is my tank to cold?

[beardielovah11103]

I have a 40gal breeder tank and the all around temp is only 74! she has a basking light that reaches around 100 plus, but it's not enough to heat the whole tank. i purchased a undertank heater that seems to be doing NOTHING.. So do i need to get a second light?? this is my first beardie and i want to make sure im doing the best for her..

here's a pic of the tank. And yes, i know the hammock isnt the best basking place but she loves it

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/nn134/Kickinsicily85/puff.jpg

 

[Youkai]

In Sakura's viv, I have her basking light - plus over on the "cooler" side I added another 50watt bulb to increase the overall temps.

I had to raise her main basking bulb a little after the addition of the second heat source, but that helped me maintain about 80 degrees on the cool side and 110 in the basking area.

Hope that helps :mrgreen:

 

[beardielovah11103]

so do you recommend that i get another light? and should it be a simple day time light? i really appreciate you helping me. Our dragon got moved from our computer room to the basement so i expected the temps to drop, but i didnt think they would drop drastically. And the undertank heater does nothing! thanks again!

 

[jscott]

i recomend that you take out the under tank heater. those arent for bearded dragons, beardies need their heat from a light source.

if you temps really are that cold then i would use an MVB. thsoe things get HOT, i couldnt use them in my 40 because they wouldve made things too hot on the cool side. if your adding heat to the cool side though, i dont think an MVB would pose a problem.

btw, what are you using to measure the temps?

 

[Youkai]

so do you recommend that i get another light? and should it be a simple day time light?

Sure, that should be fine. You could grab a couple of different household bulbs of different wattages and see which one works best. I decided on a 50watt just because it was the smallest I had on-hand and wanted to start small and go bigger as needed, but I ended up sticking with the 50 because it was perfect for me.

 

[beardielovah11103]

thanks Jscott for the info. yea i dont want to make the cool side to cold either, i just want the cage to be in the 80's like it should. :lol: and i will deffenitly look into the mvb light. i also saw those heat emitters that im sure get HOT.
i appreciate both of ur help with this. and look forward to talking with you again. I will post an update about the temps. Thanks a lot

 

[beardielovah11103]

Oh im sorry...im measuring the temps with one of those digital stick on's and i also have a temp gun..is there something better?

 

[beardielovah11103]

Ok so i went out and bought a daytime light 60watt..so now puff has her 100watt basking light plus this 60watt daytime light n her uv light..i checked the temps and she the her basking area was at 99 and the rest of the tank was at 82, is that good? her cool side is at about 74 now.

 

[peera]

The basking spot should be a bit warmer- 110 for under 1 year, 100-108 for a full grown dragon.

Ditch the stick-on, it's measuring the temp of the glass, not the enclosure. A temp gun *should* be measuring accurately.