Newbie, Help Appriciated!

[Annapants]

Hello all!

I just got my new beardie yesterday, and I was wondering how well I have put up his enclosure.
I have a thermometer at the middle of the left side of the cage (where his basking light is) and it usually stays
at a constant 95-100*F, but I'm unsure about how warm the actual surface may be. I'm lacking information about his cool side because
my parent, (I'm 16, if anyone was really wondering), kinda cut a bit short on funding (as of now, he was my Christmas present and boy, he
was a tad pricey for all this stuff!) I was hoping, using common knowledge, that heat would disperse to one side.. and the gradient would be evident there, especially if one side is more concentrated than the other.

Also, I have the red light turned on last night which keeps his room at ~82F, but sometimes when I check on him, he looks awake! (Like, standing on his log, still tilting his head places), and so I turned it off thinking it was too warm for him to sleep in. But this morning, I felt
really guilty as it was actually too cold! It was 62F this morning and I feel bad for the little guy. Should I keep the red light on at night anyways? The thermometer is at the same place stated above. I'm just afraid it'll be too warm for him to sleep in. (But then again, the surface temperature would be lower too, maybe?)

He's living in a 36" by 18" by 16", 40 gallon tank, with 100 watt basking bulb/red bulb. I also have a ReptiSun 10.0 for his UVB.
The shop that I got him from said they weren't sure about how old he is, but guessing from his length, he is an adult size, 14"(?),
and they say hes probably about 2-4 years old already. I'm surprised because he didn't look (too) stressed out when he moved in, he
started eating pretty fast compared to what the pet store had said that he may not eat for a couple days if he was really stressed out.

I know I should've tested out the temperatures before he moved in, but my parental unit decided to buy him with the lights on the same day!
I'm scared that his new home has really weird temperatures compared to his last. I'm looking for some relief! xD Thank you so much in advance!


- Anna


P.S. Is it normal for him to keep staring at me? He also hasn't moved since hes woken up.. help? T__T

 

[Annapants]

Anyone? ..

 

[bdalton]

Hey, congrays on your beardie unfortunetly, pet stores dont tell us just how expensive and complex it can be to care for one. I will try to give you some tips to try to get his setup accurate without spending too much. The red light is no good. They cant sleep with lights on, so it is reccomended to use a ceramic heat emitter at night, which puts out heat but no light, but they can be pricey (20$) first i would replace the red light with a regular household bulb you have around the house. Not energy saving, they dont put much heat. A white basking light is very important for him. I have a 100watt bulb in my 40g on warm side and 60 watt on cool side. It is very important you get a digital thermometer with a probe (12$ walmart) so you can measure his basking surface accuratly. Those are the 2 most important things you need right now. If you dont have light bulbs around they are only 3$ a box. With getting the temps up during the day, the night temps may stay warmer so you dont need to worry. 62 is not awful, but it should be closer to 70. Id cut red light out all together. Your uvb reptisun is good, thats a good one, make sure he can get within 8" inches of it. You can get dome lights at walmart for 8-10$ if you need to put another light on the cool side. Probem is, you need to play around with wattages to get a correct basking temp of 100degrees but without digital thermometer its almoat impossible. Stick ons can be way off. Id try talkimg to your parents, telling them you absolutely need a thermometer and possibly another dome and bulbs if you dont have any, and see if maybe you can work for the 25$ or so it would cost
Let me know if you need help with anything else and good luck

 

[Annapants]

---

Hey! Thanks so much for replying. I have a 100 watt reflector bulb as well as the red, so I should get rid of the red
whatsoever? I hear that bearded dragon's can't see the red light, but I'll try to persuade my father to purchase a ceramic bulb
instead. I'm using the hanger that's like.. a desert pack T8, something, and I replaced the bulb 'cause from lots of research, I heard
that bulb was bad, its hanging inside the enclosure. I was thinking about putting a regular house light on the cool end so it'd be warmer on that
side if needed.

My dad was very stubborn with the temperature gauge.. he keeps telling me, "oh, I work with this stuff all the time, the ones that aren't digital are more accurate than the ones that are." He's this (goofy) scientist that studies snow and ice.. which.. I guess was believable to me, but I'll look into getting that temperature probe for sure. (Especially the fact that I've always thought those mechanical ones are easier to malfunction than the digital probes.. especially since I've used a probe before in class.)

So what I really need is this temperature probe, after crossing off white light off the list. I knew it was very important to keep track of temperatures, but we were in such a rush I couldn't do it right. We are also probably going to change the substrate to tile! But.. I'm not sure how that'll affect the temperature even more, perhaps you know? Thank you so much, again. ^___^

 

[bdalton]

Yep, id get rid of red light all together. Id replace it with another housebulb on the cool side. Very good u have the uvb inside the tank as well. What substrate are u using? I have tile, it shouldnt effect your temps. And its sooo eady to clean! Lol
Work on dad with the thermometer, its worth it thceramic emitter isnt as importsnt as a digital probe!

 

[triumphtt]

I would tell your dad that that probe is a lot more useful because it reads two spots instead of one and measures humidity (the one thats Bdalton recommended from walmart) http://www.walmart.com/ip/Springfie...rmometer-With-Radio-Controlled-Clock/10671024. That's not the one but it looks like that.

Bulbs If you can I recommend GE Reveal Bulbs. They use a full color spectrum and beardies can actually see the color in the light. You'll notice a difference in the lighting and your beardie. They are a little more money but not that much I had got a halogen spot light 75 watt for $12 lasted me about 1.5 years (i have a huge cage so i need a lot more heat). http://www.lowes.com/ProductDisplay...gId=10051&cmRelshp=req&rel=nofollow&cId=PDIO1

As far as that red heat bulb yeah bad idea. You could use it if he sleeps in a hide where the light won't bother him but your better off getting the CHE.

On a side note I used tile for awhile but they got really cold at night so I got a rice pack and some towels and put them in the cage so he wouldn't get so cold at night. Just kept them in the corner where he slept.

Hope that helps