Staying on cool side of his tank?

[Kisaacs02]

My beardie is in a 40 gallon wide tank, the warm side is about 90 degrees year round during the day but lately he hasn’t been over there at all. His favorite rock is on the warm side but even if I lay him on it to warm him up some he goes back to laying in the corner of the cool side and it worries me because of how cold he really gets, is it okay that he’s doing this? Or could it be because it’s getting towards the winter months?

 

[CooperDragon]

He may prefer the cooler temps for some reason. What are you using to measure the temps? It's possible the measurements aren't accurate or aren't reading the surface temperatures properly and something is off.

 

[Kisaacs02]

I have one of the zoomed thermometers that you Velcro to the side of the tank, not fancy I know but I didn’t have the money to get a better one at the time :/ maybe soon I could get a new one if that would help

 

[CooperDragon]

Those measure the ambient temps so the surface temps (use this to adjust the lighting) may be much different. I'd either get an IR temp gun like this https://www.amazon.com/Nubee-Temperature-Non-contact-Infrared-Thermometer/dp/B00CVHIJDK or a couple of digital thermometers with probes so you can attach one to the basking surface and one to the cool side surface to get permanent readings of each end. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0017N8W90/

 

[Kisaacs02]

Okay I’ll look into them, thank you very much

 

[EllenD]

Yeah, definitely spend the $10 at Petco for a digital probe thermometer, and be sure to allow the probe to sit on the spot your are measuring for at least 20-30 minutes before reading the temperature. Those stick-on thermometer are junk, unfortunately when they are tested they are usually off by between 10-20 degrees, so if you're seeing a Hot Side Ambient (Air) Temperature of 90 degrees, that means that the Hot Side Ambient Temperature could actually be as high as 110 degrees, which would mean that his Basking Spot Surface Temperature (which you cannot measure with a stick-on thermometer, and is another very important reason you need to buy a $10 digital probe thermometer immediately, you must be able to measure his basking spot surface temperature, that is what allows him to be able to digest and process his food, absorb calcium, etc.), anyway, his Basking Spot Surface Temperature, which will ALWAYS be hotter than the Hot Side Ambient (AIR) Temperature, could be well over 110 degrees, which is in the lethal range. 110 degrees should be the max temperature inside his enclosure, up to 115 degrees can cause heat exhaustion, severe dehydration, and a host of other issues if he is exposed to it for too long, and above 115 degrees is the lethal zone...so please, go spend the $10 ASAP and take all 3 of the major temps inside the enclosure, starting with the Basking Spot Surface Temperature. He has to be able to bask on his basking spot, directly underneath his UVB tube and his bright white basking light, in order to digest and absorb his nutrition, so this is very important.

Out of curiosity,. just in case, are you using any Coil-shaped bulbs?

 

[Kisaacs02]

No, I use the regular light bulb shape for mine. I don’t remember what wattage I have in there but I will get to the pet store tomorrow (it’s closed by now tonight) and check. Thank you