Newbie lighting question

[littlsadie2]

So I shouldn't be using the night light my daughter gave me with the tank? She gave me a 36Lx18D x24H reptile tank she had when she had her ball python. With it she gave me the day light and night light (which is red). I got the carpet like substraight and the baby uses the water bowl to soak and drink then poos & gets out. I don't have much in the habitat now because I will be moving it to a permanent place in the living room once I find the right table. Even though I have the heat lamp at the side of the cage it still doesn't get over 97 but if I put the light above the cage the temp doesn't seem to get more than about 85. It would be great if someone could advise me on the best way to get the proper heat. Has anyone got a set-up where their beardie actually gets some natural sunlight during the day? If so please email me because I have a spot by my living room window where mine would be able to get natural light for half the day.

 

[PatsyB]

I moved this to it's own thread so that more people can see it.

So no light what-so-ever at night. They have a "third eye" on top of their head that allows them to see shadows and light over head even when their eyes are closed. Seeing shadows overhead will make them think predators are trying to get them and it will disrupt their sleep. If you need heat at night (if the tank gets below 65 degrees) get something called a ceramic heat emitter. It puts out heat but no light.

You don't want to put any light at the side of their tank. Having light shine directly in their eyes is going to cause vision problems. They have ridges over their eyes that protects them from having the bright light shine on them so lights should go above their head. If you can't get the heat high enough then you need to get a higher wattage bulb or raise the basking spot up closer to the light.

UVB light does not penetrate glass so putting them in front of a window is only going to give them the opportunity to see what's going on outside. I have my tanks in front of a window just for that reason. My beardies are curious and want to look out the window all the time.

 

[littlsadie2]

Thank you Patsy. I looked and the lights my daughter gave me are 75w so I think when I go get the light stand I will get the 100w. I keep my air set at 78 until 10 or so at night them down to 76 so I will stop using the night lamp my daughter gave me. I will look into the ceramic heat emitter for when the weather turns cold again.

I also have an under the habitat heat pat on one end. I have not used it since I figured it would be more for winter. Do I need it? Thanks for your help.

 

[PatsyB]

Don't use the under the tank heater. They can't really feel heat well on their belly and could burn themselves and not even realize it. They instinctly know that heat comes from above and will seek out heat sources that come from over head. I think switching to a 100 watt bulb is going to be good. Sounds like you don't need any heat source at night. In my house we always keep it around 70 degrees, in the winter the tanks will get down to 65 even 64 degrees and the dragons are fine. The drop in heat at night is actually good for them.

 

[Hdrydr31]

I agree with everything Patsy suggested and was going to say the same things Sometimes you just got to play around with different wattages of the bulbs to find the right ones for each season we all have a handfull of them sitting around lol

 

[littlsadie2]

We got the 100w & a 150w today and put the 100 in and he is up the tree sunning himself. I ordered a light stand that should be here by Tuesday so then we can get the light mire evenly over the warm side of the tank. I have 2 thermometers - one for each side of the tank and have the probe at the ground level - unless there is another way to do it. Thanks for all the good advice.

 

[Elders]

Sounds like a lot of great advice in this thread; just one thing I would suggest is getting a temp gun; there are some affordable ones out there; especially on Amazon.

They are much more accurate than an analogue thermometer; and also allows you to spot check temps. I find it particularly useful for checking water temps for bath time and making sure that the temps at the different elevations of Odys tank are constant.

And to coattail Patsy and Hdrydr; UTH (under tank heaters) as well as any artificial heating accessory (Rocks, tape, ledges, etc..) are dangerous for many reptiles; as Patsy mentioned Beards cant feel heat underneath and will hang out w/o noticing they are burning themselves.