Bearded Dragon Newbie!

[koolaidsmiiles]

Hey Everyone

I am looking into getting a bearded Dragon, ive never had a reptile EVER so bare with me lol. Ive been reading up and researching for a couple days and still confused on a couple things maybe you guys could help me. As far as this whole lighting thing goes. I understand they need UVB and all that Ive read the mercury vapor bulbs are best because they provide both uva and uvb. Now thats for heating right, sooo the other light should be the cooler light right is that like reg. house bulb or what kinda bulb do i need for the cooler side?

At night i know I need to turn off the lights but then how does the beardie get his heat? Do i need to switch bulbs or anything at night with another bulb? I heard about a bulb that gives off heat and no light? I know heating pads isnt enough heat at night.

The beardie is a baby i havent got it yet but its a baby what size tank do you recommend getting? & how long would you say that would last me till i needed to get a bigger one? & how many watts and stuff for the tank i am starting on? If you can be very specific in your response id appreciate it cuz im very new to this so i appreciate it Thanks to anyone who responds in advance!!

 

[crypticdragons]

I am looking into getting a bearded Dragon, ive never had a reptile EVER so bare with me lol. Ive been reading up and researching for a couple days and still confused on a couple things maybe you guys could help me. As far as this whole lighting thing goes. I understand they need UVB and all that Ive read the mercury vapor bulbs are best because they provide both uva and uvb. Now thats for heating right, sooo the other light should be the cooler light right is that like reg. house bulb or what kinda bulb do i need for the cooler side? You do not need a bulb to produce heat on the cool side in most cases. Now, with mercury vapor bulbs you need a LARGE tank specifically setup for a MVB. I personally do not recommend them any longer as they are just too strong for most "home" setups. The MVB was initially designed for use in zoos and is still widely designed with that use in mind. Now as for lighting what I personally use and suggest is a normal white light house bulb or a home spot lamp and a Reptisun 10.0 UVB tube bulb. This will allow you to adjust for the proper temp without spending tons on bulbs (as house bulbs are relatively cheap). The reptisun 10.0 tube bulb is arguably one of the best uv bulbs on the market (second only to the arcadia 12 which you can not get in the US).

At night i know I need to turn off the lights but then how does the beardie get his heat? Do i need to switch bulbs or anything at night with another bulb? I heard about a bulb that gives off heat and no light? I know heating pads isnt enough heat at night. Unless your home dips below 65 degrees at night you do not need any heat for night time. If your home does go under 65 degrees at night than you can invest in a Ceramic heat emitter that will produce ambient heat throughout the tank and allow for a controlled temperatur at night.

The beardie is a baby i havent got it yet but its a baby what size tank do you recommend getting? & how long would you say that would last me till i needed to get a bigger one? & how many watts and stuff for the tank i am starting on? If you can be very specific in your response id appreciate it cuz im very new to this so i appreciate it Thanks to anyone who responds in advance!!You can start with a 20-30 gallon long but that tank will only last up to 4-6 months old. My suggestion would be to go ahead and invest in a good sized tank that he can live in permanent. The minimum tank size for an adult is a 40 gallon breeder. I personally suggest getting one of the many custom tanks out there or building your own. A few good styles of tanks to look into would be vision cages, animal plastics, or boa masters. Any of these you can get either a 3ft X 2ft by 18" or a 4ft X 2ft X 18", they also do custom sizes if you have a particular application in mind. If the tank is overly large and the baby seems overwhelmed you can simply partition off part of the cage and as the dragon gets bigger/older you can remove the partition.

 

[li]

Good Morning....great to see you doing homework before getting your beardie. That is wonderful, most don't.

I don't know a whole lot about Mercury since I have never used one. But, I believe they do give off heat and uvb, but again not sure. If you chose a uvb bulb instead you would need a Repti sun 10.0% for uvb and a regular household bulb for heat. Both of those would be very close together on one side of the tank. On the other side of the tank you can use a mini compact flourescent. This gives off no uvb and no heat...just light. This will enable the cool side of your tank to be just as bright as the hot side without extra temps. For a baby...105-110* on the basking side adn 80* on the cool side.

No under the tank heating pads. Very dangerous, can cause burns. You need no heat/lights on at night at all as long as your house stays about 60*.

For a baby a 20 gallon long is a great starting tank. But if you don't want to buy more than one tank, you can put him right inot a 40 gallon breeder tank and section part of it off for a while. This choice is totally up to you.

Here is a pic of my set up so you can see what I mean by the lights on both sides.

On the left is the heat bulb then the uvb in the black cover. In the black cover on the right is the mini uvb.

 

[koolaidsmiiles]

You guys are great!

