# Night time temp for beardie



## mindo (Sep 7, 2009)

Hi I got my first beardie on saturday and he is brilliant. 

I just have a concern on the night time temperature of the viv.

Our house gets quite cold at night probably 15-16 degrees (OH is stingy about heating bills !!) and when I have gone to put the lights of the viv on in the morning the temperature isn't showing on the strip thermometer so it must be less than 20 degrees as that it what it goes down to.

Looking on here I think I need a digital thermometer to check what the minimum temp actually gets down to but what is a safe level I don't want him to get too cold at night.


----------



## Fcukangel (Oct 26, 2008)

22 at night


----------



## Sted_ed (Oct 18, 2009)

12hours a day of heat bulb and UV light
24hours a day from your heat mat placed inside the viv

this should be fine.. make sure your beardie can get to the heat mat if needs be..

for example.. dont place it under a rock leave it freely placed so if the beardie gets cold they can push the substrate aside a flatten themself's against it to get wormth..


----------



## gmorris194 (Oct 20, 2008)

Unless you house gets really cold at night you shouldnt need a heatmat as Beardies sense their heat from above them.


----------



## Sted_ed (Oct 18, 2009)

they may sense there heat from above but you cant leave a heatbulb on 24/7..

as everyone should know reptiles are cold blooded and need a heat source..

quite a few of the beardies i have worked with have been laying on the heatmat when i go to turn the lighting on in the mornings, so thats just from personal experience.


----------



## Tung Chung (Apr 10, 2009)

Temperature summary which you may find useful is available here:
TWDragons | Bearded Dragons | Care sheets | Heating, Temperatures & Lighting

It would be good to get a digital thermometer as standard, the stick on ones you get can be very inaccurate.

If heatmats are used, try placing on the side of the viv by the warm side to act as a radiator. Other people use ceramic heaters which are more efficient.


----------



## noot123 (Oct 23, 2008)

sorry about hijacking thread i am having the opposite trouble my home at night stays at 24c and this means that the viv at night is 24c. i have a 4 month old beardy is this a problem
thanks


----------



## Tung Chung (Apr 10, 2009)

noot123 said:


> sorry about hijacking thread i am having the opposite trouble my home at night stays at 24c and this means that the viv at night is 24c. i have a 4 month old beardy is this a problem
> thanks


24degC (75oF) is ok for your 4mth beardie. I wouldn't worry too much


----------



## noot123 (Oct 23, 2008)

hi thanks was a little worried


----------



## AuntyLizard (Feb 7, 2007)

I dont use heat in my vivs at night. Most houses even in the depths of winter fall will not fall below what they would naturally experience in the wild.

Liz


----------



## Replika (Dec 28, 2005)

Just a thought but arn't beardies desert dwelling where the night time temps can drop below freezing?


----------



## lesleyg1989 (Sep 15, 2009)

Sted_ed said:


> 12hours a day of heat bulb and UV light
> 24hours a day from your heat mat placed inside the viv
> 
> this should be fine.. make sure your beardie can get to the heat mat if needs be..
> ...


You really shouldn't use a heat mat the bearded dragon can't feel heat from underneath and this can give them burns as long as the temps don't drop below about 16 at night it shouldn't need any heat but if it does use a ceramic heat emitter.


----------



## mindo (Sep 7, 2009)

I have managed to get a digital thermometer and apparently the minimum it is getting to is 14.5 at night and the max is 36.9 in the day:gasp:.

I am using a normal 100w spot do I need to switch to a ceramic? I thought beardies weren't supposed to have heat mats or is that just a personal thing?

Not sure which way to go need help:notworthy:


----------



## edlovesandree (Aug 27, 2008)

When i had my beardies i always used a 100 watt spotlight on a normal fitting, never had any problems with the fitting but the bulb didnt last long. (1-2 months) but still cheaper than some bulbs you can buy for reptiles.

it is not recommended to use a mat or heat rock as the beardie can easly burn and they dont feel 'localised burns'.
i did have a heat mat for my beardies but it got too hot in the viv so i never bothered and they were fine. temp was perfect with out one.

i had everything on a timer connected to the mains and around 8am the lights would come on and by 10pm the lights went off and in winter it decreased to 10 hours of light. night time temperature was around 16 deg celcius or 60*f if your lower than that it is advisable to invest in a red night light to raise the temp. 

during the day the temp sould be between 100-110*f or 38-39*c where the basking area is and at the other end of the viv it should be between 80-85*f.

