CHE for bearded dragon?

Question

If my bearded dragon is in a glass tanl and it is about 20 inch tall what wattage Ceramic Heat Emitter should I use?

I've been researching them and I'm getting one soon and for now it is a baby and is in a 4' long x 1ft wide x 20'' high. I am going to get a wider cage but for now what should I do to properly care for it.

I'm adopting it from some guy who doesn't want it and I just want to make sure what I know about them is right and learn things that I don't know.

Answer 1

I'd start with about a 75 watt or 100 watt (probably the 100 watt would be better and supply heat to more of the tank - depends somewhat on the temps in your house, but it's better to go higher than lower) and put a branch directly under the light so the dragon can move closer/farther away as needed. Make certain he can't come into contact with the screen directly under the lamp so he doesn't get burned. This would also be a good position for a UVB lamp, because these don't do an animal any good if they can't get within 10-12 inches of the (unobstructed by glass or plastic) tube. Since your tank is 20 inches tall, you'd need to suspend the lamp inside the tank, otherwise.

http://www.triciaswaterdragon.com/

Answer 2

You can use a normal 75 watt house bulb and get the basking point to the reccomended 105-110 range for baby bearded dragons. Dont really need a ceramic heat emitter unless you live in a cool area and need the night time temps up, they can drop as low as the mid 60's at night and be fine. As long as the dragon has a basking point of 105-110 for 12 hours to digest his food and the ambient temperature is 85 ont he warm side and 70 on the cool you will be fine.

Make sure you get a UVB bulb as well, the most often reccommended ones are the repti-glo 8.0 and the repti-sun 10.0. These need to be replaced every 6 months due to their UVB output decaying. UVB is neccesary for proper growth and proccessing of Vitamin D3.

The other option is purchasing a MVB (Mercury Vapor Bulb) from reptileuv.com , these give off heat AND UVB and are very good bulbs, the biggest problem is price, they run $50 or $60 usually.

Answer 3

That can depend on a lot of things, I would say start low, better to have two low wattage than one really hig wattage as you want to have the proper gradient throughout the enclosure.

They are usually rated by wattage and area that they will heat. Base your decision more on the space. You don't want to cook your dragon, and you definately don't want to freeze it.

Try HerpCenter.com, give them more details and they will get you set up right.