BD basking away from Heat light

[BPz27]

Hello again,

So right now i have a 150w heat bulb in my 40 gallon tank. I notice as of late that My BD doesn't bask under his light. As you can see in the pic he bask several inches away from where his basking spot is. Now i don't have a temp gun as Im currently working on finding one to check the actual temp. So im wondering is it possible that the light is too hot for my BD. Im wondering should i raise the heat light a bit up to put a distance from the light and basking spot. As you can see in the pic his tree basking point is about 4 inches from the basking spot.

I also notice that he sometimes don't even bask and i will come home finding him in his hiding spot under the log. I been watching him checking for sign of illness hes very alert follow me with his eyes wherever i go, He perk up his head when i pop in the room. I give him baths every 3rd day to make him poop in the bath instead of the cage, helps keep the cage clean. Is poop in the water is solid with the white poop thing at the end. He is eating but only superworms,

I live in Canada an temp are starting to drop getting ready for Fall. So i don't know if he's going into brumation or not. Overall just wanted to get some insights from you guys. I know first thing i need to do is find out the temp or that baskin spot.

Also I been having trouble finding a T5 22" reptisun but everywhere i look they wanna charge a arm and a leg for it online. My local petstore only carrys the T8 bulbs and the coils. I keep hearing mix review that the coil is bad for the BD. But i also hear that some BD owner say the coil is good and that their BD loves it.

 

[Maddie]

Hi! Chances are it is too hot for him. 4 in away from a 150w bulb is probably close to 130 degrees id imagine if not more. I would raise the bulb or get a 75w asap. I had the hardest time getting the temps perfect for my girl, she let me know it was too hot by not basking and staying on the cool side. After countless number of bulbs and different wattages we finally found the 75w works best with our 40 gal tank.


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[mxw0rld]

At his age you can come down in temps to about 90-95F. 4 inches is a bit too close for me personally but everyone is different.

I just sent you a message on your other post about the superworms. You need to stop those.

He is also probably starting brumation. Unfortunately it is that time of the year.

Coil bulbs are bad over time they can hurt their eyes and do long term damage. I do not recommend coil type bulbs.

Check online for those bulbs as I know online stores are a bit cheaper than brick and mortar stores.

 

[Maddie]

And as for the UVB, I got mine on Amazon for pretty cheap compared to store prices.


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[RaeAnn]

If he is still sitting under his light just not on his actual basking spot, sounds like he wants to bask it's just too hot for him on his basking spot. Personally I would make sure there is more distance between his basking spot and the 150watt bulb. You really want to invest in a temp gun asap so that you can be sure it is too hot and be able to double check your adjustments. You can get a temp gun on Amazon for around 12-15 bucks. Try to get his basking spot around 95-100.


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[BPz27]

Ok perfect info, I really appreciate you guys taking out the time to respond to my questions. I will def invest in a temp gun, and i will switch out the buld for a 75watt. I also check online and it sucks, Im from the US Amazon in the US is way better then canada.
Example https://www.amazon.ca/Reptisun-10-0-T5-Lamp-Inch/dp/B00AQU8HAO as u see for Canada but shipping from the US which isnt gonna be free shipping so im looking around 40 or more bucks, with a long shipping delay as u know Custom can be a pain.

US amazon https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-2606...d=1475013085&sr=8-1&keywords=Reptisun+10.0+T5 its cheaper. I looked at other website that deliver to canada and its pretty much just as same price to buy it in stores.

Overall I got some changing up to do. thanks you guys keep up the great work

 

[BPz27]

If he is still sitting under his light just not on his actual basking spot, sounds like he wants to bask it's just too hot for him on his basking spot. Personally I would make sure there is more distance between his basking spot and the 150watt bulb. You really want to invest in a temp gun asap so that you can be sure it is too hot and be able to double check your adjustments. You can get a temp gun on Amazon for around 12-15 bucks. Try to get his basking spot around 95-100.


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Yea i can see him wanting to bask but he sit a few inches away from the light, so he only get a bit of heat, I did a trick i put the light right over him and after a few mins he move away from the light so clearly the 150w bulb is too hot for him, i brought it cuz i thought it wasnt given enough heat hint to reason why the TEMP GUN is needed. I will go and purchase a a 75w bulb and give that a try.

