Yes, definitely you do need a cool end..but with a screen top all along the top, half your heat is escaping. With a mostly or completely solid top you can achieve the basking temps and ambient temps you need with far less wattage. Also, 100F as your maximum basking temperature is a little low. The basking temp should be higher, around 115F. By using a wide slightly angled basking area, you make available a greater range of basking temperatures for your dragon to choose from. The very top of the basking area should be at last 115F surface temp, which allows for the lower slopes to range between 95-115F, giving your dragon a choice of what temperatures to bask in.



Needing a total of 260 watts just to get a basking temperature of 100F is a real waste. I can easily reach the 100-115F range with a 100watt flood bulb even winter. Ambient temps should remain around 85-90F (this is air temp.) in the warm half of the tank. The cool end should be around 75-80F air temp. At night its fine for the entire tank to drop around 70F or even as low as 65F (if it consistently stays below 65F, then supplemental night time heat should be used, in the form of either under tank heaters, ceramic heat emitters or other non visible light producing heat sources.



By covering the top with something solid, such as wood, you have something to mount light fixtures to and can proper light up the entire cage. Florescent light fixtures don't produce much heat due to being low wattage, but they produce alot of light. Thus they are best to use to light up an entire cage.



I find the UVB mercury vapor bulbs tend to push UVB in a cone shape, which doesn't cover the entire length of the cage. However a tube form of UVB bulb provides UVB throughout most if not all the cage, ensuring your dragon is nearly always exposed to the rays, instead of only when basking. Also, well lighted and heated cages (with low end still being cooler than the warm end) allows dragons to use the entire size of the cage, instead of being forced to bask constantly to ensure they are at the body temperatures they need.



In the picture I included in my earlier response, my dragon would bask all over that driftwood, from the highest section to the middle flat area and even lower down. She would even go underneath it when temps were higher than usual due to an increase in room temperature (such as in the summer). She also used the cooler end, and though I only have a few large rocks in the picture, I moved those out in favor of a couple slate tiles. As she would be active alot during the day, running around the entire cage, the tiles helped keep her nails worn.
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PHLdyPayne

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