Bearded dragon UVB and heating

Question
QUESTION: Hello, and thank you for helping. I have a bearded dragon who is about a year and a half old, 17 inches long.  I have her in a 55 gallon tank. I have two questions, first one is about the UVB. I have a 100 watt flukers sun spot bulb, which is a mercury vapor bulb.  I purchased it because the the tank is too high for a normal UVB fluorescent, and it was cheaper for the MVB. The minimum distance away from the bulb is 1 foot. I have it set under a rock to collect the heat. Between the rock and the bulb it is about 12.5-13 inches away from the bulb, but when she stands there she is about 10.5-11 inches away from the bulb... is this bad for her? My second question is heat. That is the only heat source I have for her, and it is not hot enough for her since it is so far away. I was wondering if I could put a small heating pad under her basking rock to heat it up for her? Thank you again

ANSWER: Hi Tyler,
If you are able to get her a bit closer with using a ramp or shelf, that would be better for her.  Once you get past the max recommended distance, you loose a lot of the UVB. Not much testing has been done as of yet on that MV bulb so I can't say if it is even putting out a good amount of uvb. One of the problems with some brands is that they start out great, but the uvb drops very quickly.  If I come across any more recent testing results on that bulb, I will let you know.  It would be great if you knew someone that had the uvb meter to test the bulb every now and then. The meters are a bit expensive...close to 200$ I believe...but well worth the price.
I bet she loves the warm rock!! You can place a heating pad under the rocks if you would like..but adding an overhead heat would be better.  To add more overhead heat, you can use a regular houldhold lightbulb..incandescent or halogen, or even a ceramic heat emitter..with teh CHE, that can also be used at night if some heat is needed if temps are dropping to low.  The CHE does not produce any light.

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QUESTION: So the 1 foot minimum distance away from the mvb is fine?

ANSWER: Yep, if that is the min. distance the bulb recommends(the time she spends standing is so small that it won't harm her(....just try to stay within that distance..many times with some of the MV bulbs(remember there isn't much testing results out there on that bulb) if you go farther than the Minimum distance, you loose too much uvb.  A site you may find interesting since you do seem interested in the uvb, etc the reptiles require can be seen at:http://www.uvguide.co.uk (some info may not be up as they are redoing all their testing results)
And also the links below should give you lots of reading material..be ready to make your head spin though as there is soooo much info.
http://www.reptileuv.com
http://www.reptileuvinfo.com
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UVB_Meter_Owners/
One thing I want to mention... if she is spending more time that a few minutes standing under the light, I would check the temperatures to make sure the basking area is in the 95-105 gradient range.
If she is just busy and has to investigate everything, you may have to get one of the  wire mesh coverings for the light.. some critters just have to climb everything!!).
http://lllreptile.com/store/catalog/reptile-supplies/light-fixtures/-/zoo-med-10   has a picture if you aren't sure what I am referring to.

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QUESTION: I might not be asking this correctly... I purchased the MVB about two weeks ago. It was too long for a standard dome... so I purchased the matching flukers XL dome. Due to shipping and address errors I just received it yesterday. Long story short, when I got home today she was cold to the touch so I put a second 50watt bulb in their to heat her up. Even with the extra bulb she is still sitting on her rock all day. Even before the new bulb I had her under a 150watt bulb and it was decently 100 degrees and she still sat their all day.


I guess what I'm asking is I know that the 100 watt MVB by itself is not hot enough for her. I was wondering if a under tank heater under her rock (so she wont burn herself) would be sufficient? I do not like the look of the second bulb sitting there and it's a pain in the ass when cleaning her tank or grabbing her to play with... But if it's the best thing for her I will.

Here is a link to a few photo's I took. They aren't the best quality because she was sleeping and I didn't want to wake her up =]

http://s210.photobucket.com/albums/bb189/ramsfan6239/?action=view¤t=GEDC03

This first one is the top view, the black thing is the MVB, and the silver one is the 50 watt bulb

http://s210.photobucket.com/albums/bb189/ramsfan6239/?action=view¤t=GEDC03

Showing the mesh from the cage

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb189/ramsfan6239/GEDC0355.jpg

This is a measurement I took. Including a little play with the XL dome its about 11 inches.

And yes, she is a little simple and decided to sleep on her rock that way X-D

Answer
Hi Tyler,
Ok..yep..you didn't mention the dome..only the bulb..and a picture is worth a thousand words..
Are you able to make a platform for her to get closer to the uvb/heat(MV bulb, but not closer than 12 inches). Using plywood or bricks, or anything like closet shelves to get her closer(up higher). I don't like the light inside the tank at all, which I am sure you don't either.
Getting her closer and adding another heat source from above is the best.Put the one you have inside the tank on to the top of the tank and go to a higher wattage bulb if needed..or as I said in my other reply, use a ceramic heat emitter. In my one reply I said its fine to add the heating pad under the rock..or even to the underside of the tank. Just be sure that if you place it under the tank, you leave a space for airflow. Its best for them to have heat from above as the sun would heat them up in nature.
She is a cutie the way she is sleeping.
If you go with the heating pad inside..some ideas to help keep the glass warm is to place several layers of newspaper under the tank and also taking some foam type stuff and placing it on two sides of the tank helps.. Do one long end and one short end..its not pretty..but helps conserve heat.  Also, cover part of the mesh top of the tank.
In all honesty..building a platform to get her closer will help a lot.  It can be something very simple..just make sure it is secure..and of course don't allow her to be any closer to the MV bulb that 11-12 inches.
Any time you use a tank and have lights sitting on top, its a pain in the butt to do anything.
It is possible to suspend the fixtures from chains or stands. Its also best to do that because the constant movement can cause the MV bulbs to blow out fast.
Also, I noticed that you have one of those stick on strip thermometers...those things are really bad and giving true temperatures.  They can be way off and also, when placed on the glass, its not actually in the basking area.
A good digital thermometer is a must.  I like using the duel ones with the probe...cost about 15$ at Wal Mart.  The probe can be placed in the basking area at the BD's level to monitor this temperature and the main unit can be placed in one of the ambient temperature areas.  When reading them, the "out" reading is the probe area.