Basking light question

[Julee1971]

Fairly new beardie owner here. . Upgraded Earl's enclosure recently and purchased this piece of "furniture". I think it's too close to his basking light. He will sleep on top of it at night but during the day, he hangs out on the side like in the pic. How far away should he be from the basking lamp? The tank is a ReptiZoo and is 18" tall. I'm not sure what size basking furniture to put there. Also, what are some good places to purchase furniture? Yes, I call it furniture. LOL. I have new tube UVB lights on the way. FedEx is taking forever. Ugh. But the temps are ok. He eats insects and his salads and poops about every other day. Poop and urates are normal. He is shedding right now.

Thanks!!

High the lights are way too close to him. Also get the digital thermometer & digital Hygometer from Petsmart it’s the only accurate ones. Humidity should be 30-40 never ever higher than 40. Place it on the hot side a few inches from the top of the cage. Your dial one is NOT accurate. Also get an infrared gun from Home Depot and u can shine it an incur away from his basking spot to check the temp for more accuracy. Temp for a Beardie under 7mnths should be 100-105. And adult beardies or one thats 8-9mnths or older likes it between 95-97-98; never higher. U can get basking platforms from petco or Petsmart & try them and return them if needed. U can also order online. Make sure it’s not too high if your tank height is low; u need a 40 gallon tank also, return yours and get the one from petssmart it’s a 40 gallon Amd the doors slide open in the front which is much easier to feed & remove pet poop. cuz your tank is too small. U need a zoomed for heat and it needs to be 12 inches or so away & u need the long reptisun 10.0 T5 for UVB asap. This is the best and most recommended UVb bulb and all UVBs need replacing every 6Mnths. The coiled and colored bulbs are horrible for the Beardie. Rite now use it cuz he can’t be more than a day without heat or UVb. But raise it with something on each side like a box of cards or a book so that the light is raised and not to close to him. Al Mist him a few times a day w/dechlorinated water; buy Reptisafe & give baths twice per week for 15min in lukewarm dechlorinated water and more baths when shedding. Make sure the water level isn’t too high, don’t get water in his ears. Make sure u add yellow squash to his veggie/green plate; it’s loaded in calcium and do mustard greens, collard greens, snap peas, green beans, endives and dandelions. Those are the best everyday greens/veggies he needs a fresh plate 2-3 of each mixed per day and switch it out after 4 hours or so when it gets wilted. Fruits as treats; blueberries, mangoes and papayas u can do bananas once in a While, but Fruits in moderation coz they are high in sugar. For proteins do crickets & Dubias & after he turns a year old u can add superworms as treats but never ever do mealworms. Also remove all food and water bowls from his cage at night; jeep it super clean or they can get a bacteria or infection.

 

[Julee1971]

What about Petco ? here is a pic of my one tank Hiccup so you can see it

Hi we reacue and rehome and Sadie tends to give wrong info. First of all you have way too many bulbs and lights. Why soo many bulbs I see. At night the Beardie needs NO lights ever except In the winter u can use a ceramic heat emitter which emits heat but no light. U only need the zoomed clear basking bulb for heat which goes above the basking platform; use the grey platform as the basking one and remove the brown tree branch especially if he’s over 8mnths of age. They like comfy when basking. Secondly, u need the long reptisun 10.0 T5 for uvb which needs replacing every 6Mnths religiously. I hope thats what u are using the 10.0 not the 5.0. The UVb light needs to be 10 inches away or more from the Beardie & the heat lamp 10-12 inches or more away just try and get the right temp u need a digital thermometer & an infrared gun from Home Depot to shine on the basking spot an inch away u shine it to get the temp. U can raise the heat light or buy a lower basking platform if u aren’t getting the right temp if it’s too hot for him. Also, get a hammock & place it behind the platform so he has 2 areas to lounge. Here’s a picture of both my tanks; for each beardie. See how the basking platform is in the upper front right corner and the hammock behind it sometimes the temp gets to 95 on the hammock when the front basking gets too hot, also I monitor; & sometimes u can shut off the basking heat light for 5min or so to let the temp drop if its blazing. Beardies are a lot of work & it takes time to get all correct. But def raise the lights and only use the zoomed clear heat bulb for heat and the Reptisun 10.0 T5 for UVB. Roalcing the UVb every 6Mnths. And never ever use colored or colored bulbs ever.

 

[Skybug]

Take what you want from this^^^ every one has an opinion and what they think is best, as long as he can get 95degree basking spot and a long tubular uvb unobstructed, and gets calcium, you can practically do whatever you want.

