Need some help please

[Sherry]

Hi everyone,

My son wants a bearded dragon. I have been doing a lot of research over the last week but it’s so overwhelming. So far, we have a 4x2x2 tank. I am wondering what uvb light to get? I’ve read reptisun is the way to go so my question is.. 5.0 t5/t8 or a 10.0 t5/t8? Inside the tank but how far away from the beardie? Heat lamp? What wattage should we get? I’ve read 50-100 and 75 should be ok? Also inside but how far away from beardie? I’ve read a few different things, that’s why I’m asking you all. I’ve read all about what the temps should be and getting a temp probe as opposed to the stick on ones and also a humidity one as well. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Bonus points for pics of your set up where lights are placed. I just want to make sure we are doing all this properly before getting one. Thanks very much.

 

[Beardomania]

Hi everyone,

My son wants a bearded dragon. I have been doing a lot of research over the last week but it’s so overwhelming. So far, we have a 4x2x2 tank. I am wondering what uvb light to get? I’ve read reptisun is the way to go so my question is.. 5.0 t5/t8 or a 10.0 t5/t8? Inside the tank but how far away from the beardie? Heat lamp? What wattage should we get? I’ve read 50-100 and 75 should be ok? Also inside but how far away from beardie? I’ve read a few different things, that’s why I’m asking you all. I’ve read all about what the temps should be and getting a temp probe as opposed to the stick on ones and also a humidity one as well. Any advice you can offer would be greatly appreciated. Bonus points for pics of your set up where lights are placed. I just want to make sure we are doing all this properly before getting one. Thanks very much.

There's so much to say here. The basking lamp is typically over 100W; I use a 125W mercury vapor bulb which takes care of UVB and basking heat together. Without that, you would need a UVB light and a basking light. It's a $18-$20 Vivosun you can get from Amazon or eBay. I've only used it for 3 months and most customer reviews are good but I can't vouch that it lasts very long or anything. It's a bit of an experiment for me to see if a cheap small brand can compete with the likes of Powersun, T-Rex, MegaRay, etc... which cost twice as much. So far, it's been perfect.

All in all, I recommend that if you have nothing, just buy a whole setup with beardie off of Craigslist. It will save you lots of money (unless you do it the super budget way which I do) and you will be taking a beardie out of a situation where s/he is not wanted. $150-$200 should be plenty for tank, lights, food, hide, basking perch, décor, calcium, Herptivite, everything; if it's real simple no frills, $100, no more. It's an adoption fee, not a sale. I adopted mine (in my profile pic) for $50 with no equipment.

 

[Sherry]

There's so much to say here. The basking lamp is typically over 100W; I use a 125W mercury vapor bulb which takes care of UVB and basking heat together. Without that, you would need a UVB light and a basking light. It's a $18-$20 Vivosun you can get from Amazon or eBay. I've only used it for 3 months and most customer reviews are good but I can't vouch that it lasts very long or anything. It's a bit of an experiment for me to see if a cheap small brand can compete with the likes of Powersun, T-Rex, MegaRay, etc... which cost twice as much. So far, it's been perfect.

All in all, I recommend that if you have nothing, just buy a whole setup with beardie off of Craigslist. It will save you lots of money (unless you do it the super budget way which I do) and you will be taking a beardie out of a situation where s/he is not wanted. $150-$200 should be plenty for tank, lights, food, hide, basking perch, décor, calcium, Herptivite, everything; if it's real simple no frills, $100, no more. It's an adoption fee, not a sale. I adopted mine (in my profile pic) for $50 with no equipment.

Yes, I hear you. It can be quite pricy starting from scratch. We are getting things off of kijiji so not as expensive as buying brand new. We will buy the lights new to ensure they are working properly. Thanks for your advice.

 

[Broly]

Hey! I’m going to attach a pic of my vivarium 2mo as it’s also 4ft x 2ft x 2ft and I have my UVA & UVB both inside.

To answer a few of your points, you probably won’t need the stick ons. As long as you have 2/3 digital probe thermometers. One resting directly on the basking spot (which is directly under the UVA heat bulb), one over in the cool end and you could also have one in the middle if you wanted to check the ‘ambient temperature’. Also a digital hydrometer (to measure humidity) - I think this can pretty much go anywhere inside, mine is kinda central.

It’s all very overwhelming at first which is why it makes so much sense to have everything BEFORE having the beardie so you can ensure it’s all set and ready to go and that you don’t have to move or change anything once the beardie is home - these changes can stress them out and they will already be stressed for a while anyway once arriving at their new home. Once you know you’ve got the most important things sorted it won’t feel so stressful! But be prepared as you will need to do lots of reading, researching, probably spend quite a bit of money and it’s kinda going to be your responsibility over your sons (I got ours for my 10 year old and as great as he is - it’s really too young to place too much responsibility on him).

Your UVB tube light should be the length of around 70% of the enclosure, so for a 4ft a 34/36” is usually recommended. You can get one with a reflector hood and place this over to one side of the enclosure (same side the heat bulb will be).

