Basking lamp

I got a 150watt basking light today (zoo med), and im just curious, its being used in a 4 foot fish tank for beardies. I am not running a thermostat on it as its only on during the day time. Should i just watch it to make sure the basking area doesnt get too hot? also, what temp IS too hot? The direct area where it shines down from is open and the cool end is open too.

The lamp itself will be about 1 and a half foot from the basking log if this helps.

Cheers, Alan.

[ether]

Might want to run a thermostat just in case and for peace of mind.......i would.

Regards Ether

[sobrien]

i would say a 40 degree basking area is good for beardies, with the hot end being around 30 and the cool end being 25ish. Get a thermometer to check the temps.
simon

[Magpie]

Don't worry about the basking temp getting too hot unless it gets over 55-60C, worry about the cool end getting over 30C.

Is that right magpie? If so, cool, cause its sitting on about 52C at the moment and not going any higher, the cool end is still about 25C cause the heat lamp is pretty much aimed at the one spot, say, a foot of a four foot area.
Is this cool guys? (no pun intended) LOL

[instar]

maybe try a slightly lower wattage sherm, wont matter if its white light if its only in the day.
surely they will move away if it gets too hot?

[hey_im_sam]

sherm - what's the distance between the light and the basking spot (52 degrees)? Asking just for a set up of mine.
That sound like a decent range of temps too, obviously they'll thermoregulate - if they have a 25 degree option to use then it should be fine. The basking temp is probably slightly higher than necessary (but i havent kept beardies in a while so stop me if i'm lying), but they won't use it if they don't want to.

Sorry guys, mis-information should be my middle name, the temp was just then at 61C so i have changed back to the 75w lamp till i can get a 100w for it. The 150 was way too hot.

I shall get a lamp tomorrow and see how i go. For the mean time i have a 75watt red and 50watt spot going and it is at 43C under the basking lamp.

So for day time, im now thinking of running a 100w spot, and at night the 75w red.

I'll let you know tomorrow or saturday how its going for me. (the lizards)

But the good thing is that the cool end stays constant at 25C, not sure why, but it does.

[Splitmore]

Alan,
save yourself some money next time and just use standard reclector, or even normal light globes.
I only use plain old 40 & 60 watt globs in all my cages and they do just fine. Just so long as for dragons you supply an adequate UV light.
Reagrds,
Splitmore