Reptile & Amphibian Forums

in my tank my basking light is 111 degrees and my dragon just does not like it why do you think this is? he just goes and sits on the other side of the tank.

brandon

Is that an air temp or a surface temp?

If that is an air temp and you have a rock or something under the basking site, it could be too hot for him. I would take the temp on the actual basking site and see what it reads... you want a basking surface temp of around 110 -115

>>in my tank my basking light is 111 degrees and my dragon just does not like it why do you think this is? he just goes and sits on the other side of the tank.
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>>brandon
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Lisa
www.beginnersbasics.com

the air temp is 109.8 and the surface temp is 111 dergees.

I don't know then... I have some that actually bask very little and spend the majority of their time on the other side of the tank.... including my big guy Cheyenne. I guess it is just a prefrence thing....

Sorry I couldn't help more

only other thing I could think of is maybe the tank doesn't have enough of a temperature gradient.. what is the temp on the cool side?

>>the air temp is 109.8 and the surface temp is 111 dergees.
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Lisa
www.beginnersbasics.com

the cool side is 86.4

Well, all the temps sound right.... so maybe it is like I said and a prefrence thing with your Beardie. My Cheyenne is the same way about basking and nothing wrong with him LOL

He looks like a body builder and even the vet commented on his build and muscles on our last visit.

As long as it is eating and pooping, etc I wouldn't worry.

>>the cool side is 86.4
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Lisa
www.beginnersbasics.com

Look at the post above this one and explain to him why that temp is too hot for ambient air

Also Brandon, are you sure that is the correct ambient air and surface temps.... there is usually a bigger difference between the two.

Dragons can not take ambient temps around 110 or more, they overheat fast

"Studies showing that 113° ambient air temps proving fatal to more than 50% of the adult test subjects in a 1 hour period, while others suffered neurological problems from over heating and had to be put down"

Oops Didn't notice the ambient and surface were that close. I was half asleep when I answered lol

>>Look at the post above this one and explain to him why that temp is too hot for ambient air
>>
>>Also Brandon, are you sure that is the correct ambient air and surface temps.... there is usually a bigger difference between the two.
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>>Dragons can not take ambient temps around 110 or more, they overheat fast
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Lisa
www.beginnersbasics.com

and caught it there is no much difference between the two and thats hard to be possible

Yeah, should be a much bigger difference than that

>>and caught it there is no much difference between the two and thats hard to be possible
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Lisa
www.beginnersbasics.com

Well every dragon is different. Yours may require a little lower temp then others. If your air temp is 109 the surface under the light is a lot higher then that I would say close to 15-25 degrees more depending on what you have under the light. If it's dark colored your temps will be higher. like if you had a basking rock. This holds temps very high. Surfaces hold heat better then the air. My air temp off the ground temp is 94 for my adults an inch off the ground, my basking temp on the surface of a wood log is 105. I think you are reading the air temp and the surface under the light is too high. Lower the wattage in the bulb a bit and recheck the temps. Surface temp should be 103-110. Air temp is much lower then this. Dragons are very good at thermoregulating their bodies.
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Mystical Dragons

Here is how a heat light works. They emit light (visible), probably some infrared, and probably some UV (mostly a some b). This light isn't absorbed by the air all that much, some is the rest isn't (if alot of light was absorbed by air you would be able to see air). The light hits a surface. The surface reflects some light away, and some of the light is absorbed (light absorbed is what you see for color). Absorbed light = heat. This heat causes the temperature of the substance absorbing light to rise. The darker the color the more light it absorbs usually. The air doesn't heat up that much because it doesn't absorb the light, it gains its heat from surronding surfaces that absorb heat via radiation. Air is actually one of the better insulators. If you use your light to make the air temperature 3" above a surface 110F the surface itself will probably be about 200F (when measured by a temp gun). Think of it like this. Air 3" above pavement is 110F, would you want to stand on that pavement? I wouldn't because it would probably give me a pretty good burn. So your dragon wants to warm up, it climbs up onto its basking site. The air around the basking site is not warming your dragon up, the light is. The light is absorbed by the dragons skin and is converted into heat, which leads to the dragons body temperature going up. If the air is 120F the dragon will be absorbing heat from the 120F air and from the light. Not a good thing, cooked dragons, also the dragon would pobably be burned by the surface near the 110F air. For this reason I use a surface temp of 110F. That means the dragon will be able to absorb enough light that it will be able to raise its body temperature to 110F if it so desires. If the air temp is 110F 3" away the dragon will be able to overheat alot. Also dragons I believe basking reptiles can control blood flow to the skins surface, blood absorbs almost all light, allowing the dragon to easily warm its blood when desired by increasing blood flow to the skin's surface. For the reason that heat lights cause heating by absorption of radiation black faced thermometers will overread what the temperature you dragon will be able to maitain as it absorbs more light (because it is black) than your dragon does. I believe the IR temp guns are accurate to within /- 2F or /-2% which at the temps we use is basically the same. Hope this little rant helps. A side note if your dragon becomes too hot, because it can't escape high temps or heats up to too high a temp too quickly, its bodies proteins and enzymes will not function properly. These proteins and enzymes also will not be manufactured properly. Both of these things can lead to health issues and/or death. This is why if you have a fever that goes over 104F (i think that is the number) you better get to the ER because at 108 (again a guess) you are pretty much going to die for the above reason. Too hot for a dragon is just as bad if not worse than too cold.

If you have an air temp of 109 I really doubt your surface temp is 111 right under the heat lamp. Just my opinion. Your thermometer maybe inaccurate. If the air is 109 touch the surface right under the light, it should be just slightly warmer than the air. My vet told me that if you can not leave your hand at a dragons basking sight for 60 seconds without thinking it is pretty hot then the basking site is too warm. This is a subject some don't fully get and a dangerous one not to get. If you dragon is always on the cool end basking site is too hot. Always basking then basking site is too cool in most cases. Some dragons just love to bask, which creates the heightened risk of burns or worse.
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Derek Affonce
DeKeAff Exotics
dekeaffexotics.com

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