Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I need some suggestions on how and what you guys do for heating for your dragons? thanks

I live in Oregon and it's not too warm here most of the time, so I have to use a combination of lights to heat our tanks. I use a mercury vapor bulb like a Powersun (100 watt) for heat and UVB. That bulb alone isn't enough to heat our enclosures. So I have to add another source of heat. I use regular household bulbs. And I adjust the wattage throughout the year to keep the temps right.

If your house gets cold at night you might want to consider an undertank heating pad. Those keep the dragons bellies nice and warm. Or you can get the ceramic heat emitters (CHE's) which only let off heat - no light. So you can use those at night too.

Veronica
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Beautiful Dragons

For heating I use halogen bulbs plugged into a dimmer switch which allows me to control temps and get perfect basking temps throughout the year without changing/adding bulbs wattage through the cold seasons. Halogens bulbs give off more heat then incandescent of the same wattage so less electricity/wattage is needed to obtain proper basking temps. The cages all have dual fluorescent fixtures which provide the uvb and light intensity the length of the cages, and the halogen bulb for heating the basking spots, and creating the gradient throughout the cage. At night if your house does not go below 65 degrees nothing is really needed for heat, but if your house gets colder then this a ceramic heat emitter would be a good choice as it provides the heat without light.

A basking spot with a wood piece or basking rock under the light will give some belly heat as well as the heat from the bulb radiating down. A basking spot of 105-110 the higher side for babies are needed for proper digestion. It works out the best making the basking spot on one side of the cage and having a gradient of lower temps the farther from the basking spot you get. Cool side temps are good around 75-80 degrees or so, and a hide can be used for the dragons to escape light and even find cooler temps if they choose.
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Mystical Dragons webshots pictures
Mystical-Dragons Website

Hey Mattman - do you just get the dimmer switches at a home improvement stores? I haven't been able to find them. I've been wanting to get the halogen bulbs hooked up, since they are too hot I'd have to use dimmers on them. I'd have to buy quite a few so if you know of a place that sells them online too for a reasonable price, could you let me know?

I hope all is well with you and the "kids."

Veronica
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Beautiful Dragons

Yes, I actually got them at Lowes for like 9-10 bucks each. I did a quick search and found the exact ones I bought online. I'll tell ya it's awesome using them. So much easier then switching bulbs etc. I used them on my baby rack each level is plugged into a dimmer so each level can be adusted individually. Worked out really nice.

http://images.lampsplus.com/images/19049.fpx?cell=530,330&qlt=75&cvt=jpeg
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Mystical Dragons webshots pictures
Mystical-Dragons Website

http://www.lampsplus.com/htmls/viewitem.asp?ShortSKU=19049
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Mystical Dragons webshots pictures
Mystical-Dragons Website

>>http://www.lampsplus.com/htmls/viewitem.asp?ShortSKU=19049
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>>Mystical Dragons webshots pictures
>>Mystical-Dragons Website
>>
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Beautiful Dragons