Basking Rock question

[Dragon Newbie]

Hello everyone, I am new here.
I did a search but cant seem to find much for information,
I have 2 baby bearded dragons, I admittedly should have done more research, I talked with "petsmart" people when I purchased them, and got alot of incorrect information, resulting me spending alot of money on things that didnt really work.

In any case,
my question is, as of today, I have separated the bearded dragons, as I understand it, they are solitary, they seemed to sleep on top of each other, taking turns doing it, but im told this may be a sign of dominance, one has outgrown the other by quite a bit...anyways, so in the new enclosure, I purchased a "plastic basking rock" his basking area, is around 100 degrees, but the rock feels very hot to my hand, Ive read that they dont feel heat well on their underside, and im worried maybe this plastic rock is getting to hot and will burn him?
Will this happen?
Any insight would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

 

[Janelle]

I've heard that the resin rocks can get very hot and can indeed cause burns. You can probably safely use it on the cooler side of the tank. Do you have a temperature gun? I'm sorry that you got all the wrong information. It happens so often, unfortunately. I'm glad you are remedying the issues.

 

[Dragon Newbie]

I've heard that the resin rocks can get very hot and can indeed cause burns. You can probably safely use it on the cooler side of the tank. Do you have a temperature gun? I'm sorry that you got all the wrong information. It happens so often, unfortunately. I'm glad you are remedying the issues.

Is there anything I can do to make it use able? I had looked into possibly making one from Grout, and Styrofoam , Is there a place to purchase a basking area, that is not made of a material that gets hot, or do they have to be made?

 

[Dragon Newbie]

Is there anything I can do to make it use able? Thank you for your reply.
I had looked into possibly making one from Grout, and Styrofoam , Is there a place to purchase a basking area, that is not made of a material that gets hot, or do they have to be made?

 

[Janelle]

You have all sorts of options! I used some leftover paving bricks from our sidewalk to form a tunnel, with a flat rock across the top. We also have a good-sized branch off one of our oak trees secured in her tank. Neither of those things cost us anything. Just remember that anything from outside needs to be sterilized before you use it in their tank.

 

[BeardedHippy]

If it is directly under your basking lamp then yes, it will absorb a lot of heat. You can measure the surface temperature using an IR temp gun. Offsetting the rock so it is not directly under the focal point of the bulb will stop it getting so hot. The same thing can happen with wood and rock use for basking spots, I had the same problem with a cork bark arch I was using and moving it a few inches to one side solved the problem.

 

[Dragon Newbie]

Thank you everyone very much for the replies.