Reptile & Amphibian Forums

can u use a pearlco infra red ceramic heaters for a basking site?

I'm not sure why you're considering this. Beardies need light and heat. So it would be cheaper and better to just use a spot bulb. But of course I don't know your setup.

I've heard that sometimes people will use them for night heat in the winter. I actually see no use for them at all with dragons and have never owned one.

I think BDlvr is right. The only time I would use a CHE (ceramic heat emitter) in a beardie setup would be for night heat, if needed. It's best to use lights because beardies do so much better in bright environments. Not to mention the big price difference.

I use CHEs in my snake setups, they last a long time and are good for use with snakes, but not beardies.
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.

what kind of basking light should i use?

I use the Zoo Med Spots. I've tried others but always go back to the Zoo Med.

I use ESU spotlights. They're UVA (even though they're labled as "full spectrum," they're actually not. They don't produce UVB, which some people say Bearded Dragons need).

As far as different brands (ESU, Zoo Med, etc...) I don't have a preference, ESU is about the only brand available in my area. The main difference you should be concerned with is "spotlight" and "floodlight."

Spotlights produce more of a fine, concentrated beam than floodlights. Floodlights produce a wider beam, covering more of an area, but loses some heat/light intensity due to the beam being spread out.

Some keepers of larger basking lizards (monitors, etc...) use floodlights because the lizard's bodies are larger than beardies. But the same coverage can be obtained by using two spotlights.

Now, on to your next question, before you ask it:
"What wattage should I get?"

This depends on your setup. In most cases, a 100-watt spotlight is efficient, but that depends on how far away from the basking spot the bulb will be.

The best way to save time & money when trying to figure out the best bulb for your setup is to go with the highest wattage bulb and place a dimmer switch on the cord so the output can be adjusted.

If you were to get a 150-watt spotlight and place a dimmer switch on the cord, you can easily adjust its output without having to run back & forth to the store to try another size bulb. I seriously doubt that you would ever need anything higher than 150 watts for a beardie setup.

It would only be fair for me to say that some people use mercury vapor bulbs as their UVB & heat source, combined. They're a might be expensive, initially, and some people like them, some don't.

And on the other hand, you could go with something as simple as one or two household incandescent bulbs placed over the basking site, as long as there's some kind of protection to keep a beardie from getting burned by touching the bulb(s). The main drawback with this is that incandescent bulbs will heat up more space, which could easily make the cool end too hot.

Now that I've thoroughly confused you, I'll run along.

Take care!
HH
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.

Electric use wise, you're best to go with the lowest wattage that meets your needs. Rather than a higher wattage and a rheostat (dimmer) as dimmers burn of extra watts as heat. Although I recommend rheostats so that minute adjustments can be made as the ambient temperature in the room changes.

My wife keeps tellin' me that I need to check the hotwater heater for a burned out element 'cause somethin's got our elec. bill pretty high.

I just smile and tell her that I will check it out one of these days.

In a situation like mine, where I have several different setups (5) using basking sites, not to mention CHEs for my snake setups, yeah, it makes a difference. However, I feel the trade off for a beginner with only one setup is quite worth the while. Once they get their husbandry to where it should be, then they can go back and tweak costs, etc... I think its so much easier to dim them down and move on when first setting things up.

Your point is a good, valid, one, though. And I think its good for people to be aware of.

Catch ya later!
HH
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.

About rheostats/dimmer switches:
Most, if not all, of the 3-position dimmer switches are useless and fall into the category of burning up the energy instead of reducing it.

Most, if not all, rotary dimmer switches that are rated for 600 watts act as a rheostat. These are usually the most common.

I just felt that I should post this info since you mentioned it, so the original poster would know.

Catch ya later!
HH
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.

Huh? 3 position are useless I agree. But it's all the same in the end. If you use a 150 watt bulb on a rheostat/dimmer you are using 150 watts of electric regardless of where the dimmer is set.

LOL!
Now you've got me to wonderin'. I might be misinformed or mistaken, and I don't want to mislead anyone.

Do you have a link to anything on it? Not for debating, but for my learnin'. Hopefully I ain't too old to learn.

Thanks!
HH
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.

Hey BDlvr!
I think you might be relying on old info.

The older dimmer switches worked like rheostats in that they used windings to "burn up" unwanted energy going to the light. Today's dimmer switches use a solid state circuit to rapidly turn the light on/off, reducing energy consumption.

Here are a few links that I found:
From Answers.Yahoo.com
Q: Does a dimmer switch (a rheostat) on a light reduce power consumption?
A: The term rheostat, tends to be an older expression that dates back to the days of using "windings" and a variable "wiper" to provide a variable resistance model between the supply and load, (light). With such a resistive device, the power consumption is actually increased slightly due to the additional component's presence in the circuit, but more importantly whatever power is not going to the bulb, is generated as "heat" at the windings.

So yes, a solid state "dimmer" of recent and typical design can reduce the amount of overall wattage consumed for a given amount of light produced.

See also: url=http://home.howstuffworks.com/dimmer-switch2.htm]How Stuff Works[/url]
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.

See also: How Stuff Works
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.

Wow. Learn something new everyday. I've never heard that before. I stand corrected. Thanks for the info and research.

Its been awhile since I read, learned, about it so I thought maybe I had it wrong. That's why I asked if you had any links, in case my source(s) were wrong.

BTW, you're not the only one I've seen say that. Someone in the Cage & Habitat forum has said it before. Ain't none of us perfect, especially, this ol' hillbilly.

Heh, as long as we're learnin', we're not too old.

You were a good sport about it all and I thank you! I'll have to move ya up a notch or two on my "Respectable" list. LOL!

Have a good one!
HH
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It is said that 1 out of every 4 people are mentally unbalanced. Think of your 3 closest friends, if they're normal, then it's you.

I use standard flood light bulbs you can pick up at any home hardware or department store. These are a few dollars a bulb but heat well. Regular halogen bulbs are good too. These tend to use up less energy but put out alot of light and heat. I don't really care about brand types, as I just use regular household bulbs instead of the 2-4x more costly petstore brands. A single flood light style halogen bulb lasts me well over a year which is about the same as any basking light bought in a petstore.

As for wattage, as already mentioned, depends on your cage size, design and ambient room temperature. If your house is 60F year around, it will require higher wattage to heat your bearded dragon cage than if your house temp is 70F year around. Type of cage plays a major role as well. If you are using a screen topped glass tank, heat loss is higher than say, a wooden/plastic/pvc style cage with vents on the sides and sliding glass doors.

On average, a 75-100W bulb is perfect for a 35 gal long glass tank with screen top. (good for babies and juvenile dragons up to about 14" long). For a screen sided adult cage of at least 4'x2'x2' a 125-150W bulb is good in a place of average room temperature. (say 70F)

It will require a bit of experimentation to get the right basking temps and cage temps. What works great for me may be too cold or too hot for you.
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PHLdyPayne