Temperature

[sullie]

Hi, i've been told that my house is too cold to turn off "Sullie's" heat bulb at night (it drops to around 15 degree - he's been very lathergic, sleepy and not eating/pooing through the day) so I've been advised to leave it on all the time and just turn his UV bulb off at night. I would still like to turn his temperature down slightly at night to simulate night time for him - does anyone know if you can buy some sort of temperaute gague which allowed you to change the temperature?

 

[XtinaBeardieMom]

You really shouldn't be using anything that gives off light at night (no matter what color) as it will greatly disrupt your beardie's sleep cycle. Get a ceramic heat emitter instead - it gives off heat but no light. If you feel like anything is giving off too much heat, whether its a light or the CHE then you can get a dimmer for it to adjust the output intensity... but I'm not aware of an actual temperature gauge that you can hook up to it. You just have to set it to what you think is right and then take the temp with an infrared temp gun or digital probe, and then adjust with wattage or a dimmer as needed.

Almost forgot to add: I believe the minimum temperature for night time is 65-70 degrees

 

[sullie]

that's a great help, thank you - I'm starting to think that a lot of the advice I got from the pet shop was incorrect aas all I have in the viv at the moment is a day bulb and a UV bulb but from doing some research today and from your reply it's obvious that that's not enough - would a night bulb do the same as a ceramic heat emitter? I want to get this right now so my beardie has the best life possible!

 

[XtinaBeardieMom]

I'm not aware of any kind of bulb that gives off heat but not light, so I think the ceramic heat emitter would be the best option... beardies really can't sleep well at all w/any kind of light. As for the pet stores, yes it's very unfortunate but they are NOT well informed when it comes to dealing with certain types of reptiles & therefore they advise their customers incorrectly as well. Before you spend any more money on anything, I would highly recommend you do as much browsing on this site as you possibly can. If your entire set-up is based on pet shop advice then chances are some of it if not most of it is probably wrong and will need to be replaced. I know, it sucks & I'm sorry... a lot of us (and our wallets) have fallen victim to pet store stupidity.

 

[bunnyrut]

Before you spend any more money on anything, I would highly recommend you do as much browsing on this site as you possibly can.

yes yes, a thousand times yes!

the ceramic heat emitter is your best bet for night time heat.
as for the UV, make sure the light puts out both UVA and UVB. the UVB is very important, and you can pick up a Powersun 10.0 tube for most petshops. (not the powerglo, 2 very different results)

try searching for an infrared thermometer / temp gun. i got mine for $30 when i bought the megaray light http://www.reptileuv.com/reptileuv-mini-temperature-gun.php

 

[Goonie]

[Moved from General to Enclosures]

 

[sullie]

Well, we have excellent news - Sullie has done a poo (although a little white we think it's because he's not been for a week!) and he ate nearly out of my hand yesterday and let me touch him!! I can't believe just heating him up a little more has helped so much! We have purchased a ceramic heat bulb which should arrive this week and so won't have to leave his bulb on at night so he can get some sleep - bless! THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR EVERYONE'S ADVICE - YOU ARE FAB!!!