Winter Temperature Management - Bearded Dragons

[TriggerFish]

Hi Everyone,

I was hoping to get some astute advice about managing night time temperature in my Bearded Dragon enclosure.

I am just starting out on my Reptile adventure. I have a 4ft x 2ft x 2ft enclosure with 2 x 7-8 week old Bearded Dragons (Pogona barbata) in it. It's a great enclosure, beautifully made and presented when I bought it from someone local to me. It's a wooden base with cupboard and a matching enclosure that sits on top. The enclosure has 3 sides of glass and a wooden back. I'll grab a pick when I get a chance tomorrow.

The enclosure only has 1 light fitting that I have a globe attached to a thermostat for the heat and light during the day. It also has a fluro globe fitting for my UVB light. My problem is that I have no fitting to run the ceramic heat globe that came with the enclosure.

I am thinking I have two options. 1. have another fitting put in. Or, 2. put a heat mat under one end of the enclosure.

I am leaning towards the heat mat option, but concerned at how effective it would be under the wood of the base of the enclosure. I have carpet on the base of the enclosure, but, I doubt it is appropriate to put the heat mat directly underneath that and not the enclosure itself.

So, my thoughts are try a heat mat under the warm end of the enclosure and maybe put some slate directly above it to retain extra heat. Start running it from early afternoon on a timer. Maybe even get a separate thermostat as my micro-climate B1 only has power out feed and would be on a separate timer.

The reason I am so concerned is that I live in Canberra and when I checked this morning the enclosure was down to around 15C overnight already and we are only just in Autumn!

Any advice would be very welcome.

Thanks and regards,

TF.

 

[AllThingsReptile]

hi mate yeh im sorta near you im in albury/wodonga and im just waiting on my licence to come back and wonder the same thing as its damn cold now as i write this...and hate to break it to you but the scientific name for bearded dragons is pagona vitticeps..unless its a pygmy wich i have no idea what the scientific name is

 

[AllThingsReptile]

also could you post a pic of the enclosure so i can try to help you get your ceramic heat emitter in

 

[TriggerFish]

Really? They were sold to me as Eastern Bearded Dragons, as they are the only Dragon species exempt from licensing in the ACT. Whichever they are, I'm happy (and still learning )

Here are a couple of pics from the original owner's add.

First one is of the enclosure from the outside.

Second one is of the light fittings, which, are on the right hand top inside of the enclosure. In this picture, you can see the ceramic bulb is fitted. I currently have a bulb that provides light and heat.

Thanks again for any advice.

 

[Dotora]

hi mate yeh im sorta near you im in albury/wodonga and im just waiting on my licence to come back and wonder the same thing as its damn cold now as i write this...and hate to break it to you but the scientific name for bearded dragons is pagona vitticeps..unless its a pygmy wich i have no idea what the scientific name is

Sorry Lizardboii but that is only one type of bearded dragon. pagona vitticeps is the most common bearded dragon (also known as centrals) kept in capivity as they are the most docile, easy to keep & most forgiving of all the dragon family.

Pogona barbata is known as the Eastern Bearded Dragon. They differ in size and body shape slightly, they are also a little more active than pagona vitticeps. Easterns can also be a little less forgiving and a little more aggressive.

I have kept both and they are both great lizards to keep and handle.

Now onto your heating issues:

Dont ues heat mats they will burn your house down, if you like put another fitting in there. I cant really be more help as I live in queensland and it does not get too cold here, I just let my tank go lights off at night lights on during the day.

 

[TriggerFish]

Thanks for the response Dotora. Personally, I like the cold. Hence I am happy to live through Canberra winters. The Beardies won't like it too much I reckon. Summer will be fine, but, we had our first frost of the season this morning, so it was time to act!

I went out and bought another fitting this afternoon and installed it this evening. It sits just to the left of the original one (closer to the camera if you look at the before photo above). I've hooked the thermostat to the night heat source for the time being to ensure that it doesn't get too hot overnight. I figure that during the day the 100W globe will take care of itself and the temps have been good at their basking spot (around 38-39) without the thermostat attached.

I was proud of my self for the quick installation. I'm not much of a handyman, so it was another feather in my cap as it were.

Anyway, just thought I would share. Thanks for the tip about the heat mats. That sort of advice is invaluable .

 

[JAS101]

ok anything electrical can burn your house down , heat mats are usefull when used in the right mannor and with a thermostat .
if your worried about the night temps then use the heat emitter and a thermostat for night heating [ just to take the chill out of the air , 20`s degrees ] . being that they are young beardies i would run night heating .