Hi! Im new to the world of bearded dragons. I've been doing my research for about a week and a half now(I thought I knew it all but I dont know it all lol.)
Yesterday I brought home a 1 month old baby bearded dragon. I had the tank all set up (well, the important parts at least! I need to add more decorations.) I have the little guy in a 40 gallon tank.
I set the lights up yesterday before my baby came home and I was using a velcro stick on thermometer gauge and it was saying it was the 80F(I just discovered today that those are bad and give wonky readings.) I bought a digital thermometer when i got my dragon and put it in the cool down area but once I read that the readings can be weird I got rid of the gauge and put the digital one(I have a thermometer gun coming in the mail and I plan on purchasing another digital thermometer today) in the basking area and now it saying the basking area is only 70 degrees F. I changed the bulb from a 75 watt to a 100 watt and its only gone up 5 degrees. Can someone please help me? I want to fix this ASAP and give my new baby the proper heat he needs Ill attach pictures of my set up and the lights I have
Have the temps raised at all since you last posted?
Unread postby CooperDragon » Thu Dec 27, 2018 12:15 pm
What are you using for a basking light? Are you reading surface temperatures using a temp gun or digital thermometer with a probe on the basking site? If you're getting accurate readings then that is too low. You can try using a higher wattage basking bulb to bring the temps up but first be sure you're getting accurate readings.
This was posted by Cooper Dragon-- you need to make sure those are accurae readings-- Infrared guns are the best way to get accurate temps--
Take your probe and lay it on the basking rock / or what ever your using - it will give you some idea of what its reading but the best way is the IR gun you have coming--
please take some pics and maybe some one else can weigh in on this issue
Its only $16 via AMZ and that will do the trick! At least, it has worked for me! Just take the temp 2-4" away from your spot that you want to take the temp for the most accurate reading. But, even if you take it 12"+... its only off by a +1/-1 degree. So, its not the biggest deal in my opinion. I think using the probe is too much of a hassle but since you most likely all ready bought one to measure your cool and hot side of the tank... it can be used in that same fashion.
Sorry for such a late reply guys!!! I ended up going to a local reptile store and they helped me out. They suggested I get a night light that doesnt shine (on top of my other 2 lights that do shine lol) and put tin foil all over the top with a towel on top of the tin foil. Its a 60w with it's own dome. I've also got the orginal lights half way into the enclouser through the top grate so it shines right on my little girl. I also purchased a temp gun. the thermostat I had before was a probe.
The temps can now go above 110 but I make sure they dont. I got this enclouser second hand and I have NO IDEA how the people before kept their beardie in this thing with this lightening. They had a heat rock so I'm assuming they used that for heat too. But even if you added a heat rock I dont think it could up the temps enough. And not to mention the dangers of it ?
Thanks again everyone!!
the night light what is it? You dont need a colored light in tank - it will hurt their eyes-- You can buy a heat emitter that has only heat no light- you need a basking bulb that heats his basking area 90-105 or so babies they like warm- the UVB should be either a Reptisun 10.0 T8 or Arcadia T5 10.0-- all lights in tank should be off for 12 hrs on for 12 hrs -- there is a lot of info on this site about lighting food all kinds of stuff-- at the top of this page care sheets and articles please read them for more info--- bugs should be fed--- dubias are the best in my opinion as they dont give parasites -- bugs should be dusted w/ calcium D3 5x per week w/ vitamins 2 X per week- if you have more questions please dont hesitate to ask --- hope this helps--
Karrie