I have a bearded dragon and right now i have a 100 watt daytime basking lamp, a large heating pad thing and a UVB light, because winter is coming i want to find an other way to keep him warm, any sugestions?
Firstly, welcome to the boards. =D Really, I think that should be enough. :3 They'd experience a natural drop in temperature in their natural habitats during colder months anyways, so as long as it doesn't drop too far below the minimum recommended temperature, you should be fine! ^^ But if it really worries you, maybe switch out that UVB bulb for a mercury vapor bulb, or get a rheostat/thermostat and up the heat output of the things you already have.
ya, same with me, I just got a 100 watt for my anole's tank and I used to have a 60, it heats about the same the 60 did in the summer! but , it's good that it's like the natural environment would be. and welcome to teh boards! didn't u get jives when it was colder at 1st, like in feb?
Welcome aboard = ) First things first, do you have an accurate means to measure temperature? That will dictate precisely what adjustments need to be made - be sure you are using a digital thermometer with a probe or a tempgun to measure temps. Immediately under the basking light should read 100-105 for adult dragons, and up to 110 for juveniles... the ambient warm end temperature should be ~90 and the cool end can dip down into the 70's (room temp) so long as the basking temperature is adequate to allow thermoregulation. If you can maintain these temperature standards with what you have, you don't not need to add anything else, or you might need to up the wattage on the basking bulb or make previously suggested adjustments if things get to chilly. Just an FYI to save some cash - the basking bulb can be a standard household incandescent bulb if you are using a flourescent 'tube' bulb to produce UVB for him. Or, as Rowan said, an MVB (reptile specific, must be purchased from a pet store or online, ie. Powersun, MegaRay, etc) will produce both heat and UVB.
I got Jives in late April so it was not that cold yet, and my dad used to use a heating rock for his snake but i have heard that they can burn your pets, is this true?
Yes, very true - we've seen some nasty burns as a result of Hot Rock use. There have been a few cases where the rocks develop freakishly hot spots on them. They really are junk anyway from a naturalistic standpoint - they prevent any kind of thermoregulation by forcing the herp to hug a single, small heat source to maintain their desired body temperature. The ambient heat produced by lamps and other heat sources provide gradiants that allow the animal to choose how warm it wants to be.
Sorry to bud in lol, but what about repti heating cable? I was thinking about getting some for my anole's tank, but will it have the same effect as the heat rock?
That's a good question, Heat Rope is generally not ideal for long-term use or most applications... I've heard of people using heat cables for Racks, but they aren't the best heat sources in the world... and long-term use is very unsafe. They aren't meant to run for long periods of time or at the high temperatures for these extended periods that reptile enclosure need... Boaphile explains it better: "Heat cable is manufactured and intended to be used in a sub 35 degree temperature situation to prevent pipes from freezing. It was not made to be operated continuously and certainly never meant to be operated at the excessively high temperatures required in Reptile heating situations. Jeff Ronne, our designer had used heat cable for years in his own systems. When making a move seven years ago Jeff discovered that some of his own heat cable (that he had used but unseen till that time) had been burned, charred and melted. He did not have a fire but could one have occurred? Jeff was not about to find out and never plugged in these dangerous and inferior heating elements again." - Boaphile Plastics
Best heat sources in my opinion are as follows: For Snakes, and Nocturnal Terrestrial Geckos: -Undertank Heaters (UTH) -Flexwatt Heat Tape -Radiant Heat Panels -Ceramic Heat Emitters (CHE's) and Infrared Bulbs can be used with some success for Terrestrial geckos, but I don't tend to trust these in snake vivs. For Diurnal Lizards -Mercury Vapor Bulb (MVB) made for reptiles -UVB producing Flourescent bulb in combination with standard Household Incandescent bulb as a basking bulb -Halogens can work for basking/heat only... but they do get HOT -CHE or UTH for nighttime heat ONLY - generally not necessary unless temps drop below 60-65 degrees at night Don't use Red Bulbs, Black Bulbs, Blue Bulbs, etc for diurnal reptiles at night... some animals (such as bearded dragons) can see into the infrared spectra, interfering with sleep patterns. Always wire and secure/mount all heating elements properly. UTH's, Heat Tape, and Heat Panels should always be on a Rheostat (dimmer) at the very least, or preferably a proportional Thermostat (costly). Make sure to measure all temps accurately with a digital thermometer with a probe or tempgun = )
Ok, thanks! I think I might get another UTH or heat tape for the anole tank and I have the red infared for both my leo and anole, but the anole has always slept well. I'll get a tempgun too, since I have stick on thermometers now and I know those aren't very accurate.
I am actually going with a commercial Heat cable, The heating cable is constructed of nickel-copper bus wires, a self-regulating conductive core (3w/foot), an insulating jacket and a tinned-copper braid. After doing allot and i mean allot of research the warranty covers 10 years in conditions exceeding continuously 250 degrees. This stuff is made for industrial and commercial machinery/roofing applications and is also recommended for diesel generators on rooftops to keep them warm. I can understand issues with the cable (rope) i have seen on the market that is small so I dug deep to find this stuff but it comes with a price. I could only get it in a 100' roll at a cost of $200 via a garage sale deal from a local supply house (job left overs). It normally sells for 250' @ $900 so i grabbed it up. I am also installing a variable rheostat w/breaker for added safety measures. The most reliable cost effective way is by heat emitters and lights but i would lean more towards lights as the ceramic heat emitters get really hot and i have a scare to prove it.
yea i have been considering purchasing a CHE for the winter, so can they burn out like a light bulb, if so how long do they generally last?
Do your house temps drop below 65 degrees F at night during the winter? If they don't you don't need to invest in supplemental heat. CHE's can last for several years depending on the extent of use though; ~25,000 hours of use is the average value I'm seeing (5+ years). They generally have longer lifespans than your typical light producing bulbs.
