National Geographic 40 Gallon Setup Questions...

[Steven Simon]

Hello ALL,
My 8 year old son and I are gearing up towards bringing home a Beardie...
I purchased the NG Setup, and was curious if you guys have had good success with the stock equipment, and if anyone could give us some pointers on setup, and upgrades?

Any pointers or reviews of the National Geo Stock unit would be greatly appreciated..
IS stock setup enough to get going?

Thank you in Advance,
Steve

 

[Hdrydr31]

Welcome to the forum! looking forward to seeing pictures. Take a read at the link below several of our comments as we've put together a ton of info that should be of help to you. I'm not sure what comes in those bundles but likely it has a coil UVB bulb (these cause eye damage and don't give good enough UVB) getting a reptisun T5 HO 10.0 would be best. Don't use any colored lighting at night if you need heat if the tank gets below 65 use a CHE for heat and NO light.. and don't use loose substrate as it causes impaction especially in babies.

If you provide pictures we can help more to improve the environment for your little one.

 

[Steven Simon]

I believe it does come with a coil bulb for UVB...

 

[PatsyB]

Stock setups are HORRIBLE. Sorry, I know you didn't want to hear that. The only thing good is the tank basically. Coil bulbs are really bad for their eyes. You'll want a basking bulb, a ReptiSun 10.0 tube style bulb, and a ceramic heat emitter if your tank drops below 65 degrees at night. Slate tile, non adhesive shelf liner, paper towel, or repticarpet for substrate. No colored bulbs should be used at all since bearded dragons can see all spectrums of color a colored light will disrupt their sleep cycle. Below my comment and Hdrydr31's comment is a link to some general information that would be real helpful.

 

[RaeAnn]

I have a national geo 40 gallon for my dragon. Unfortunately as other users have mentioned you will need to invest in a few new things. The UVB light is complete crap, you may want to go ahead and order a reptisun 10.0 T5 asap. Also our basking bulb only lasted maybe a week before blowing. So you may want to have a back up ready. Other than that a better thermometer and humidity reader would serve you well.
I don't know if you purchased the one that came with the 3D background? If so your dragon may shred that to pieces rather quickly. Our girl has torn hers up quite a bit. But I do like that it allows her to climb up it, she really enjoys that


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[Steven Simon]

No this is all stuff I want to hear, what attracted us to the GEO was the front loading doors. I will replace the stock UVB bulb, and get the mentioned T5 Reptisun 10.0. ANY particular lighting fixture for the bulb I should get?

 

[RaeAnn]

No this is all stuff I want to hear, what attracted us to the GEO was the front loading doors. I will replace the stock UVB bulb, and get the mentioned T5 Reptisun 10.0. ANY particular lighting fixture for the bulb I should get?

Zoo med makes a nice T5 fixture that has a built in reflector


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[Steven Simon]

Awesome info, thank you, going to setup this week and gear up for Dragon arrival next week. I'll make sure Temps and humidity are all good...

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[Steven Simon]

On the 36 Inch Wide 40 Gallon, what size should we go with? 18 or 24 Inch T5?

 

[RaeAnn]

The actual bulb or the fixture? I know we went with a 22" bulb and 30" zoo med fixture and any bigger would've been too big for our 36".
I would probably go with the 18" I think it will be more than enough although either one would be fine.


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[Steven Simon]

I'm presuming the bigger the bulb, you would need a bigger fixture? Going to stop at Petsmart on way home from work, and pick up...
I used to have a 220 Gallon Salt Water Fish tank 4 years ago and back. I had LED fixtures... Way more expensive... Boy this gear is reasonable in comparison lol

 

[RaeAnn]

It does get a little pricey lol.
You can order them online a little cheaper but if it's not worth the wait than that's perfectly understandable.

The zoo med T5 fixtures are weird lol. There is a 24" and 30" fixture that both house a 22" bulb. I think the 24" fixture would fit your tank just fine. Anything bigger is just too big in my opinion. My 30" fixture almost stretches all the way across my entire 36" enclosure (any bigger would've probably hung off the side). I had to put a source of shade on both sides of the Viv so she can escape the rays when she wants.


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[Hdrydr31]

All the above have been good advice. in this link you'll find info that will help you if you haven't taken a look at it yet. I see your using taptalk so the links don't show up so I'll add it here in the comments..
http://www.beardeddragonforum.com/threads/general-info-set-up-1st-timers.13863/
It has the lighting, food links, and general care

 

[Steven Simon]

PetSmart and Petco didn't have bulbs or fixtures. They only had T8's. Anyone know of local places that stock T5?

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[RaeAnn]

Just about any pet store should carry them. If you have any other pet shops near by I'd check it out


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[Steven Simon]

They all have the reptisun T8

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[RaeAnn]

Can you order a T5 online? You could actually get it much cheaper this way as well


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[Steven Simon]

Ordered both of these today.

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[Hdrydr31]

Perfect! I've found that some of the small Mom/pop pet stores sometimes have them, I've found them at a pets place first had them and online that tends to be pretty cheap if you look around and many places like petmountain.com will have sales (pretty good ones too)
You'll learn where the "honey holes" are for supplies and I make note in my phone

 

[PatsyB]

Pet Supplies Plus is the only place around us that sells the T5. I went with the 36" it covers the length of my tank. I got mine from Dr.Foster and Smith online.