Basking light and thermometer questions...

[MarkI0626]

I read on the pamphlet from the pet store that the basking light should only be on for 12 hours a day, is this the standard practice? As long as I leave the light on he will stay up on his basking spot...not sure if that's good or bad. Also, the probe on my thermometers has a plastic cover on the end...should this come off? Just going by normal thermometers having a metal tip I just want to make sure that I am not doing anything wrong. I apologize if these are stupid questions, I just don't want to do anything to hurt the dragon.

[perfectly_flawed]

You can leave the plastic on the thermometer. It will keep the metal inside of it from poking the dragon.
I keep my lights on 14 hours a day, and provide 10 hours of cooler temps and total darkness at night.

[Mach10X]

I do 14/10 during the summer, 12/12 during the winter months.  Some dragons go into brumation during the summer so you may want to do less hours on during those months (reversed of what I do).

If your dragon spends all his time basking your temperatures may be too low.  I recommend about 115ºF right at the hottest point of the basking spot, some like it 120ºF some prefer cooler as low as 105, experiment and see what your dragon likes.