Please somebody help me with the lighting of my beardies tank before he gets sick I am so worried I don’t know how to fix it

[haleyking]

Please help me with the lighting I am struggling and worried about my beardies well being. I have a new 120 gallon tank and cannot get the heat up. I have a 150w basking light, a ceramic heat emitter that runs 24/7, a uvb tube and a led tube for extra light. I can’t get the temp over 95 and it usually stays between 92-94. I have the lights on top of the screen (except the uvb) because when the lights are inside, I’d have to have a lot smaller of a climbing wall and basking spot/cave in order to keep him 12 inches away from the bulbs. When the lights are on the inside they hang low and dramatically decrease the height in which his climbs can be. Right now the basking spot is 12 inches from the screen, it’s a larger cave/basking spot/climbing wall that I put a lot of time energy and money into building so I don’t want to have to get rid of it because of having to put the bulbs inside. I’m wondering if a faulty dome could cause the bulbs not to work to their full potential because it seems like everyone else has a 150w bulb and no CHE in the daytime and still get their temps correct. Can someone please tell me what I am doing wrong or what I can do to fix this? I would really like to get the temps right with all bulbs being able to stay on top of the screen. I hope someone can help me.

I have been looking at Arcadia deep heat projectors and Arcadia halogen flood lights. I was wondering if I should replace my ceramic heat emitter with the Arcadia deep heat projector, or if I should replace my 150w basking light to the Arcadia halogen flood light. Or both. Any opinions?

The hard part that is that I rescued this dragon and wasn’t fully prepared so I do not have a ton of funds at the moment to just be buying and trying out different things that I can’t get refunds on.

 

[KarrieRee]

Please help me with the lighting I am struggling and worried about my beardies well being. I have a new 120 gallon tank and cannot get the heat up. I have a 150w basking light, a ceramic heat emitter that runs 24/7, a uvb tube and a led tube for extra light. I can’t get the temp over 95 and it usually stays between 92-94. I have the lights on top of the screen (except the uvb) because when the lights are inside, I’d have to have a lot smaller of a climbing wall and basking spot/cave in order to keep him 12 inches away from the bulbs. When the lights are on the inside they hang low and dramatically decrease the height in which his climbs can be. Right now the basking spot is 12 inches from the screen, it’s a larger cave/basking spot/climbing wall that I put a lot of time energy and money into building so I don’t want to have to get rid of it because of having to put the bulbs inside. I’m wondering if a faulty dome could cause the bulbs not to work to their full potential because it seems like everyone else has a 150w bulb and no CHE in the daytime and still get their temps correct. Can someone please tell me what I am doing wrong or what I can do to fix this? I would really like to get the temps right with all bulbs being able to stay on top of the screen. I hope someone can help me.

Please post a pic of the tank-- are you getting surface basking temps w/ a digital probe thermometer-

 

[haleyking]

Please post a pic of the tank-- are you getting surface basking temps w/ a digital probe thermometer-

I will post a pic as soon as I am home. And no I have flickers digital thermometers places on each end of the tank one next to the basking spot and the other on the cool end. Should I be using a digital probe ? Please no judgement. This dragon is a rescue and I’m immediately trying to make his new home perfect for him and I am a first time owner ! I will do anything he needs, I just need to know what to do.

 

[haleyking]

Please post a pic of the tank-- are you getting surface basking temps w/ a digital probe thermometer-

Should I be checking the temp in the air or the temp on the surfaces or both?

 

[KarrieRee]

Should I be checking the temp in the air or the temp on the surfaces or both?

