Temperature Questions

[Wykd]

Ok on the basking spot are you guys measuring the air temperature or the temperature of the branches, etc?

I was playing with my new lazer temp gun and when I hit the branch to check temperature yesterday @ 5pm it said 109! I was like WTF.... so I pulled out my digital air sampler and it said the temp was 85 just over the branch.

So is that an issue because if you leave a light on one spot for several hours that spot will continue to soak up the heat and get above the recommended temperature.

I am already down to using 25w bulbs in the basking spot, and the little cham's will light up when under it, but I noticed they go down to mid/lower end of enclosure around 5pm here lately after switching from a 40w. I switched from a 40w to a 25w because I went with wider clamp lights and they generate more ambient heat then the narrower ones do.

 

[Drago]

I have a lazer now as well, I shoot the vines, the leaves and even the side of my cham if I have a good side/profile shot (careful not to shoot his head for fear of getting too close to his eyes) to get an average.

I just walked in the door from a run to Home Depot trying to get a 25w myself, they were out but this poses a question, or maybe just an observation...

The basking temp on the vine under the light is 80-81 using a 40w bulb but last night he hung upside down on the screen directly under the light. So...if I raise the light it will be too cool on the vine <scratching head>.

 

[Wykd]

Yeah I am not 100% on this and just worried the branch etc.. may burn him as he is basking because in mine the branch is hotter than the air temperature. Which is normal... go step outside onto the drive way @ noon barefooted... I am sure it feels hotter than the air at that spot.

 

[LLLReptile]

High surface temps are not the same as high air temps. Think about what 109 surface temp on a branch really means... what's the average temp in a jacuzzi? Does that burn you? Go outside and temp a branch outside that's out in the sun - that'll be in the 100s too! Temp your arm after you sit in the sun for a while - surface temp will get up there, just like your shirt, or a shoe, or anything left out in the sun.

109 is not hot enough on a branch to burn your cham. I'd worry about what temps rock or plastic might get (solid plastic, not leaves), but wood products or foliage are fine to get a lil toasty. It's not going to burn your cham at those temps.

-Jen