Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I live in upstate NY, the ambient temp in my house is generaly MUCH warmer than it has been....got Delilah last November, we love to have her with us, and she also seems to enjoy our company, but I dont want to stress her out temps wise...

She loves to be on the couch with rays of sun comming thru she especially LOVES the big,wide windowsill in my living room she watches all the cars and bike go by....and of course keeps track of all of us in the room...beardies seem so intelligent and interested.

If she gets dark looking, or I touch her belly and its cool I put her back under her basking lite, but before long she is running around and scratching to get out again giving me that "get me out of my tank" look..........

I know I worry too much, just need imput.
Thanks

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Life is what happens when you are making other plans.......

I think you are doing OK, as long as she is able to bask long enough to digest food after she eats (about 90 min).

I believe it takes about 60 minutes for their body temperature to lower to room temperature, but that's just what I have heard, or read some where.

later

Yeah, I think they can retain a decent amount of body heat for an hour or so. I think I read somewhere that it takes 30 minutes to heat up, but an hour to cool to ambient temps. I could be wrong though, so don't quote me on that.

If there is a beam of sunlight to bask in, it helps. My beardies also love the windowsill. If it's a nice view, it seems like windowsills are beardie heaven. Mine will bask in the window for hours and hours. Temps on the windowsill are good, usually around 110 in direct sunlight, though I've measured it at 120 before (gotta be careful of the greenhouse effect), but my beardie couldn't care less. She actually got mad at me for taking her away from a 120 degree basking spot and kept trying to get away from me and run back to the window. She also really loves it when I put her in front of an open, screened window to get unfiltered sunlight. She gets natural UV and fresh air that way.

So basically, I wouldn't stress out too much about the temps in your house. As long as your beardie has time to bask in his tank after eating, I think it's ok. Better yet, if he has sunlight to bask in, then you don't have to worry about it at all. Just listen to your beardie behavior about what he wants, and if necessary, maybe give him a reheat in his tank every hour or so.