately I want to get a lamp stand so it's not vibrating with each opening and I'll be able to fine-tune the temps at the basking site even more than you can simply by selecting wattage. I've tried a ton of different bulbs and I've found that the ideal wattage for my tank, with the bulb on the cover, is somewhere between 100-150W for regular incandescents and 75-100W for the tight beam spots. I like the idea of a tight beam so there can be an even greater gradient since my cool side hovers around 82-83 with the regular incandescents.