cold weather

I have a question for anyone i have a bearded dragon and i live in Oregon and it's getting cold winter is almost here i have a 150w light and a 60w no light heater but the temp is about 45 degrees (reading in his cage thermomiter) is there anything i can do for him and his glass 60 gallon tank to make it warmer i have the heater on in the bed room but I'm not sure if that really help him......please respond asap

Does your house not have a heater? Obviously if the house temp is around 70 then everything else will be also to start. So is the temp gauge correct?
Are you sure the cage is 45 degrees? Where is the cage? I guess I assumed it's inside your house, if not move it inside immediately. If in the basement or garage and you can't do anything to heat it up... move it inside the main house now.

Well, are you reading it in Celsius of Fahrenheit?

I'd do one of two things:

1) I'd get two feet of flexwatt, with a thermostat, and attach it to the underside of the tank on one end, then set the thermostat so that it heats the floor of the tank up to about 85 degrees. That way your beardie can thermoregulate itself, and still be warm enough. Leave the flex on all the time, but only use the lights during the day to raise temps in the rest of the tank.

2) Cover the tank with a piece of 1/2 plywood, but cut a hole in it large enough for a dome light to sit on top, but at one end. Then get a mercury vapor bulb, either a Powersun or T-Rex, probably the 160 watt size. The MVB will supply heat and UVB which your beardie needs. Put it on a timer for about 14 hours a day ON. That should keep him plenty warm during the day, and the plywood top should hold in enough heat to keep him comfortable through the night.

Originally Posted by BallPythonGal21

Well, are you reading it in Celsius of Fahrenheit?

I would hate for my bedroom to be 45F, burr that's cold. Well if it is reading in degrees Celsius, 45C = 113F which I believe is a good basking temp for BD's, although I don't know a thing about them so don't quote me on that.

If your are worried about temps, in addition to the other suggestions. Get a new thermometer, cover the back and sides of the glass enclosure with about 3/8" to 1/2" of foam insulation. You can buy 4'x8' sheets of it at your local Home Depot type store, comes in blue and pink. Blue for a male, pink for a female :-) This should stop any excessive heat loss and stabilize the temps. This may not make for the most beautiful display cage but it will hold heat. You cold also try some Reflectix Duct Insulation, which is basically foil covered bubble wrap, all silver and shiny.

If you are keeping this in your bed room and you don't keep it like a meat locker, the extra insulation may not be necessary. I would invest in a new thermometer and find out the actual temps or there may be a button on the one you have to switch it to Fahrenheit. If the cage temp was actually 45F your BD would be acting like a slug, I don't think the night time drops should go below 65F and the cage lows should normally be in the 80's. Again don't quote me on this.

I think you have a thermometer problem or else a very sick BD by now.

I also live in Oregon and I only have a 100 watt T-Rex MVB light on my male's tank. My female has a Mega Ray 60 watt EB UVB and a 60 watt household light to maintain both the tanks at 105-108 degree basking. It's been cool but not freezing yet. My temps drop to 65-70 at night which is fine.

Are you sure your temp gauge is working correctly? What kind do you have? I use temp guns but digital with a probe is the only other good kind. I can't use one in my females tank as she chews the probe off.

Sandy

thank you all, i did by a new thermometer and i keep the heater on around 65 degrees when iam not home.. my problem is the temp drops when I'm not home. so when i got home I saw the temp in his cage 45 ( it was a stick on thermometer) I also change the bulb i had the bulb for 2yrs or so and it seam to me it didn't but out enough heat...I also know keep his heater on (it's on a juster switch) when it plans to be a cold day.. thanks I'll keep the suggestion in mine..

Originally Posted by dragonss

I also change the bulb i had the bulb for 2yrs or so and it seam to me it didn't but out enough heat...I also know keep his heater on (it's on a juster switch) when it plans to be a cold day.. thanks I'll keep the suggestion in mine..

Are you using UVA/UVB bulbs as well? i belive those need to be changed regularly... once every other month or so?
I dont keep beardies, but have just been learning about them on and off, and the UVA/UVB is pretty important. I know those bulbs weaken over time. Especially after two years... so that is why i ask.

uvb bulb and I think i have a uva heater..

Hello,

How old is your UVB? As suggested, if you have a flourescent UVB then they only last around 4-5 months.
So what type of thermometer are you using? If you are still using a stick on type, then that will not be accurate. Most of the time, they are off by around 15+ degrees. Plus, they only measure the air temps not the basking temperatures.
A UVA heater? I have never heard of that. Does it put out light, or just heat? Are you talking about a ceramic heat emitter? If so, they only put out heat but no light. Those are fine to use to help boost the temps during the winter.

Tracie