RedMist":3tgpnekx said: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.
jarich":3s0pw4d2 said: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.jarich":t5haoemy said: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.