Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My temps in my apartment dropped 5 degrees over the last week, land lord has not turned on heat yet...
Both my dragons are now completly sleepy, eating only a small amount a day.
I read about brumation thought, maybe, however I also read brumation is not common their first year(both of them are 1 year)
I am making a trip to a reptile store tomorrow got a few bucks, what should I grab to help bring up temps if thats my course of action?
Thanks

It's hard to make a suggestion without knowing your setup but most likely you need a higher wattage bulb for the winter.

Higher wattage is not an option for current bulb/cage design.
I will add a incandescant above the 'cold' end
4x2 Melamine
120Watt MVB 16-20 throw
Temps Before
97-103 hot spot
90-100 radiant heat lowering as you reach midway cage
82-87 radiant reaching the far side wall

Current
95-99 Hot spot
85-95 radiant warm
77-82 radiant cold

I will add a 40 watt small socket bulb, for my snake it provides about 5-10 degrees warmer ambient temperature.

Hows that sound? It will also be placed beside an opening in the cage, to hopefully warm up incoming air flow

Thanks

Personally I like my cool sides to be 70-75 when possible. Why not try a 160 watt MVB?

I do not have the throw distance needed for a 160W, they need to be 20-24"

Really that low?
Interesting, I will add the smaller incandescant closer to the middle in that case.
Thanks

Yes, for thermoregulation the wider the temperature range the better. In the winter dragons slow down and a hide on the cool side lets them slow their metabolism. I like 5'long cages better than 4' long, you can get a much wider temperature range.

Just as a side note, I've never been a real believer in MVB's. I like a long fluorescent tube because it provides light and UVB throughout the entire cage. Then you can experiment with different incandescents to get the ambient and basking temps. where you want them.

MVB to me are far better for tall cages designed for arboreal cages....as they push UVB deeper into the cage. For dragons, they are harder to set up..and really shouldn't be the only heat source.

103F in your original temperature ranges is low too. Bearded dragons should have access to 120F on the very top of their basking area...with lower temps on the slops away from the highest points...this allows them to go hotter than the average range (95-115F) for brief times.

Wide angled basking spots or multi-layered tiered style basking areas work best, as the dragons can do what they would do natually and climb up towards bright light and heat to get warmer faster and stay lower areas and shade when they are warm enough. Cool sides are there for them to move completely out of the warmer areas to cool down.

I use ceramic light fixtures that are rated to 225 Watt bulbs...currently i Have 120 wide flood light bulb providing heat and a 4' long UVB 8.0 florescent tube fixture with a full spectrum florescent tube (more for added light and extra UVA light on the double fixture).
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PHLdyPayne

Well, you can try adding another heat lamp, maybe two, if you can't get a higher wattage bulb. I got heat lamps from Low's with ceramic socket for dirt cheap and they are for 250 watts bulbs. I use those infared red bulbs, that you use for keeping foods and barn animals warm, which is 250 watts. I don't let it give off the full heat, though, I plug it into the dimmer and dim it way down to get the right temperature. Warning: 250 watts is really hot! The bulbs are huge so one can heat a relatively large area, so you don't need to buy one or two more heat lamps to keep the basking spot up at the right temperature during winter.