# Basking side not hot enough



## dacons (Jul 9, 2012)

Ok now I got my digi stat working ive noticed the hot end only gets to around 27 degrees C its a 150w ceramic lamp in a 4 x 2.5 x 2.5 tank I could go 200w but im worried it maybe to intense for my beardie .
Any advice ?

Oh and id rather avoid light heating as the ceramic lamp is on at night to keep it at a min of 15 as its cold in my place atm.


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## Debbie1962 (Dec 5, 2008)

Whereabouts is your stat probe? Moving it a little away from the basking spot should help.


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## dacons (Jul 9, 2012)

Its a bit hard to see but its about 1ft away but moving it wont help cos it knows its about 27 but is trying to heat to 32 so is constantly heating.


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## murrindindi (Feb 19, 2009)

Hi, are you using the ceramic heat emitter as a basking light (daytime)?
The minimum nighttime ambient temp needs to be around 19c.


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## dacons (Jul 9, 2012)

I am yeah and ive got night time set at 15 degrees but daytime at its peak it reachs 29 degrees but cant manage 32 which maybe the reason for his digestive distress recently.


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## murrindindi (Feb 19, 2009)

dacons said:


> I am yeah and ive got night time set at 15 degrees but daytime at its peak it reachs 29 degrees but cant manage 32 which maybe the reason for his digestive distress recently.


O.k, the CHE`s are almost useless as basking surface bulbs because they direct the heat all around rather than downwards. You need a "proper" basking bulb, I suggest an outdoor halogen par 30 or par 38, the "par" just refers to the bulb face diameter, they MUST be flood beam and fitted with a ceramic bulb holder. These bulbs can also be dimmed which makes adjusting the surface temp much easier (or obviously you can raise/lower bulb/basking object).
I buy them on eBay, normally they cost around £5 to £6. I can`t put photos up on this website but if you look at my album or the avatar you can see one of my Water monitors on his basking site (I need to use more bulbs because of his size), you should only need 1 (one), wattage will depend somewhat on the room temps but I suggest a 100w and see what surface temp you get. 
You basically only need to know two temps during the day; the lowest ambient (air) @ between approx 21 to 24c, then the SURFACE temp @ between approx 40 to 45c, no other temp really matters, it makes things so much more confusing when people suggest the "warm side" ambient needs to be within a very narrow range (it`s the basking surface that`s more important).
What type of UVB bulb/tube are you using, what`s the humidity range, and how are you measuring that and the temps?


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## murrindindi (Feb 19, 2009)

dacons said:


> I am yeah and ive got night time set at 15 degrees but daytime at its peak it reachs 29 degrees but cant manage 32 which maybe the reason for his digestive distress recently.


There is absolutely no need to drop the nighttime temps that low, no matter what anyone might tell you, I would recommend no lower than approx 19c unless the animal is brumating.
Just because the air temps can get quite low at times in the wild doesn`t mean the refuges the dragons use fall as low (they don`t, because the ground will hold it`s heat). I`m talking from personal experience with them in parts of their wild range...


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## dacons (Jul 9, 2012)

Ok il up his night time temp a little.

UV wise im using and arcadi T5 D3+ tube 12% uvb is du to be replaced in the next couple months.
Temp monitoring wise I have a seperate state monitoring the cooler end and the habistat monitoring the basking end and controlling the lamp.
Humidity wise I dont have anything I wasnt aware beardies needed anything in the way of humidity control.


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## dacons (Jul 9, 2012)

Just ordered another lamp cage holder and basking lamp I went with 60w so most of the heat will be controlled by the ceramic heater then supplemented by the light bulb that should work shouldnt it?

The ceramic will be thermostatically controlled whilst the bulb will be on the same timer as my uvb tube(which ive also got another coming)


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## Azastral (Jun 6, 2015)

As already mentioned, beardies need light emitting sources as basking lamps, ceramics are only useful to support a minimum temperature in a vivarium, the correct bulb wattage will supply the basking spot (should be a surface temperature roughly 45C) and will supply heat to the vivarium.

You should have a temperature gradient, so the basking bulb should be placed towards one side of the viv, creating the "warm end" and then the far end will become the cool end.

Cool end temps should be somewhere around the mid 20's (24C to 26C) but no higher than this ideally.

A lot of it is a balancing act, getting the right wattage bulb to warm the vivarium and then raising the basking platform hight so that it gets the required surface temperature.

