Reptile & Amphibian Forums

O.K. I'm looking to get a beardie. I have had them before, but not under the same cercumstances. We are going to be moving and we have fish tanks. The only place of the tanks is in the basement. There are about 8 ranging from 210 gal to 55 gal. I want to get a beardie and he would also have to be kept in the basement. I was wondering if it is going to be to humid down there for him. We do run a dehumidifier. Thanks for any help!

Hard to say if it will be too humid without knowing the average humidity of your basement. Dragons do not do well in a too humid environment as they are from semi- arid habitat. As long as the humidity in his tank doesn't exceed 60% for long periods of time, he should be fine.

Keep in mind that the basking light will help dry out the cage during the day. Also, at night, be certain the dragon's cage doesn't drop below 65F consistently. If it does you will need to provide some additional non light emitting heat (ie: a ceramic heat emitter, under tank heater or keeping the room the dragon's cage is in a bit warmer).
-----
PHLdyPayne

Thanks a lot. I don't think it will be too hard to keep the humidity below 60%. Do you think if I get an under tank heater that pretty much covers the bottom of the tank would be good or not. I would also have a basking lamp. But the under tank heater would help the overall temp of the tank?

Undertank heaters don't really do well with dragons. It does give the floor extra warmth, but other than that, heat doesn't radiate upwards well from UTH's. If you need extra heat, use a ceramic heat emitter (produces no light, just heat) for extra heat at night or to warm the middle of the tank if you feel it drops in temp away from the basking light to fast.

What you need to keep your tank at the ideal temps during the day and night depends on the external temperatures of the tank as well as the kind of tank used. I find flood light style halogen bulbs work best for a heat source for basking. Alot of the normal household bulbs are being made more energy efficient so they do not put out as much heat as they used to. In my old cage for my first bearded dragon I used a 125-150Watt exterior flood light which kept the 5'x2'x2' tank heated up perfectly, though I did have to drop the wattage of the bulb (to 125W) during the summer and used the higher watt bulb during the winter. Because of the higher wattage of these bulbs, you definitely have to use a ceramic fixture. Plastic fixtures will melt from the heat put off by these bulbs. Fortunately it is easy to get ceramic fixtures. You can buy just the ceramic fixture and mount it to the top of your cage yourself (if the top is enclosed or partially enclosed) or you can buy the Exo Terra hooded/clamp light fixtures which are also ceramic (medium is the best to get, can manage up to 200Watt bulbs and holds the flood light bulbs nicely).
-----
PHLdyPayne