New to the Bearded Dragon life. Heating

[Jadeni]

Hi all,

I was surprised to get my beardie I have been wanting one for years, Mom said i had to do research so I did. My tank is 40 gallons, and I am having a hard time with heating it. I am using a 100 watt ceramic bulb, 24" Zoo Med Repti Sun 10.0 UVB 17 watts, and 100 watt basking bulb. Mom thought to remove the ceramic bulb and get a mounted heater but cant find one that is strong enough or small enough for the enclosure. We are going to build a new enclosure soon with wood, thinking glass is not the right type of heat keeper.
Any ideas on heaters or upgrades would be great.

Jadeni

 

[PatsyB]

I would stick with a CHE. A heater would blow air and would probably dry things out too much and not give you proper temps.

You got a lot of heat going on for a 40g tank. You need to have a temp gradient during the day. A high basking spot on one side leading to a cool side of the tank around 75-80 degrees. At night the temps should drop to 65-70 degrees. If the temps drop below 65 at night then the CHE comes in handy raising the temp only to the 65-70 range.