You can help improve the basking spot by getting a reflector hood for the heat bulb, often very useful with flood beam lights as it will help narrow down the beam slightly and direct more heat downwards.

Avoid ANY type of "intense" type bulb, you want the wider beam to create a warm area that covers most of the beardies body, preferably as much of it as possible but at least from its snout to the base of its tail.

With the UV tube you have i would recommend buying a reflector for it too, Arcadia make them specifically for their bulbs and are about £10. It will increase the range of the bulb and direct more of it towards the inside of the vivarium rather than wasting it going into the ceiling.

Yo can get high range dimmer stats, which you can then position the probe closer to the basking spot itself to control it more directly, most standard stats go up to about 32C so you will need to play with its position at a midpoint in the vivarium and by adjusting the temperature its set to and the distance from the basking spot you will eventually be able to balance to the temperatures in the vivarium.

Easiest way is to put the bulb on and look at controlling the cool end temp, so position the probe somewhere in the middle of the viv and set it so you get the cool temp area correct, it will start to dim the bulb when it hits the required temp that you set, so this is the point you want the cool temps to be correct too.

Then, by adjusting the distance between the bulb and the basking surface, set the platform at a height that gives you the correct basking surface temps. You want to use something like slate for a basking surface as it will react in a very natural way with the heat, reflecting some off and absorbing and holding heat for longer than fake rock. Leave it under the heat bulb for a hour to allow it to stabilise in temps before readjusting if its too cold/hot.

As a side note, beardies housed indoors rarely require any form of night time heating, unless you find the air temps are dropping below 16C at night regularly you shouldnt need to use a ceramic. You should have substrate in there and places they can hide, this will allow it to find a bed area that it will dig into (so a suitable substrate like a sand/soil mix thats a few inches deep it can dig into)


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## Azastral (Jun 6, 2015)

dacons said:


> Just ordered another lamp cage holder and basking lamp I went with 60w so most of the heat will be controlled by the ceramic heater then supplemented by the light bulb that should work shouldnt it?
> 
> The ceramic will be thermostatically controlled whilst the bulb will be on the same timer as my uvb tube(which ive also got another coming)


I would remove the ceramic altogether, how big is the vivarium?
Depending on the type of bulb (halogens normally are lower wattage to supply same kind of heat etc) you will need something like a 75w halogen heat bulb for a 4ft long 2ft high 2ft deep vivarium.

Having the heat bulb on permanently will mean that will supply heat and eventually cut the ceramic out anyway, and also mean that it will constantly warm the basking spot making it harder to regulate.

The basking lamp needs to be on a dimmerstat, the ceramic is not needed at all.

Also, lamp cages are not needed for beardies, they arent like snakes that can raise themselves up and will wram round bulbs.
The bulb should not be able to be reached by the beardie at all, so whatever platforms/branches you have in there they should not be positioned in a way the beardie can them get to the bulb.
Cancel the order, save yourself money.

Rather than buying these extra bits like ceramic bulbs, cages, additional dimmers, set it up correctly with one UV light, one Heat lamp and one dimmerstat. Two timers in the wall, one for heat one for UV.
this is the most efficient and cost effective way and is perfectly suited to the bearded dragon.


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## dacons (Jul 9, 2012)

thanks for the advice but im gonna need night heating it gets pretty cold a night in my place it was 9 degrees at 5am the other day so wanna make sure he isnt getting to cold.
I have a reflector for the tube.
As for controlling it all together il have to have a think


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## Azastral (Jun 6, 2015)

dacons said:


> thanks for the advice but im gonna need night heating it gets pretty cold a night in my place it was 9 degrees at 5am the other day so wanna make sure he isnt getting to cold.
> I have a reflector for the tube.
> As for controlling it all together il have to have a think


In this case hook the ceramic up to a separate line, so it only comes on at night, set it to 18C and position the bulb in the centre of the vivarium with its own dimmerstat, probe positioned at the far end of the cool end.

Let the heatbulb control the viv during the day, ceramic is then purely to support temperatures at night.

Having both the ceramic and the heatlamp during the day will interfere with each other and it will cost more to run, the heat bulb needs to be on a dimmerstat or the viv will overheat unless you get a low wattage bulb, but the low wattage bulb will not be able to create the basking temps you need.


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