Please get two digital probe thermometers Zoo med makes them pet smart and Petco carry them-- place the probe on the spot where he sits to bask - for a adult dragon you want temps 95-100 - baby under 6 months 105-110- 10 minutes or so then get your temp- place the other probe on the other end ambient temp you want low 80's during the day- what kind of uvb please - coil or long tube fixture-- these things I am asking about are crucial

 

[haleyking]

Please get two digital probe thermometers Zoo med makes them pet smart and Petco carry them-- place the probe on the spot where he sits to bask - for a adult dragon you want temps 95-100 - baby under 6 months 105-110- 10 minutes or so then get your temp- place the other probe on the other end ambient temp you want low 80's during the day- what kind of uvb please - coil or long tube fixture-- these things I am asking about are crucial

Arcadia 12% tube 24 in . I’m getting those thermometers today so that’s the first step. Thank you so much

 

[KarrieRee]

Arcadia 12% tube 24 in . I’m getting those thermometers today so that’s the first step. Thank you so much

Please have a piece of basking decor directly under the UVB 12-15 inches -- let me know how the temp issue is when testing w/ the digital probe thermometers we will go from there

 

[haleyking]

Please have a piece of basking decor directly under the UVB 12-15 inches -- let me know how the temp issue is when testing w/ the digital probe thermometers we will go from there

Do you have a name or picture of the probe thermometers from PetSmart? I’m looking online now and only seeing digital thermometers that don’t mention probes

 

[KarrieRee]

Do you have a name or picture of the probe thermometers from PetSmart? I’m looking online now and only seeing digital thermometers that don’t mention probes

https://www.petco.com/shop/en/petcostore/product/zoo-med-digital-thermometer-1120646?mr:device=c&mr:adType=pa&cm_mmc=PSH|BNG|CAL|SBU05|0|0|a3Q6k7imsnc4TjSmZJVp9Z|58700007504944316|PRODUCT_GROUP|0|0|pla-4583245529996413|1274334785049805|415826437&msclkid=95f533e3b84013bb2a7357c21a336a05&gclsrc=ds&adlclid=95f533e3b84013bb2a7357c21a336a05

pet smart carries the same ones

 

[CooperDragon]

As mentioned, you want to read the surface temps right at the basking spot. It's also helpful to have a probe on the cool side so you can see the gradient across the enclosure at a glance. 150w *should* be enough power, but since bulbs vary so much between brand and style it may just not be a good fit for your enclosure. I'd try some different halogen and incandescent bulbs and see how that goes. You can sometimes pick up a fairly cheap Westinghouse R40 incandescent bulb at a hardware store. I've found the 250w to be way too powerful, and the 150w version has worked pretty well. PAR38 halogens work pretty well too, but I find that they can produce hotspots and they are relatively heavy due to the glass used. It may take trying a few different types/brands before you find one that works the way you want it to. Once you find one I'd just buy a few to have on hand as spares so you don't need to scramble if one burns out.

As far as switching to the heat projector, I'd probably consider that secondary. They are nice because they don't get nearly as hot on their surface as a CHE, so lower burn risk. When it comes time to replace your CHE, I'd probably get a heat projector but probably not worth swapping out if the CHE is still working.

 

[xp29]

This is a 200 watt incandescent bulb you can get at lowes, they are less than 4 bucks each.
If you use a bulb this strong be careful it isn't hot for your beardie. The probe thermometers are very usefull, they read the actuall temperature of the light so you know precisely how hot it is. I'll post a pic ofvthe thermometers also. This is the link to the bulb at lowes.

https://www.lowes.com/pd/GE-200-Watt-Dimmable-3-Way-Bulb-A21-Light-Fixture-Incandescent-Light-Bulb/5014230023

As a side note, the 116 degrees showing on the thermometer was actuall outside temp in the shade. My beardie's love it here

 

[Drache613]

Moved by Moderator from General to Enclosures

 

[haleyking]

Please post a pic of the tank-- are you getting surface basking temps w/ a digital probe thermometer-

 

[haleyking]

I added the probes in and today the temperatures are actually stuck at a lower temp than usual. The basking and ceramic heat emitters are on top. Basking is 150w and Che is 100W. I don’t know what else to do to get the temps up. If I put them basking and CHE inside, then he would be too far away from the UVB because of him having to be at least 12 in away from the basking and CHE. I hope I put the probes in a correct location.

 

[xp29]

You could cover some of the screen to help keep the heat in. But keep a very close eye on your temps till you know for sure what it maxes out at. I would only cover the hot end your beardie will still need a gradient.