 

[BengalGirl]

High the lights are way too close to him. Also get the digital thermometer & digital Hygometer from Petsmart it’s the only accurate ones. Humidity should be 30-40 never ever higher than 40. Place it on the hot side a few inches from the top of the cage. Your dial one is NOT accurate. Also get an infrared gun from Home Depot and u can shine it an incur away from his basking spot to check the temp for more accuracy. Temp for a Beardie under 7mnths should be 100-105. And adult beardies or one thats 8-9mnths or older likes it between 95-97-98; never higher. U can get basking platforms from petco or Petsmart & try them and return them if needed. U can also order online. Make sure it’s not too high if your tank height is low; u need a 40 gallon tank also, return yours and get the one from petssmart it’s a 40 gallon Amd the doors slide open in the front which is much easier to feed & remove pet poop. cuz your tank is too small. U need a zoomed for heat and it needs to be 12 inches or so away & u need the long reptisun 10.0 T5 for UVB asap. This is the best and most recommended UVb bulb and all UVBs need replacing every 6Mnths. The coiled and colored bulbs are horrible for the Beardie. Rite now use it cuz he can’t be more than a day without heat or UVb. But raise it with something on each side like a box of cards or a book so that the light is raised and not to close to him. Al Mist him a few times a day w/dechlorinated water; buy Reptisafe & give baths twice per week for 15min in lukewarm dechlorinated water and more baths when shedding. Make sure the water level isn’t too high, don’t get water in his ears. Make sure u add yellow squash to his veggie/green plate; it’s loaded in calcium and do mustard greens, collard greens, snap peas, green beans, endives and dandelions. Those are the best everyday greens/veggies he needs a fresh plate 2-3 of each mixed per day and switch it out after 4 hours or so when it gets wilted. Fruits as treats; blueberries, mangoes and papayas u can do bananas once in a While, but Fruits in moderation coz they are high in sugar. For proteins do crickets & Dubias & after he turns a year old u can add superworms as treats but never ever do mealworms. Also remove all food and water bowls from his cage at night; jeep it super clean or they can get a bacteria or infection.

I do not have a dial thermometer. It is a digital probe thermometer. Actually, there are two of those in his tank. I ordered a lower platform yesterday...should be here tomorrow. I'm working on getting just the right height. And why would I buy a 40 gallon tank??? That's WAY to small. He is currently in a 67 gallon. Why in the world would I go smaller??! The one I have now has front open doors. I have ordered tube UVB light for him. Waiting for them to arrive. He gets fed all the proper things.

 

[BengalGirl]

Hi we reacue and rehome and Sadie tends to give wrong info. First of all you have way too many bulbs and lights. Why soo many bulbs I see. At night the Beardie needs NO lights ever except In the winter u can use a ceramic heat emitter which emits heat but no light. U only need the zoomed clear basking bulb for heat which goes above the basking platform; use the grey platform as the basking one and remove the brown tree branch especially if he’s over 8mnths of age. They like comfy when basking. Secondly, u need the long reptisun 10.0 T5 for uvb which needs replacing every 6Mnths religiously. I hope thats what u are using the 10.0 not the 5.0. The UVb light needs to be 10 inches away or more from the Beardie & the heat lamp 10-12 inches or more away just try and get the right temp u need a digital thermometer & an infrared gun from Home Depot to shine on the basking spot an inch away u shine it to get the temp. U can raise the heat light or buy a lower basking platform if u aren’t getting the right temp if it’s too hot for him. Also, get a hammock & place it behind the platform so he has 2 areas to lounge. Here’s a picture of both my tanks; for each beardie. See how the basking platform is in the upper front right corner and the hammock behind it sometimes the temp gets to 95 on the hammock when the front basking gets too hot, also I monitor; & sometimes u can shut off the basking heat light for 5min or so to let the temp drop if its blazing. Beardies are a lot of work & it takes time to get all correct. But def raise the lights and only use the zoomed clear heat bulb for heat and the Reptisun 10.0 T5 for UVB. Roalcing the UVb every 6Mnths. And never ever use colored or colored bulbs ever.

I turn off all his lights at night. He has a basking and uvb light on one side. I put another uvb bulb for the cool side. The middle is a ceramic heat emitter because the cool side of my tank was too cool during the day. I have the correct tube UVB fixture and bulb ordered and it should be here any day.

 

[BengalGirl]

Take what you want from this^^^ every one has an opinion and what they think is best, as long as he can get 95degree basking spot and a long tubular uvb unobstructed, and gets calcium, you can practically do whatever you want.

Thanks! Your advice is the most "common sense" and I appreciate that. There is some tweaking for me to do but he's still doing fantastic and being a normal Beardie in every way. Thanks again!!

 

[Hossinn]

What about Petco ? here is a pic of my one tank Hiccup so you can see it

What is Hiccup’s floor made of? It looks cool.

 

[Sadie]

What is Hiccup’s floor made of? It looks cool.

Slated ceramic tile

 

[Hossinn]

Slated ceramic tile

Pretty. Does it clean up easily? Is it a pain to clean poop from the joints? I have a solid piece of material (no joints) but it's not as good looking as yours.

 

[Sadie]

Pretty. Does it clean up easily? Is it a pain to clean poop from the joints? I have a solid piece of material (no joints) but it's not as good looking as yours.

Not really I pull the pieces as I need to they come right out and I have a thick shop papertowel underneath