Exo Terra Ceramic Heat Emitter, 60 Watt

Product Information

Visible light lights up the environment, it is the equivalent of daylight in enclosures. This is particularly so at the basking spot which needs to replicate the sun as much as possible. This impacts bearded dragons interaction with their environment much the same as it does for humans. The Beurer IL 50 Infrared heat lame is a certified grade II medical product. It comes with a powerful heavy duty infrared lamp that helps in stimulating blood flow to the radiated area. This is a perfect fit for your dog house as it will help keep your dog healthy. Supports natural behaviours by being able to program consistency to day/night and summer/winter cycles. Visible light is simply that, if we can see it then it is visible light. UVB bulbs will contribute to visible, however it may not be sufficient to light the environment well and could be focused only on the basking area. Low levels of visible light or poorly placed lighting will likely slow activity down and could impact other behaviours such as eating. The reduction in lighting and heating in winter provides a more natural environment and may induce brumation (link to the post on brumation and care during the winter sleep). Interestingly, brumation has also been linked to helping keep bearded dragons a little trimmer around the ol fat pads (post in fat bearded dragons).

Normal regular household light bulbs may be used for bearded dragons. Household bulbs typically have a yellow tinge to them. Lights with a white or closer to sunlight glow are better. Place thermometers in both the basking area and the cooler areas so you can constantly monitor temperatures within the bearded dragon habitat. For winter, in Australia temperate climate zones (which is mostly southern areas of Australia), for houses that do not have heating or cooling and where your bearded dragon is brumating, you may need 100-150 watt of ceramic heat emitters. For summer you may need as little as 40 to 75 watt. In cooler parts of the world, you may not need much different if your home is heated or cooled.

Ceramic heaters

There are a few types of ceramic heat emitter out there that you may wish to consider. There are three primary types of heat emitter. They are halogen, ceramic, and incandescent. Inadequate UVB is associated with secondary nutritional hyperparathyroidism and metabolic bone disease (Mans, 2017). See the post by DVM Donald Buchanan on metabolic bone disease and what to do about it for more information.

As a side note, if your bearded dragons needs taming and you are finding that sometimes it seems all good and other times it is not at all tame, it might be the temperature that is making the difference. If you have been handling your bearded dragon when it is cool, it will not react as much. Once they are warmer, they are far more animated and reactive. Temperature may not be the reason, but it is worth monitoring and assessing. For 5 tried and tested taming techniques see the article how to tame a bearded dragon. Ceramic Heat EmittersAs they tend to provide more heat than casual bulbs, the heater can overheat your pet if misused. In the worst situation, the emitter can burn your pet if they come nearer to it. It has the possibility of a fire hazard, so be sure to place it far from flammable substances. Regardless, their inadequacies at distributing UVB are clearly highlighted in this video by Frances Baines, M.A., Vet.M.B., M.R.C.V.S. The video also showsthe distribution of the the tube fluorescent and the Arcadia D5. Metal Halide Lamps Around 60% of their output arrives as direct heat, with 40% used to warm the space around the lamp. They are not effective in windy conditions, making them less suitable for most outdoor uses. Long Wave Heat Lamps There are Mercury Vapor bulbs which produce both heat and UV lighting. Mercury vapor bulbs come with a screw-on base like the basking spot lamps.