Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 55 gallon plexiglass fish tank that I converted into my dragon's home. It measures 48Lx20Hx12W,with a metal screen top. Currently I am using a Repti Glo 26W 10.0 Compact UVB with a Sun Glo 150W Daylight Lamp. My dragon eats good and is active, but he is not his yellow-orange all the time as he should be, he is cold! I can not get the tank hot enough for him, 95 is max. I have tried several different bulbs (mercury vapor regular household) and just can't get it right. I even tried an undertank heater and that only warms up the bottom. Is my problem the plexiglass acrylic tank vs. a glass or am I just not using the correct lighting/heating. Both bulbs are in dome fixtures. Any help please.

How and where are you measuring the 95?

The ambient (air) temp. should only be high 80's to about 90 or 91 depending on the dragons age. The surface surface temp. of the basking log should be about 105 degrees. Think of it this way. Walk barefoot on a road on an 85 degree day. The road is way hotter than the air around you. The road would represent the basking spot and the air temp. is the ambient temp. An ambient temp. of 95 can overheat and damage your dragon if he/she cannot get to a cooler area.

You should read some of the postings below regarding your compact UVB.

What I would like to add to BDLvr's post is all your heat could be escaping through the screen top. If your room temperature (outside the cage temp) is rather cool (below 70F) that could be why your tank is not carrying the correct basking temp (assuming the 95F is the basking temp, not air temp) isn't reaching optimal ranges.
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PHLdyPayne