Night time heating for beardys.

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the_chap

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Newcastle, NSW
Hey guys, I am looking at purchasing my first lizard (a black soil beardy) later this month after years of vested interest. One thing I am still unsure about is what to do for night time heating. I live in Newcastle (NSW) and see a lot of other members are from here as well.

I've heard that heat mats aren't the best option, so maybe a ceramic heater? What are your opinions and what suits our area. Cheers
 
the way i look at it is why do they need heating at night, they survive fine in the wild without any heat during the night why would it be any different just because there kept in an enclosure at home
 
the way i look at it is why do they need heating at night, they survive fine in the wild without any heat during the night why would it be any different just because there kept in an enclosure at home

^^^ This
And in most cases it would be a LOT colder at night outside than inside.
 
Great guys, yeah it gets a bit chilly in winter in Newcastle but nothing too serious. So no heat source for night, and just a good hide, is recommended?
 
Who says they all survive in the wild at night, a percentage would probably die or get sick, you dont want that happening to yours. Also pretty sure Newcastle is well outside its natural distribution range, they are from north central QLD. I would not let their temps drop too low (under 13 degrees) for an extended period of time. I would invest in either a ceramic heat emitter (on a thermostat) or another type of night globe, the thermostat doesnt need to be set very high.
 
I don't heat mine at nyt and they are fine just a 12 hour day cycle is fine they will more than likelyburmantate through winter anyway its not a big issue it gets a hell of a lot colder of a nyt time in central Queensland then it does in newcastle
 
Who says they all survive in the wild at night, a percentage would probably die or get sick, you dont want that happening to yours. Also pretty sure Newcastle is well outside its natural distribution range, they are from north central QLD. I would not let their temps drop too low (under 13 degrees) for an extended period of time. I would invest in either a ceramic heat emitter (on a thermostat) or another type of night globe, the thermostat doesnt need to be set very high.
I am sure the overnight temperatures in central western Queensland would drop below zero. I would think as long as you have the right daytime heat it would not require night heat in Newcastle. My little bearded dragon doesn't get night heat but I am up in Brisbane.
 
I'm down in Melbourne and give mine no night heat, like most folk down here, and they all survive just fine.
 
In the wild they don't stand around in the cold night air so natural ambient air temps are irrelevant. More important is the temp inside the hide.
 
I've had friends beardies die from respiratory infections after being left outside over winter with temps around 6-7 on a fairly consistent basis. I wouldn't risk it, but just monitor the temps, you may find that inside their hides, in their enclosure which is inside your house, the temp hardly ever gets below 12 degrees anyway and even then not for long.
 
I am sure the overnight temperatures in central western Queensland would drop below zero.
Cloncurry in North-West QLD is a hot-spot of their natural distribution and average minimum temps are in the 10-12 degree range, never been below zero there. Get your facts straight guys before you start giving health advice. Is everyone talking the black-soil beardies (Pogona henrylawsoni) when they talk about what they do with their beardies. As they have a much more restricted range and therefore different care requirements than your centrals or easterns.
I'd be following the care sheet, better to be safe than sorry!
 
Cloncurry in North-West QLD is a hot-spot of their natural distribution and average minimum temps are in the 10-12 degree range, never been below zero there. Get your facts straight guys before you start giving health advice. Is everyone talking the black-soil beardies (Pogona henrylawsoni) when they talk about what they do with their beardies. As they have a much more restricted range and therefore different care requirements than your centrals or easterns.
I'd be following the care sheet, better to be safe than sorry!
I did not give any health advice, I was just stating that within the central bearded dragons range I thought the temps would drop below zero. I also stated that I do not provide night heat for my bearded dragon who is in an enclosure in my house and near Brisbane.
 
I have both central and black soil (pygmy) bearded dragons,I live near Sydney and DO NOT use night time heat.It almost never gets below 15C here,if it did I use a heater to warm the room. In the more than 6 years I have lost 1 dragon to heat stroke & 1 eggbound so excess heat is more of a worry than cold
 
I wasn't giving any health advice, I was pointing out the fact that most diurnal reptiles wouldn't be outside breathing cold night air, they would be nicely tucked away in a burrow or hide or underneath dry leaf matter etc conserving body heat. This makes the statements that "the night temps drop to so and so in their range" a little pointless as they are not out in it. A better piece of info would be " the overnight temp in their burrow/hide is x degrees C or is not usually below x degrees C ". Where this info can be found I'm not sure but would be helpful in the to heat at night or not debate.
 
I know for a fact central bearded dragons are found in one area of Western NSW where tenperatures regularly get to 0 during winter. I can also vouch to having found eastern bearded dragons in trees in night asleep relatively exposed to the elements.
 
My 3 x 6 month old CBDs have had 24/7 heating in their rearing 110L tubs since we bought them at 6 weeks old.

The 24/7 heating is via 7W heatpads (sandwiched between 2 layers of tiles) and these are controlled by on/off thermostats set at 37oC. They have overhead heating / UV A+B during the day too. And if the o/head heating fails they still have access to their heatpads and sufficient heat to digest their food.

They love them. They can crawl off and cool off in the cooler areas of their tubs overnight if they want but seem to prefer to sleep on their heatpads.

They are also in the warmest room in the house so never experience temperatures under 24oC.

IMO opinion, there's no harm in providing o/night heating, it helps the beardies digest and metabolise their food overnight , mine usually wake up hungry in the morning.
If they spend the last of their night off the heatpad , they take a while get going in the morning .
 
I know for a fact central bearded dragons are found in one area of Western NSW where tenperatures regularly get to 0 during winter. I can also vouch to having found eastern bearded dragons in trees in night asleep relatively exposed to the elements.
Centrals and Easterns, we're talking about the pymgy's!!!!!
 
^^ yes , don't their territories in the wild overlap.

Smaller dragons will cool off faster so probably need night time heat even more so - if you want them to survive in cooler locations .
 
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