hope this helps

best of luck 





mindo said:


> I have managed to get a digital thermometer and apparently the minimum it is getting to is 14.5 at night and the max is 36.9 in the day:gasp:.
> 
> I am using a normal 100w spot do I need to switch to a ceramic? I thought beardies weren't supposed to have heat mats or is that just a personal thing?
> 
> Not sure which way to go need help:notworthy:


----------



## edlovesandree (Aug 27, 2008)

Sted_ed said:


> 12hours a day of heat bulb and UV light
> 24hours a day from your heat mat placed inside the viv
> 
> this should be fine.. make sure your beardie can get to the heat mat if needs be..
> ...


 
You shouldnt do this. thats asking for the beardie to be burnt. they dont feel heat on there stomach so they will just lie there and burn. you shouldnt have a heat mat and if you do then it should be hidden under rocks and sand or what ever substrate your using. but rocksshould be used aswell to stop the beardie digging his way to the mat.


----------



## turpin's corner (Jul 28, 2009)

freakin Hell... When I woke up this mornin my BD's thermometer read as 54.6....!! :gasp:

Time to put the central heatin on methinks.... :whistling2:


----------



## Garza (Oct 15, 2009)

In the morning my viv is around 60F never had any problems with my beardie..so far.


----------



## lee young (Oct 14, 2009)

Hi mindo, welcome to the forum and to the world of bearded dragons! You temps sound about right, in the daytime Bearded Dragons need a temperature gradient of a hot end of 95F (36C ish) to a cold end of 85F, with a hot basking spot on a rock/log of 110F. At night, as long as the temp doesnt drop below 60F (16C) your beardy will be fine.

You dont say how big your viv is, or whereabouts in the viv you measured your temps, but if you can get close to the temps i mentioned above you'll be fine. Also, I'd recommend getting a dimming stat for your heat bulb as the temps might be ok now, but as the weather changes, your temps will change. A dimming stat helps to maintain the right conditions in your viv regardless of the weather and temp of the room.

If you are worried about it being too cold at night dont use a heatmat, they can quite easily break and overheat. The best source of night-time heat is a ceramic bulb, in a ceramic holder with heat resistant wire. You can buy the whole ceramic kit off ebay relatively cheaply, and if you mount in next to your daytime bulb you can still keep the hot-cold gradient going at night too.


----------



## Antw23uk (Jan 12, 2009)

Sted_ed said:


> 12hours a day of heat bulb and UV light
> 24hours a day from your heat mat placed inside the viv
> 
> this should be fine.. make sure your beardie can get to the heat mat if needs be..
> ...





Sted_ed said:


> they may sense there heat from above but you cant leave a heatbulb on 24/7..
> 
> as everyone should know reptiles are cold blooded and need a heat source..
> 
> quite a few of the beardies i have worked with have been laying on the heatmat when i go to turn the lighting on in the mornings, so thats just from personal experience.


Please stop giving advise on this subject. You clearly dont know what your talking about.


----------



## turpin's corner (Jul 28, 2009)

Antw23uk said:


> Please stop giving advise on this subject. You clearly dont know what your talking about.


agreed...:notworthy:
I may not be the most experienced of Beardie keepers but seldom have I read that layin ON a heat mat is actually a good thing... :hmm:


----------



## jools (Apr 4, 2009)

lee young said:


> Hi mindo, welcome to the forum and to the world of bearded dragons! You temps sound about right, in the daytime Bearded Dragons need a temperature gradient of a hot end of 95F (36C ish) to a cold end of 85F, with a hot basking spot on a rock/log of 110F. At night, as long as the temp doesnt drop below 60F (16C) your beardy will be fine.
> 
> You dont say how big your viv is, or whereabouts in the viv you measured your temps, but if you can get close to the temps i mentioned above you'll be fine. Also, I'd recommend getting a dimming stat for your heat bulb as the temps might be ok now, but as the weather changes, your temps will change. A dimming stat helps to maintain the right conditions in your viv regardless of the weather and temp of the room.
> 
> If you are worried about it being too cold at night dont use a heatmat, they can quite easily break and overheat. The best source of night-time heat is a ceramic bulb, in a ceramic holder with heat resistant wire. You can buy the whole ceramic kit off ebay relatively cheaply, and if you mount in next to your daytime bulb you can still keep the hot-cold gradient going at night too.


This is good advice IMO.


----------

