Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I currently bought a beardie with a 40 gallon tank that was his previous home. It also came with a light fixture which contains a uv, a heat lamp, and a infared night lamp. I am having problems with the temp. On the basking side it is barely 80 degrees I understand that it is too low but what should I do? Should I leave a basking heat bulb on during the night but wouldnt that mess up the twelve hours of daylight? Or should I turn it off and let him be cold? All the petstores are closed at this hour and I need help!
Hannah

The high temp requirement is for the SURFACE of the basking spot--not the air temp on that side of the tank.

Those stick-on aquarium temp strips only measure ambient temp and are not of any use for reptile basking measurements. The small 'round' ones are very unreliable too. It is best to use a digital thermometer (indoor/outdoor type with probes) or a temp gun to measure more accurate temps. The digital thermometers run about $10 ( Walmart type stores or even most grocery stores will sell them in the 'gardening' section).

With this said, if your house temp does not fall under 65F at night then you will not need any supplemental heat source tonight. Tomorrow make sure you can take accurate temps and adjust your bulbs as needed.

It would also be a good idea to replace the uv (UVB) bulb with a fresh one if you do not know how old the one that came with your set up was--the 'light' may still work but after 6 months they stop putting out the necessary UVB rays that your beardie needs.

Hope this helps some tonight...please post any other questions and of course a picture of your new friend.

DM

Thank you. I am on my way in a minute to get a new uv. Also should I just take the thermometers down? Is the type of digital therm. like you take the temps yourself? Sorry just a little confused. Also what type of uv do you reccomend? Like the reptisun 2.0?

You can leave the dig thermometer in the tank and tape the probe to the basking site. You just turn it on and set it and it does the rest. I personally prefer temp guns. www.tempgun.com
Also....Repti-Sun 2.0 is no good for them. They need at least a repti-sun 5.0.
-Nicky
-----
We chase misprinted lies
We face the path of time
And yet I fight...
And yet I fight
This battle all alone
No one to cry to
No place to call home
-Alice In Chains-
1.1 Bearded Dragons: Gordo & Chiquita
2.2 Cats: Zeus, Remi, Kiki & Delilah

Thanks I purchased an 8.0.