 

[BPz27]

At his age you can come down in temps to about 90-95F. 4 inches is a bit too close for me personally but everyone is different.

I just sent you a message on your other post about the superworms. You need to stop those.

He is also probably starting brumation. Unfortunately it is that time of the year.

Coil bulbs are bad over time they can hurt their eyes and do long term damage. I do not recommend coil type bulbs.

Check online for those bulbs as I know online stores are a bit cheaper than brick and mortar stores.

Yeaha buddy superworms are out, He wont be getting anymore super worms lil buddy going to rehab.

yeaha Ill be keeping an eye on him to see how he do if he is going in brumation.

Yeaha the coil bulbs i heard its bad on the eyes, i heard that its the exo terra coil bulbs, and heard the repti sun coil isnt as bad.

Ima have to hit up home depot and get a new fixture as my local stores only carrys T8 tube lights and not the T5

 

[mxw0rld]

Yeaha buddy superworms are out, He wont be getting anymore super worms lil buddy going to rehab.

yeaha Ill be keeping an eye on him to see how he do if he is going in brumation.

Yeaha the coil bulbs i heard its bad on the eyes, i heard that its the exo terra coil bulbs, and heard the repti sun coil isnt as bad.

Ima have to hit up home depot and get a new fixture as my local stores only carrys T8 tube lights and not the T5

I will once in awhile give my oldest a superworm but he has to eat his roaches first and his salad, which he does! If he doesn't then I have to close the doors and walk away. I have to keep saying to myself it's not good for them, it's not good for them and walk away. As long as he isn't losing weight he will be fine without eating until he realizes you are not going to give in to him!

Good luck with the tough love! I know it is so hard to walk away when they are looking at you with those eyes and his head tilted to the side!

As far as the bulbs I don't think the brand has anything to do with it. It's the fact that with the coil itself it concentrates the UV in one spot and will damage their eyes and I think can give them a vitamin deficiency. I would just stay away from them period. I think there is an article in this forum somewhere that talks about the dangers of those bulbs.

 

[RaeAnn]

Yea i can see him wanting to bask but he sit a few inches away from the light, so he only get a bit of heat, I did a trick i put the light right over him and after a few mins he move away from the light so clearly the 150w bulb is too hot for him, i brought it cuz i thought it wasnt given enough heat hint to reason why the TEMP GUN is needed. I will go and purchase a a 75w bulb and give that a try.

Very smart thinking. That clearly allowed you to see he was getting over heated. I went through the same issue recently. I found that a 75w works perfect for my 40gal, however as weird as it may sound a 75 watt does not work for all 40gal tanks. Other factors such as temps in the actual house, type of ventilation, and height and material of the basking platform all impact this. Just play around with different watts until you find a bulb that works best for your beardie. Once you get a temp gun you will find that they are life savers lol they definitely help tremendously


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[BPz27]

I will once in awhile give my oldest a superworm but he has to eat his roaches first and his salad, which he does! If he doesn't then I have to close the doors and walk away. I have to keep saying to myself it's not good for them, it's not good for them and walk away. As long as he isn't losing weight he will be fine without eating until he realizes you are not going to give in to him!

Good luck with the tough love! I know it is so hard to walk away when they are looking at you with those eyes and his head tilted to the side!

As far as the bulbs I don't think the brand has anything to do with it. It's the fact that with the coil itself it concentrates the UV in one spot and will damage their eyes and I think can give them a vitamin deficiency. I would just stay away from them period. I think there is an article in this forum somewhere that talks about the dangers of those bulbs.

Thx Mxworld I know its gonna be tough, i just dont want my guy to sit there and starve himself, but like i read in other threads that BD are smart and not gonna allow themselves to starve. But they do tend to play mind games like ok i wont eat until u give me what i want. lol nope daddy putting the foot down and locking away the cookies.

Yehaa thats what i heard that the UV coils only focus on one spot so for the BD to get the porper UVB he'll have to stay under that one spot to get UVB rays, which i guess is too much for them to have a beam focus on one spot.

