Temps for baby beardies help please

[Lornaloula]

Hi
Getting our new little baby Beardie on Friday and wanted to check a few things
I've got a heat mat for while he's little and stat but what temp should the thermostat be set at?
He has got a low wattage heat lamp too but was advised by the breeder to have a mat while he's little too
Many thanks

 

[Germ]

Your new BD will need white light & heat from overhead with a temp at the Basking Spot of 110F in a minumum 20 gal long enclosure to start out with, to provide the proper required heat gradient to 80-85F on the cool side floor area furthest from the heat bulb. A minimum 40 gal Breeder tank will be necessary in a few short months. No night heat is required or wanted unless your ambient room temps drop below the mid to low 60s F at night, BDs should be allowed to cool off at night, it slows their metabolism down for a good nights rest. Do not trust thermostats for your temps. You need a digital thermometer with a sensor\probe for spot checks of the temps at the basking Spot & cool side during the daylight hours.It is also imperative that you provide a specialty UVB bulb (10.0 or 10% recommended) in conjunction with the heat lamp. This is a must.

I do not recommend heat mats at all. These are sun basking desert creatures, not snakes.

Example of a Basic Setup: Showing the recommended Basic requirements, proper Temperatures & the points at which they should be measured from, in Red & the optional choices that are actually used in this particular example enclosure, in Black.​

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Read more: http://www.beardeddragonforum.com/index.php?threads/basic-bd-care-sheet-a-place-to-start.5177/#ixzz268vgXfzx​

A few good links to help get you started, please read them over a few times, before you acquire your new pet, so you will understand a bit more about your new pet & can provide the basic necessities, setup with the temps stable, before you bring it home ...

Basic BD Care Sheet - A Place To Start

Bearded Dragon --- Exclusive Care Info Library

Beautiful Dragons Nutrition Chart

Is Bearded Dragon Co-habitation a good plan?

How To Sex A Bearded Dragon

After reading this info over, feel free to come back with any questions that you may have, pretty much all the info you need to raise a happy healthy BD is included in the above links.

Good Luck

 

[blackclaw83]

You came to the right place for all your helpful needs. Germ Budda and many more here are full of helpful info.

 

[Lornaloula]

Hi do u breed beardies? I want to be 100% sure I'm getting the right info for babies : ) everything is set up waiting for my thermometers to arrive so I can accurately monitor temps as for the heat mat not sure what to do! the breeder has loads of beardies and constantly breeds them and has been for years but I have seen lots of negative threads about heat mats
Thanks!!

 

[Germ]

No I am not a breeder, although I have just had a clutch of dragons hatch from one of my girls in the last few months, not that that makes any difference. I have kept BDs for over 10 years. If you want the proper info for the right care for your Baby to come, that is exactly what you will receive on this forum.

 

[blackclaw83]

I dont bread no. Never wanted to get into that aspect of the hobby. I have had 2 beardies Spazz, who we have now, and Hopper who we recently re-homed due to living issues. I have no experience with heating mats, like the ones you put under the tank. Those someone else may be able to help you with. Basking bulbs, and heating bulbs in my opinion, which is just that mine, works the best. I haven't had any issues with them. Stay away from the heating rocks due to Beardies having issues not being able to tell heat vary well on there belly's and you could end up burning and or killing it. But Germs Diagram earlier is a very good one. He has been in this hobby for a while. thats just my 2 cents

and Germ Beat me to it LOL

 

[Lornaloula]

So should I get a ceramic heater instead? also I'm guessing this would need a stat too but what type of stat?
Sorry for all the questions!!

 

[Germ]

A CHE (Ceramic Heat Emitter) has it's purpose but rarely is used for BDs other than for the extremely rare occasions where peoples homes drop below the mid to low 60s F at night, then a CHE should be used in conjunction with a thermostat or dimmer just to keep the temps above the this temp at night.

But for Daytime heat, you need to use a white light bulb (Basically any kind of Incandescent type of white or clear bulb will work) of sufficient wattage & distance to provide a temp of 110F directly at the basking spot measure with a digital thermometer with a sensor\probe that can be placed or attached directly to the basking spot & have the enclosure setup so this lamp will also provide a temp of 80-85F at the coolest floor area of the enclosure as depicted in the example setup photo above.