New heat lamp doesn’t appear to be giving enough heat to my beardie

Beardie name(s)
Glenn
Hi guys!

I posted here awhile back regarding my 160watt mercury vapor bulb possibly not giving enough heat to my beardie and I received great recommendations to upgrade my lighting sources.

I’ve since bought a Repti-Sun T5 HO terrarium hood w/ 10.0 UVB bulb along with a Fluker’s Repti-Clamp fixture w/ dimmer switch and I’m using a 100watt Fluker incandescent bulb with that as well.

Well I just recently took a temp reading with my temp gun and it’s showing a basking spot temp of around 64.5 degrees and a 61.7-62.2 degree temp for the non-basking spots. I did check my temp gun‘s accuracy on my oven and it does seem to read accurate but I’m open as well to eventually getting some digital probe thermometers as well.

My beardie seems to be ok but he rarely leaves his basking spot and only leaves really to eat. Can anybody tell me what I might be doing wrong? I measured his basking spot to be around 12” away from the heat lamp and I’ve attached the UVB light under the screen as recommended previously. One other thing I noticed as well is my beardie’s underside does seem a touch cooler now that I’ve switchrd heat sources. I live in Norrthern California and our ambient temp in the house is usually in thr low 60s. I’ll go ahead and attach pix of my set-up below. Thanks for your help!
 

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mango_the_beardie

Hatchling Member
Beardie name(s)
Mango
Hi guys!

I posted here awhile back regarding my 160watt mercury vapor bulb possibly not giving enough heat to my beardie and I received great recommendations to upgrade my lighting sources.

I’ve since bought a Repti-Sun T5 HO terrarium hood w/ 10.0 UVB bulb along with a Fluker’s Repti-Clamp fixture w/ dimmer switch and I’m using a 100watt Fluker incandescent bulb with that as well.

Well I just recently took a temp reading with my temp gun and it’s showing a basking spot temp of around 64.5 degrees and a 61.7-62.2 degree temp for the non-basking spots. I did check my temp gun‘s accuracy on my oven and it does seem to read accurate but I’m open as well to eventually getting some digital probe thermometers as well.

My beardie seems to be ok but he rarely leaves his basking spot and only leaves really to eat. Can anybody tell me what I might be doing wrong? I measured his basking spot to be around 12” away from the heat lamp and I’ve attached the UVB light under the screen as recommended previously. One other thing I noticed as well is my beardie’s underside does seem a touch cooler now that I’ve switchrd heat sources. I live in Norrthern California and our ambient temp in the house is usually in thr low 60s. I’ll go ahead and attach pix of my set-up below. Thanks for your help!
what I do for my beardie is I get a 150watt zoomed heat bulb with two 75watt zoomed heat bulbs and it gets up to about 102 degrees
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Pick up a digital thermometer with probe end for like $6.

Your issue most likely is going to be the odd material of your basking surface. IR guns are only accurate if the material they are attempting to measure falls within the IR guns "E" value. Any material with an E value outside of the range the IR gun is set to read will produce inaccurate results. Most IR gun's come calibrated to an E value around .95. That's why it can be accurate on your oven, but not on other things.

A digital with probe end does not have this issue. So at the least, with a probe, you will be able to confirm or deny whether your IR gun is reading the surface temp accurately, and then you'll better be able to dial in temperature.

-Brandon
 

xp29

BD.org Addict
Photo Comp Winner
Beardie name(s)
Zen , Ruby ,Snicker Doodles, Sweet Pea, Sinatra
If you want to verify what Claudiusx said, try sticking a small rock or piece of wood under the basking light and give it an hour or so to heat up, see what your ir gun reads on that, i bet you find it's wildly different.
I'm a professional mechanic, my ir gun came from a tool truck and is extremly high end, i use digital probes. Even the high end ir isn't always accurate, it just depends on the material your reading off of.
 

greengardenhose

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Glenn
Thanks for the reply guys. I’ll purchase a digital thermometer probe and follow up here regarding the readings.

I do think the heat lamp might not be producing enough heat as the basking stone isn’t very warm at all when I touch it.

I’ll keep everyone posted!
 

Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Do you still have the box your bulb came in? Certain types are better at directing heat downward in a more concentrated area.

-Brandon
 

greengardenhose

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Glenn
Do you still have the box your bulb came in? Certain types are better at directing heat downward in a more concentrated area.

-Brandon
Hi Brandon,

Sure do! I actually bought a three pack of the same bulb on Amazon and when the first temp readings showed low temp results I took that bulb out and tested with another and got the similar readings. So not sure what I might be doing wrong

That said, thanks for the info on temp guns. I did not know how inaccurate they could be basd on what material is being scanned.

Here’s a pic of the bulb that I am using:
 

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Claudiusx

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
Hmm that bulb should be producing temps hotter than what you're getting, even with an inaccurate IR gun.

Your fixture is one with a built in dimmer. Is it possible the dimmer switch isn't on full power? Or possibly the switch has gone faulty not allowing it to produce its proper heat. Another cheap option you could try is a new dome fixture. You can find them at most home improvement stores or feed stores, they are pretty common. They will just be an aluminum dome with hopefully a ceramic bulb socket.

-Brandon
 

greengardenhose

Member
Original Poster
Beardie name(s)
Glenn
Hmm that bulb should be producing temps hotter than what you're getting, even with an inaccurate IR gun.

Your fixture is one with a built in dimmer. Is it possible the dimmer switch isn't on full power? Or possibly the switch has gone faulty not allowing it to produce its proper heat. Another cheap option you could try is a new dome fixture. You can find them at most home improvement stores or feed stores, they are pretty common. They will just be an aluminum dome with hopefully a ceramic bulb socket.

-Brandon
Hi Brandon,

Yes I’ve been leaving it turned on full power since I purchased it and always have the dial turned until it cannot turn anymore. I believe the dimming capabilities work as well since the output of light increases and decreases based upon which way I turn the dial. At this point however I think I’m ready to just try a standard on/off switch reptile lamp. I’ve found two that I think might be good. They’re both 8.5 inch dome fixtures (like the Fluker’s that I currently have) one is made my Repti Zoo and the other Zoo Med do you have a preferred recommendation for either of the two?

Repti Zoo rated up to 200watts:
https://www.amazon.com/REPTI-ZOO-Reptile-Terrariums-Reflection/dp/B097MLPH5W?ref_=ast_sto_dp

Zoo Med rated up to 160watts:
 

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