What size heatpad should I get?

[stellascura420]

I was just given a young beardie female with a 30 gallon tank. I only have leos so she is my first beardie and I want to make sure she's happy and healthy. I'm not sure how old she is but she is about 10-12 inches long. She came with only daytime and nighttime heating bulbs, both 75W. I don't know if her previous owner gave her UV or not but she doesn't show any signs of MBD that I can tell. I got her a 26W 5.0 UVB bulb, is this good enough? Her temps are currently around 84-86 on both sides during the day but gets down to about 71-75 at night. I only put the bulbs over what should be the "warm side" of the tank, but I get constant temps throughout (I have thermometers at both ends). I read that you shouldn't put a UTH underneath the tank, so I want to get one to stick on the side of the warm end to bring the temps up to where they should be. Should I still get a 30 gallon size UTH if I'm sticking it on the side glass of the tank? What size UTH would give my beardie the increase in temps she needs? Thanks in advance.

 

[Tony C]

I wouldn't use a UTH unless your night temps get below 65, there is no need for it. No night bulb either, the light will disturb their sleep. They need a much warmer basking spot, I try to maintain 110-115 degrees, with the cool side being in the low 80s. That UV light isn't powerful enough either, you should have a 10.0 UVB linear fluorescent (the traditional long tube type). Welcome to the Bearded Dragon money pit.

 

[darkridder]

Beardies do not need a heat source from below, the bask from above and often do not benifit from heating from below except in instances of impactions.

Youre temps are you reading with a stick on or a digital thermometer? Stick on thermometers read incorrectly anywhere from 7-21 degrees incorrectly. As stated you really need a higher basking area. Beardies require a basking area of at least 100 degrees to properly digest their food, normally you want to aim for 105-110, 115 can be pretty high to shoot for, esp for people with smaller tanks (people with babies and juvies), and if you dont allow for a proper gradient with cooler temps on the cool side hitting 75 degrees, you can actually cause heat exhaustion with these guys. But also with UTH, they do not raise the ambiant air temps. When you are looking at beardies, you need to account for ambian air temps. So when we say a basking temp of 105, that means not only surface area, but that should be the temp of the air itself.

With UVB, it isnt like dont use it if you cant see MBD, you need it reguardless. And as stated you want a 10.0, or you can use the 8.0. THe major difference with them is based on how far away your beardie needs to be to it. With the 8.0 you need to get your beardie within 8-10" of this bulb, for the 10.0 your beardie needs to be 10-12" of the bulb. If you want to do heat and UV in one, go with a mercury vapor mist bulb, what I personally use. These last aot longer, the tubes last 7 months, mercury's depending on the brand last from 12-14 months. And the distance is farther. So my 160 watt bulb gives me the temps I need in my 75 gallon, but her light MUST be placed at least 21" away from her, any closer believe it or not it can cause burns to the skin and eyes. So if you use a mercury please read the directions.