Soon to be Momma With Queries on Temps

[Scales]

Greetings all!

I will be adopting a baby beardie shortly, thanks to my wonderful husband. Having had decades of experience with tropical freshwater aquariums, we know you can't just fill up a tank and plop in the fish, and we're applying that sort of reasoning to the viv set up. We've read all the advice on substrate, UVB lights, food, humidity, etc-the issue I'm having at the moment is temperatures. We live in western-central-ish New York State, so winter is pretty much upon us, though you'd never know it by the beautiful weather we've had thus far: 65º on Thanksgiving? Yeah, I'll take that. Anyway, my house was built sometime shortly after Moses was born and isn't as well insulated as it probably should be. To get to the point, I need to know what other people in similar climates to myself do to keep their viv temps at a suitable range. Short of turning up my furnace to 80º (NOT happening) I'm at a bit of a loss right now. We are in the process of experimenting with basking lamps and an UTH, for the 50 gallon screen topped tank, but I can't get the average tank temps above about 78º. About 6" below the 100 watt basking lamp, I can get a steady 105º. And these are daytime temps...we're especially concerned about keeping things warm enough at night. I have one of those nifty digital thermometers with a probe sensor for better accuracy, so I'm pretty confident in the actual readings.

So what's the best option for more heat? I know the UVB flouro only puts out a negligible amount of heat so that's not helping. Do I add another basking-type lamp? What about these CHEs I see mentioned? We're leery about having to run one 24-7 to be honest. Are there specially made fixtures for them? I'm wondering about tank insulation as well. What can I add to/around the tank to maybe keep some of the warmth in? I've got some really nice pieces of slate and rocks to add for terrain; I'd like to think they'd help to absorb and radiate some heat as well.

Thanks in advance for any help-

Amy

 

[randommonks]

Your temperatures, if I'm reading correctly, seem fine. 105F basking is a good temperature for a baby, and a 78F cool side is fine. If your nighttime temps don't get below 65F (generally room temperature), then you should be fine without an undertank heater (not really recommended for beardies) or a CHE.

 

[Scales]

Thanks, randommonks for your reply. I was worried the temps were low compared to others' vivs. Since my post, I've visited a local-ish shop specializing in reptiles (avoiding well meaning but semi-informed Petsmart sales associates) and simplified matters by choosing a Mercury Vapor lamp. The proprietor uses only such lights for his extensive stock, with no issues, and offers a very nice warranty on them. Anyway, the temps are right where they should be without adding extra lights or heaters so I think my energy usage will balance out.

After adding some furnishings this week we'll be headed back for adoption, probably Thursday. I'll introduce Jörmungand shortly after that.

Have a good evening!

Amy

 

[randommonks]

Good choice. MVBs seem to simplify things. Good luck with your new guy/gal!

 

[Shea Loner]

I'm from upstate ny, and I can tell you that when my Izzy was still tiny I kept him in a smaller 20gal L tank it held the heat in much better until he was old/large enough to upgrade. On the days it got really really cold. you know the ones when your furnace cuts out? or the powers out. I would grab my rice bag(hot pack) and nuke it for 2 min. wrap in a towel and place him on or near it for the night, with a smaller tank it would put of enough heat to keep him from freezing. If the power was out I used a chunk of slate off the bottom of his tank and warmed it in the oven(gas lucky me). I did find that I could get away with a small Under the tank heater if there was a flat rock over top of it so the heat was filtered more.
Good luck with your new baby.
Shea