Porterislemons
New member
- Beardie name(s)
- Bandit
Hello all, new to the group and need some very specific thoughts and advice. I have a custom made background with ledges created with xps foam, painted with dryloc UK equivalent.
My dragon loves his basking spot, spends most of his day there when he’s not exploring. Any material surfaces near or around his basking ledge (wood, cork etc) all read appropriate basking temps. However…the foam ledge surface reads very hot. The problem is that the foam is not overly hot to touch and as soon as you do it immediately cools down. For example my IR thermometer will read 38-40 Celsius on a piece of cork placed on the ledge but read 45-50 Celsius on the foam ledge. As soon as a cover the ledge with my hand or other material for a few seconds, the temp drops down to around 38-40.
My very long winded question is whether I need to worry as I’m sure it’s the nature of the painted foam that is absorbing heat in its thin layer of paint, that dissipates quickly. Not holding heat as a rock would.
Any posts I find relating to the subject seem to end up discussing the efficacy of IR vs probe thermometers and don’t seem to cover the material itself. Im sure im Not the only one having this issue and just need some advice! I do not want to lower the wattage as any other material is fine and my dragon is happy and healthy on his spot. Any expert opinion or thought would be very much appreciated!
My dragon loves his basking spot, spends most of his day there when he’s not exploring. Any material surfaces near or around his basking ledge (wood, cork etc) all read appropriate basking temps. However…the foam ledge surface reads very hot. The problem is that the foam is not overly hot to touch and as soon as you do it immediately cools down. For example my IR thermometer will read 38-40 Celsius on a piece of cork placed on the ledge but read 45-50 Celsius on the foam ledge. As soon as a cover the ledge with my hand or other material for a few seconds, the temp drops down to around 38-40.
My very long winded question is whether I need to worry as I’m sure it’s the nature of the painted foam that is absorbing heat in its thin layer of paint, that dissipates quickly. Not holding heat as a rock would.
Any posts I find relating to the subject seem to end up discussing the efficacy of IR vs probe thermometers and don’t seem to cover the material itself. Im sure im Not the only one having this issue and just need some advice! I do not want to lower the wattage as any other material is fine and my dragon is happy and healthy on his spot. Any expert opinion or thought would be very much appreciated!
