How long without for heating/lights?

[Alyssa Martin]

Hi!

I have one final question which is going to determine whether I will adopt this bearded dragon or not. She is a full grown adult.

Question.

How long do the lights/heating need to be left on in the tank?

My house stays about 75 F at the lowest in the winter and when I leave my mother doesn't like any lights/heating devices left on. She is paranoid about house fires so no debating for me on this topic.

So if I left for 1-2 hours and didn't keep any heating/lighting in the tank while I was gone would this affect the bearded dragon?

I have read that you can leave the heat off at night, so if I left the lights/heat off for the hours I was gone and left them on for an additional amount at night would this work?

Here's my every week.

Monday - Home all day

Tuesday - Home all day

Wednesday - Gone 5 hours but can have my aunt turn off the lights/heat before she leaves so maybe 1-2 hours no heat.

Thursday - Home all day

Friday - Home all day

Saturday - Either home or at my dad's. Which means my mom would turn on/off the lights/heat

Sunday - Same as Saturday


I'd love to adopt this beardie but am worried about the effect of being without the heat for that Wednesday. The worst case I'm gone 5 hours.

Since my house is 75 F in the winter would this be that bad?

Thanks!
Alyssa

 

[BeardedHippy]

The answer to this is easy, use a timer. Set it for 12 on and 12 off. Your house is warm enough so you wont need any extra heat at night.

 

[BeardedHippy]

ah sorry, missed that bit about your mother not wanting stuff on when you arent there, well that complicates things then, for you mostly. Seems like an awful pain to do it manually every day. What happens if you need to go away somewhere? I would try and soften you mother up a bit on this one, the probability of fire is almost zero.

 

[Alyssa Martin]

ah sorry, missed that bit about your mother not wanting stuff on when you arent there, well that complicates things then, for you mostly. Seems like an awful pain to do it manually every day. What happens if you need to go away somewhere? I would try and soften you mother up a bit on this one, the probability of fire is almost zero.

If I go away for a trip I would just drop her off at my dad's. That's where she's going to be from anyways (his girlfriend) so I don't have any issues when trips come up.

They leave heat and lights on all day while out of the house so no issue there of course

Ya I really have no debating on whether or not I can leave anything on. She has true OCD so I don't have much I can say. I've already explained the chance of something happening but it was a no go.

I don't mind turning on and off lights. I do it for my frogs. So a Bearded dragon wouldn't bother me at all. However I will look into a timer

Thanks for answering! You helped me with my question.

 

[PatsyB]

What if you secure the lights to the tank or something near the tank with zip ties? I came home once and had a dome fixture turned on laying on the floor because it fell off the tank. Now I attach the cords to something stable around it so that if it falls, it's not going to fall on the floor.

The bearded dragon really needs to have a 12/12 light cycle and needs the heat during the day. After your dragon eats, it needs to be able to bask for at least 2 hours before the lights go out. She is an adult so she doesn't need to eat every day but you really shouldn't mess with her light cycles because it's going to throw her off.