Bearded Dragon Winter Temperature
Question
I have 5 bearded dragons 3 girls in a 150 gallon tank and 1 boy in 1 cage and 1 boy in another I have limited space and have to keep them all in one room which I think may be the problem I tried putting them in seprate rooms and they acted really lonelly and depressed. can you tell me what the temps should be for fall and winter months in new england?
Answer
Cool lizards. I love my beardie - I only have one - I think I need another :)
Your bearded dragon habitat should have a basking light for the day. The temperature for basking should be about 90°-110°F.
Ideally a heat mat under about 1/2 the cage should be provided, depending on where you live. Bearded dragons, being a desert animal, can tolerate fairly cool conditions at night so this is not essential if you live in a warmer climate where nightime temperatures do not fall below about 40°F.
As you live in new england I think you may need to have a heat mat or something like a black light (one they cannot see in but still emits heat) or even a ceramic light to keep the temps up in winter. While beardies are a desert animal and can tolerate fairly cool conditions at night, you probably need to keep an eye on the night time temp when it gets really cold and ensure it stays in the 40-50 range or even a little higher.
There is a 14 page care sheet you can download from here http://www.reptile-cage-plans.com/articles/lizards/DragonCare.pdf. It was written by a breeder, but he does live in Florida where the night time temps are lot warmer. It is a good care sheet booklet though and I use it myself.
Hope this helps
Mark Chapple is the Author of "How to build enclosures
for reptiles"
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