not hot enought or to hot

[kcsearle]

I am having a hard time with the basking spot for my babies. I can get it perfect around 105F and the other days I can get it like 130F (which is way hot i know) and then others i can barley get it to 80F...I dont know what to do. I have tried reptile bulbs, normal bulbs, flood light etc. I dont know what else i can do.

How old is your dragon? they are about 2-3 months
How long have you had your dragon? about 1 month
How long is your dragon? not sure never measured them (i guess around 6 inches?)
What is the sex of your dragon? both females
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in? 20 G
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank? tile
Do you use UVB lights? yes
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb? T5
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
How old is your UVB bulb? 2 weeks
How close can your dragon get to the UVB? 4 inches
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage? yes...75 W (flood light)
What are the basking temps?
What is the cool side temp?
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun? gun
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps? in the air and touching the rock
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad? no
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific. crickets,salad
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)? afternoon and night
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc? yes
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? yes every feeding
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)? yes
Do you bath your dragon? How often? yes about 2 a week
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath? sometimes
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon? yes
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done? no

 

[fresnowitte]

Hello Kelly your going to have this problem when you use an enclosure that size...it's really hard to get the right radiant temps in a 20gal. You might consider looking for a 40gal breeder or larger this would make getting correct temps easier without the risk of frying them. The ambient temp in your house or the room they are in will affect their temps as well. So on days that you have the heater on it would be warmer or days you have the cooler on it would not be warm enough. Does that make sense?

About 105* but no higher than 110* is what you want your basking temp to be for babies.
If basking temps are not at least 95* then a beardie can not digest and process his food properly.

BTW...I noticed this question was unanswered would you mind?

What is the brand name and number of your UVB bulb?

Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them? yes every feeding

You do not want to over supplement your babies...you only want to supplement with Calcium W/D3 one feeding perday 5 days per week. And with the multivitamin one feeding perday 2 to 3 days per week. What supplements and brand are you using?

 

[kcsearle]

my UVB is Zilla T5 50 (something like that lol)
we are getting a bigger tank just waiting for it, we are getting a 120 gallon so it will be huge lol..
i am using zoo med repti calcuim. I dont have any mutivitums.

 

[fresnowitte]

Is that Zilla T5 50 series a compact bulb?
If so I'd shut it off and replace asap. It can actually be harmful to your beardie if compact or coil. These type of bulbs do not offer a beardie or basking reptile the proper levels of UVB.

The best choices for UVB bulbs that meet the output requirement levels for beardies would be either the Reptisun 10.0 or equivelant is the Arcadia for enclosures 40gal or larger a Mercury Vapor bulb could be used ...Megaray is the best but these 2 are good too..the T-Rex MVB or Exo-terra Solar Glo.

Your beardie needs both calcium and the multi. In my opinion Repcal brand is the best for beardies.

 

[kcsearle]

my uvb is long and skinny (lol) had the compact but got rid of it.
what is the Megaray? i never seen it before

 

[wes]

I am having a hard time with the basking spot for my babies. I can get it perfect around 105F and the other days I can get it like 130F (which is way hot i know) and then others i can barley get it to 80F...I dont know what to do. I have tried reptile bulbs, normal bulbs, flood light etc. I dont know what else i can do.

You're getting a 50F swing in temperatures just from the ambient temperatures changing?

 

[fresnowitte]

Actually Wes it's a combination of ambient temps and small enclosure. Smaller the enclosure the more intense the heat. :wink: With a larger enclosure there's more air movement. In a small one is more like trapped.

The Megaray is the best bulb out there for basking reptiles.
However you couldn't use it in the viv you have now not until you moved to the larger enclosure in which it would be great for. http://www.uvguide.co.uk/

 

[kcsearle]

thanks... I am hoping to get the new viv soon. Just waiting for the person to be done with it, (she is buliding one). Is they a bulb out they does UVB and heat with the same one.

 

[fresnowitte]

Your Welcome!

That would be the Mercury Vapor Bulbs that I mentioned. :wink:
They closely simulate the natural sun heat included.

I have 11 viv's right now set up all but 2 I'm using the MVB's (Exo-terra Solar Glo) and 2 have Reptisun 10.0. This is the first year I've tried the Reptisun I've always used the MVB's.

 

[kcsearle]

ok this may sound really dumb ....but when measuring temps do I want to check the rock (basking area) to see the temp or is it the air around it?


what dome would i use

 

[fresnowitte]

Not dumb at all...you want the temp of that actual basking spot right where your beardie might sit not the ambient temp/air around it.

You need a dome with a ceramic fixture so it can take the heat. Depending on how you have your lights set up would determine which fixture you would want to use. I have large open top viv's an I do not us a screen so my lights are suspended not sitting on top or attached to the top of enclosure so I can use the regular(not deep) 8-1/2 inch dome. But if it's going to sit on top then you want to make sure to use a deep dome and also that the screen mesh is a large mesh so not to block your UVB. Note MVB's must sit level they can not be at a slant or they will malfunction and burn out prematurely.