I agree on getting just a big tank so i dont have to switch tanks and spend extra. What could i partition it with in the mean time?

My place does get cold in the winter i am from new york and the heat in my apartment sucks! So i would def say it gets below 60 degrees prob in the 50s. So i know cryptic u mentioned a cermic heat emitter. That gives off no light right? sorry for these dumb questions lol.

So i plan on going with a 40 Gal. Tank. & do what you guys mentioned get the Reptisun 10.0% & a Reg house Bulb for heat. How many watts would you say i need? for that sized tank...same for the ques for the flourescent? How often do you guys change the bulbs?

Li, where did you get that tiling from? i love it. Another question off topic, have you guys had any behavioral probs with your beardies? were your beardies babies when you got them? Whats the most important thing you would say i should know about these guys weather it be as far as caring for them,behavior or whatever it maybe? Thanks so much!

 

[crypticdragons]

You guys are great!

I agree on getting just a big tank so i dont have to switch tanks and spend extra. What could i partition it with in the mean time?

My place does get cold in the winter i am from new york and the heat in my apartment sucks! So i would def say it gets below 60 degrees prob in the 50s. So i know cryptic u mentioned a cermic heat emitter. That gives off no light right? sorry for these dumb questions lol.

So i plan on going with a 40 Gal. Tank. & do what you guys mentioned get the Reptisun 10.0% & a Reg house Bulb for heat. How many watts would you say i need? for that sized tank...same for the ques for the flourescent? How often do you guys change the bulbs?

Li, where did you get that tiling from? i love it. Another question off topic, have you guys had any behavioral probs with your beardies? were your beardies babies when you got them? Whats the most important thing you would say i should know about these guys weather it be as far as caring for them,behavior or whatever it maybe? Thanks so much!

Ceramic heat emitters produce no heat at all. they are great in that respect. You will deffinately want to invest in one if your home dips that cool in the winter time. The reptisun 10.0 needs to be replaced every 6 months. As to the household bulbs and what wattage to use it depends on a great many things(air currents/drafts in your home, location of air/heating vents, how much heat gets sucked out when doors are opened/closed, etc). Basically if I were you I would buy a set of 40 watt, 50 watt, 60 watt, and 75 watt and test. Find out which one keeps the basking site temp stable at 105-115 F.

As to behavior. Just know that babies are a little jumpy and very fast. Make certain that when you hold him he is secure (not squished just secured) so that he can't run away.

You can use a piece of cardboard taped to the bottom and sides of the inside of your tank to partition it off. Make sure you get a 40 gallon breeder tank not a 40 gallon long.

And the tile can be found at home depot or lowes.

 

[koolaidsmiiles]

Okay Good thing you mentioned that about the tank I wouldnt have known the difference!..

Any thermometers you guys would recommend?

When would be okay to start feeding him greens & fruits? Question about the crickets do you guys feed them lol or anything?

 

[crypticdragons]

Okay Good thing you mentioned that about the tank I wouldnt have known the difference!..

Any thermometers you guys would recommend?

When would be okay to start feeding him greens & fruits? Question about the crickets do you guys feed them lol or anything?

I feed my crix (when I have them as I typically feed roaches to my dragons but its the same diet) ground high protein dog food mixed with chick feed. I offer water crystals daily and 1 time a week i give each colony a half of an orange.

You can begin offering greens immediately and if you are lucky your breeder already has your dragon eating greens (i offer greens to my from day one so they are acclimated to eating greens by the time they reach their new home).

As to a thermometer I personally use a tempgun from tempgun.com but you can get a cheaper option by purchasing a probe thermometer at places like walmart/k-mart/ or petsmart.

Just make sure you get a digiatal the analog style therms can be off by a great deal (upwards of 20 degrees)

 

[koolaidsmiiles]

Great thanks for all your help I will keep you posted when i get my beardie

 

[crypticdragons]

please do keep us posted. Let us know when you get him/her. Oh and we need pics or it didn't happen

Good luck to ya. If you have any other questions please post them away.

 

[li]

Sounds like you have all covered. Depending on the size of your beardie, you might not even have to partition it off. If you are getting from a reputable breeder they usually don't sell until a beardie is 6" or larger.

Got my tile at Home Depot.

And, yes if your temps go to that low in the winter heating during the night will be a necessity. Think you guys covered that.

Again, kudos to you for getting the information BEFORE getting your beardie.

http://www.mybeardie.com/general_information.php for a caresheet

 

[staylor]

Welcome. Looks like Brian has you all taken care of. Did notice a typo so just wanted to clarify Ceramic heat emitters to produce heat but no light. Don't know if this was mentioned or not but it is recommended that you get the viv set up a couple of days before bringing home your baby so you can be sure you have the temps correct.