Lighting

[FreakedOutMama]

Hello!
I have two beardies and I cannot seem to find a heat light that does its job. I have tried Hallogen bulbs, ExoTerra heat bulbs, standard household lights- nothing gets the temps above 90-95. It is slowly driving me insane. Could it be the ceramic holders? I have no idea and at this point I have no idea what to do next. Any advice is welcome. Thank you

 

[quyllur]

We will probably need some more information:

What wattages have you gone up to?
How far from the light is the basking spot?
How are you measuring the temperature?

If you can't get the heat you want with one light, you might try two pointing in the same direction, or a ceramic heat emitter next to the light to bump up the temps.

 

[FreakedOutMama]

We will probably need some more information:

What wattages have you gone up to?
How far from the light is the basking spot?
How are you measuring the temperature?

If you can't get the heat you want with one light, you might try two pointing in the same direction, or a ceramic heat emitter next to the light to bump up the temps.

Sorry!
I have gone up to 150Watts- they blew out within a few days. Right now I have (in one tank) a 50Watt Hallogen bulb AND a 100 Watt Exo-Terra Heat bulb. The other tank has a 100 Watt Exo-Terra bulb and a 75 Watt white bulb. Both tanks have a similar set up and the bulbs are 8-9 inches from their basking area.
I have Zoo-Med temp and humidity gauges on both sides of each tank.
*all bulbs and gauges have been replaced in the last 3 days*

 

[quyllur]

The dial type thermometers are generally not considered a good idea to use to measure basking temperature, due to their design they can be off by 20-30 degrees. They are ok for measuring ambient temperatures, so you can still use them to monitor the cool end of the enclosure.

You will most likely need a digital thermometer with a probe to accurately measure your basking spot. That would be my first step, to make sure you are getting accurate measurements.

 

[FreakedOutMama]

Can you recommend a good one?

 

[quyllur]

I have one from Walmart that cost about $10 CAD

 

[CooperDragon]

This is a good option as well http://www.amazon.com/Nubee-Temperature-Non-contact-Infrared-Thermometer/dp/B00CVHIJDK It will provide instant surface readings at any point in or out of the tank. The probe thermometers are good too but they are better suited as permanent, stationary inputs with one on each side of the tank.

 

[ruben0311]

you can keep the dial thermometers however it will only serve you as an estimate of the ambient air temperature directly surrounding the back of the dial, not any specific area of the tank, so unless you place it directly on the floor you wont get a good reading, and even then it would still be off since the wire coil wouldn't be directly heated by the light.... just don't use it for anything really... haha

 

[Nihilist]

We will probably need some more information:

What wattages have you gone up to?
How far from the light is the basking spot?
How are you measuring the temperature?

If you can't get the heat you want with one light, you might try two pointing in the same direction, or a ceramic heat emitter next to the light to bump up the temps.

Sorry!
I have gone up to 150Watts- they blew out within a few days. Right now I have (in one tank) a 50Watt Hallogen bulb AND a 100 Watt Exo-Terra Heat bulb. The other tank has a 100 Watt Exo-Terra bulb and a 75 Watt white bulb. Both tanks have a similar set up and the bulbs are 8-9 inches from their basking area.
I have Zoo-Med temp and humidity gauges on both sides of each tank.
*all bulbs and gauges have been replaced in the last 3 days*

Dumb question, but I made this mistake, can your dome handle 150 watts? I was advised that I needed at least a dome that could go up to 160 watt to make it work properly.

 

[diamc]

Getting correct temps certainly can be tricky and time consuming. Could you fill us in on the size of the tanks?

I agree with the others that the round gauge (dial) thermometers are very inaccurate and can be off several degrees. A temp gun liike the one Cooper posted the link to, would give you readings right away by pointing the gun at the area you're checking with the gun about 2" away. The probe thermometers work well too. Here is a link to a good one that a lot of us use and it will give you the basking surface & cool side temp at the same time as well as the humidity level: http://www.amazon.com/AcuRite-00891A1-Indoor-Outdoor-Thermometer/dp/B001BO8CUE/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1458855849&sr=8-5&keywords=chaney+probe+thermometer
What you do is place the probe sensor right on the basking spot so that it is touching it and the display part way over on the bottom of the cool side, wait about 45 min for the temps to stop rising, then the "out" reading will be the basking temp and the "in" reading for the cool side. I suspect you will find out that you don't need to use as much wattage as you are now in order to get a basking surface temp of about 102 or so and a cool side of between 78 to 82.

As Nihilist mentioned, it's also important to make sure your dome is rated higher than the bulb so if needing to use a 150 watt bulb, make sure the dome is rated for at least 200 watts. Also important to make sure the dome has a ceramic top as the plastic ones could melt when using a high wattage bulb.

Let us know how you make out.

 

[FreakedOutMama]

Holy cow! Thank you guys for all the advice!
I think what I'm gonna do is get a temp gun (per the link that was posted) and a probe gun (per the other link that was posted)
My two dragons are in two separate 40 gallon tanks- so buying both kinds of temp guns will allow me to play around with which one is more accurate/which one I like better.
The light domes that I have can reach up to 200 Watts and they are ceramic.
We'll see how the temp guns do!
Thank you guys so much!

 

[diamc]

That's good that you will get a probe thermometer and a temp gun. I have both on hand too and use each of them. The sooner you can get them, the better, as I feel you will find out that the temps are much hotter than the reading you're getting now. Another member was also using the same type thermometers you have and when he got an accurate, he found the basking surface temp to be 130 degrees!

 

[FreakedOutMama]

That's good that you will get a probe thermometer and a temp gun. I have both on hand too and use each of them. The sooner you can get them, the better, as I feel you will find out that the temps are much hotter than the reading you're getting now. Another member was also using the same type thermometers you have and when he got an accurate, he found the basking surface temp to be 130 degrees!

That is NOT good! I will receive them in 2 days

 

[diamc]

Oh, that's awesome they will get there that quickly. Are either of them basking now directly under the lights?

 

[FreakedOutMama]

Oh, that's awesome they will get there that quickly. Are either of them basking now directly under the lights?

Yes, they both are. However, they are flattened out like a pancake and they are room temp to the touch.