I have a 150w bright white basking bulb, but I have a thermostat set up so that it cuts out if it gets too hot and our basking spot is quite low. You will also want to get two timers, so the lights come on / go off automatically. This will make your life so much easier and your beardies routine stable - this is also needed if you’re ever not home to switch off / on.

I’m going to reply this before I end up just writing too much, you may know a lot of this!

I’ve not really seen anyone else with an enclosure set up too similar to mine haha, my son chose the bits and pieces but our beardie is very happy with it and our lighting, temps and humidity are good! (I’m going to add the pic first thing 2mo as I’ve made a few changes since I last took a pic)

 

[Sherry]

Hey! I’m going to attach a pic of my vivarium 2mo as it’s also 4ft x 2ft x 2ft and I have my UVA & UVB both inside.

To answer a few of your points, you probably won’t need the stick ons. As long as you have 2/3 digital probe thermometers. One resting directly on the basking spot (which is directly under the UVA heat bulb), one over in the cool end and you could also have one in the middle if you wanted to check the ‘ambient temperature’. Also a digital hydrometer (to measure humidity) - I think this can pretty much go anywhere inside, mine is kinda central.

It’s all very overwhelming at first which is why it makes so much sense to have everything BEFORE having the beardie so you can ensure it’s all set and ready to go and that you don’t have to move or change anything once the beardie is home - these changes can stress them out and they will already be stressed for a while anyway once arriving at their new home. Once you know you’ve got the most important things sorted it won’t feel so stressful! But be prepared as you will need to do lots of reading, researching, probably spend quite a bit of money and it’s kinda going to be your responsibility over your sons (I got ours for my 10 year old and as great as he is - it’s really too young to place too much responsibility on him).

Your UVB tube light should be the length of around 70% of the enclosure, so for a 4ft a 34/36” is usually recommended. You can get one with a reflector hood and place this over to one side of the enclosure (same side the heat bulb will be).

I have a 150w bright white basking bulb, but I have a thermostat set up so that it cuts out if it gets too hot and our basking spot is quite low. You will also want to get two timers, so the lights come on / go off automatically. This will make your life so much easier and your beardies routine stable - this is also needed if you’re ever not home to switch off / on.

I’m going to reply this before I end up just writing too much, you may know a lot of this!

I’ve not really seen anyone else with an enclosure set up too similar to mine haha, my son chose the bits and pieces but our beardie is very happy with it and our lighting, temps and humidity are good! (I’m going to add the pic first thing 2mo as I’ve made a few changes since I last took a pic)

Thank you so much for your reply. Even though my son is 17, I fully expect to be involved as well. I’m trying to stress that we need everything set up with proper fixtures and temps before getting his beardie. He’s a bit antsy... he’s just excited and wants it all now.. lol. As much as covid is a pain, it’s kind of a blessing at this time since pet stores are only open for pick up. I have been learning a lot from people on here as well as doing a lot of research myself. I think we have our lights all sorted out thanks to people on here. So overwhelming with so many different products! We want to make sure we get the right ones and the best ones. I was already thinking of a timer.. good idea! I look forward to seeing pics of your vivarium.. it’s always nice to see how others have set theirs up.

 

[Broly]

Thank you so much for your reply. Even though my son is 17, I fully expect to be involved as well. I’m trying to stress that we need everything set up with proper fixtures and temps before getting his beardie. He’s a bit antsy... he’s just excited and wants it all now.. lol. As much as covid is a pain, it’s kind of a blessing at this time since pet stores are only open for pick up. I have been learning a lot from people on here as well as doing a lot of research myself. I think we have our lights all sorted out thanks to people on here. So overwhelming with so many different products! We want to make sure we get the right ones and the best ones. I was already thinking of a timer.. good idea! I look forward to seeing pics of your vivarium.. it’s always nice to see how others have set theirs up.

One thing I would definitely have done different if I could turn back the clocks is setting up my whole vivarium before bringing the beardie home. I bought her home to a 30gal enclosure I had been given but then shortly after upgraded to the 120gal. She was actually relatively calm during the switch over but it’s just stress we ourselves don’t need - it’s a lot smoother if you have everything set up for a bit beforehand. (I still find it weird calling our beardie a she and not he because initially we’d wanted a boy )

I have included some images. We have travertine tile as a substrate, a few fake plants, some random climbing and basking spots, a hammock with a blankie on, the water and food dishes, and a little soft bed/hide which I ordered from aliexpress (it was called a Guinea Pig bed I think?).

I have an Arcadia Pro T5 34” with reflector (it’s the 14% one) fitted at the front of the viv, to one side (so I can’t see the glare of it from outside the viv - sometimes when people fit them at the back the glare is right in your own face haha)

I have a 150w ExoTerra daylight basking bulb, but this is on a thermostat. I will probably go down to a 100w soon as see how we get on with this.

I’m not sure where you’re based but I got our timers from a hardware store and they were half the price of exactly the same ones selling in a pet store.

Once you have your vivarium set up, if you need any advice on feeding / bugs / schedules etc - just let us know! x

ps. If anyone more experienced see’s my viv set up and has any comments, pls do let me know!