 

[BPz27]

Very smart thinking. That clearly allowed you to see he was getting over heated. I went through the same issue recently. I found that a 75w works perfect for my 40gal, however as weird as it may sound a 75 watt does not work for all 40gal tanks. Other factors such as temps in the actual house, type of ventilation, and height and material of the basking platform all impact this. Just play around with different watts until you find a bulb that works best for your beardie. Once you get a temp gun you will find that they are life savers lol they definitely help trendously


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Yehaa ima have to play around with the heating as i know BD suspose to bask under the light to help them properly digest their system. Also i got the 40 gal cage from petsmarts of course. Its so sad that there arent many local reptile shops in canada Nova scotia. Petsmarts the only one still standing. a new reptile store just open up so ima have to check that out.

 

[RaeAnn]

Yehaa ima have to play around with the heating as i know BD suspose to bask under the light to help them properly digest their system. Also i got the 40 gal cage from petsmarts of course. Its so sad that there arent many local reptile shops in canada Nova scotia. Petsmarts the only one still standing. a new reptile store just open up so ima have to check that out.

We had to get ours from petsmart as well. We were going to build a custom but decided not to right now simply because our dragon loves her home I figure that's what's most important. But I do love the appearances of the custom enclosure lol


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[Maddie]

I got the actual bulb here: http://www.petmountain.com/product/...eptisun-t5-ho-10-0-uvb-high-output-bulbs.html
And the hood on Amazon.


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[BPz27]

I got the actual bulb here: http://www.petmountain.com/product/...eptisun-t5-ho-10-0-uvb-high-output-bulbs.html
And the hood on Amazon.


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I saw that sire but don't think they deliver to Canada plus with the shipping and exchange rate I'll end up with the same price as the local store. Damn canada lol

 

[RaeAnn]

I saw that sire but don't think they deliver to Canada plus with the shipping and exchange rate I'll end up with the same price as the local store. Damn canada lol

Oh didn't know you were located in Canada. Yes they can be quite pricey. The smaller sizes seem to be less expensive at most places. You only need one to cover 3/4ths of the enclosures. The Zilla T5 hoods have nice reflectors inside of them as well that actually help the UVB light spread throughout the enclosure much better. You could probably just get a 24" hood and 22inch 10.0 T5 bulb if you have to buy in store this will probably be a little less expensive than a 30" hood or anything larger.


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[BPz27]

Alright so today I went to good old petsmart and brought a 75 watt basking light, I will be putting it in after work. I called the new reptile store to order me a T5 22" bulb, As i went to Home depot and they dont have any cabinet fixture thats a T8 bulb and plugs in. They only have those in wires. So we will see how things go. Hopefully Pierre would go and bask to get the approiate heat. What Im thinkin of doing is flipping his tree branch in the Picture above in the start thread, where he is sitting is lower then as the tip where the light is basking is higher, ill flip it where the lower part is the basking spot. which should be 5inches from the light, I'll test and see how that goes, if its too hot ill probably have to find a lower tree or basking rock. or lift up the light.

 

[Maddie]

Off topic, but, RaeAnn and I had the exact same basking log for our girl. She quickly outgrew it once she turned 5 months old, so yours may not be able to comfortably fit on the top. That's just another suggestion I wanted to throw out there your guy may want a larger log [emoji4]

Best of luck! Hope the 75w works out for you!!


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[RaeAnn]

Yeah that was based on our judgement, you may feel differently. I think rearranging the log will be a good idea. We had to do the same with that log. We found ourselves moving it around often lol but it did work


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[BPz27]

Off topic, but, RaeAnn and I had the exact same basking log for our girl. She quickly outgrew it once she turned 5 months old, so yours may not be able to comfortably fit on the top. That's just another suggestion I wanted to throw out there your guy may want a larger log [emoji4]

Best of luck! Hope the 75w works out for you!!


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Lol thats funny cuz Pierre like that log thing but since the bulb issue he been basking away as u see in the pic that where he'll go. so since that log is at like a slant im hopin once i switch out the bulb, and flip the log to its lowest point it should do the trick. But yeah i may look for another basking spot.