New Beardy Baby

[Joyce]

Hi everyone. I'm Joyce. I live in North Carolina. I am new to bearded dragons but not reptiles. I've had snakes, geckos, frogs and chameleons. The last time I had any reptiles though was 8 years ago. I had 4 Leopard Geckos, they were my favorite. My husband and I relocated to Hawaii so I had to let them go. We are now out of the army, 3 years now, and have recently bought our first house. no more moving and stability, I'm so happy. I told my husband when we couldn't sell out 55 gallon fish tank that I wanted to get a beardy. He agreed and said not until January... He should know better than to give me time tables lol. I picked up my new little guy yesterday. He's a 4 month old little piggy named Whitley.
Little frustration when I got him home. I bought reptile carpet and it was the wrong size, so now he is on paper towel until I can get to the store which is an hour away to exchange it. He has a hide and UTH and basking light... simple setup but I will be slowly getting more as we go.
I'm excited to learn more and get to know everyone.

 

[Eavlynn]

Welcome to the forum, and congratulations in your new baby!

A UTH won't do anything for a beardie, they need to get their heat from above. A UVB fluorescent style light is one of the most important things you can get for your new baby. Most of us use the reptisun 10.0 bulb. It's a fantastic bulb and provides necessary UVB light, which they require to synthesize vitamin D3 so that they can properly use calcium.

Feel free to ask questions and bounce ideas off of us. This is a pretty unique community of helpful and caring individuals from around the globe. There's no such thing as a dumb question! We're glad that you're here

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[Joyce]

That's exactly the light i used for my Leopard geckos. I will pick one of those up today. I figured the UTH would help with digestion.

 

[Joyce]

Here's a pic of the little guy

 

[Hdrydr31]

That's exactly the light i used for my Leopard geckos. I will pick one of those up today. I figured the UTH would help with digestion.

Congratulations on your new baby..welcome to the forum as well..Keep in mind a 55 gal is narrow for now it will work but a full grown beardie it may be too narrow.. My female grew up in a 55 gal I had and for her it worked as she's not very active and she isn't a really big girl...But there would be no way my male would be able to be in one.. I've since switched them both into 40 breeders and they love it..

You would think they would help however beardies can't feel heat from their bellies it's only from above that they feel heat..so they can actually burn themselves on UTH or heatrocks..

 

[Eavlynn]

That's exactly the light i used for my Leopard geckos. I will pick one of those up today. I figured the UTH would help with digestion.

Do you think they benefitted from the UVB? I've been contemplating adding some reptisun 5.0 lights to my leos. I know too much UV light can lead to burns, like sunburn in humans, so I don't want to over do it.

A 55 is quite narrow, as Hdrydr31 pointed out. I start my kiddos in 40 gallons and eventually build 4x2 enclosures when they get bigger. I figure if they will utilize the space, why not provide it!

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[RaeAnn]

Hi everyone. I'm Joyce. I live in North Carolina. I am new to bearded dragons but not reptiles. I've had snakes, geckos, frogs and chameleons. The last time I had any reptiles though was 8 years ago. I had 4 Leopard Geckos, they were my favorite. My husband and I relocated to Hawaii so I had to let them go. We are now out of the army, 3 years now, and have recently bought our first house. no more moving and stability, I'm so happy. I told my husband when we couldn't sell out 55 gallon fish tank that I wanted to get a beardy. He agreed and said not until January... He should know better than to give me time tables lol. I picked up my new little guy yesterday. He's a 4 month old little piggy named Whitley.
Little frustration when I got him home. I bought reptile carpet and it was the wrong size, so now he is on paper towel until I can get to the store which is an hour away to exchange it. He has a hide and UTH and basking light... simple setup but I will be slowly getting more as we go.
I'm excited to learn more and get to know everyone.

Welcome to the form Joyce and congrats on your new beardie.
We are practically neighbors, I'm right above NC in VA.

As others have mentioned the UTH is not needed and a good UVB source is crucial. It sounds like you are use to caring for geckos? I had the same misconception but in reverse. I've been preparing a Viv for a leopard gecko we hope to purchase within the next few months. Being so use to dragons I had assumed he/she will need UVB lighting and a basking light as the only heat source. I realize now the two have different needs in certain areas.
You will have it down to an art in no time.


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[Joyce]

Do you think they benefitted from the UVB? I've been contemplating adding some reptisun 5.0 lights to my leos. I know too much UV light can lead to burns, like sunburn in humans, so I don't want to over do it.

A 55 is quite narrow, as Hdrydr31 pointed out. I start my kiddos in 40 gallons and eventually build 4x2 enclosures when they get bigger. I figure if they will utilize the space, why not provide it!

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It worked quite well with my Leo's, I did have one that got sunburned from not enough distance so you do have to be mindful of that.


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[Joyce]

Welcome to the form Joyce and congrats on your new beardie.
We are practically neighbors, I'm right above NC in VA.

As others have mentioned the UTH is not needed and a good UVB source is crucial. It sounds like you are use to caring for geckos? I had the same misconception but in reverse. I've been preparing a Viv for a leopard gecko we hope to purchase within the next few months. Being so use to dragons I had assumed he/she will need UVB lighting and a basking light as the only heat source. I realize now the two have different needs in certain areas.
You will have it down to an art in no time.


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Where in VA? I'm in Elizabeth City


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[RaeAnn]

I have heard of Elizabeth City, we are in Lynchburg


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[PatsyB]

It worked quite well with my Leo's, I did have one that got sunburned from not enough distance so you do have to be mindful of that.


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I used a UVB on my leos. I use it on my White's tree frogs and my crested gecko now. I believe they can absorb some of the UVB while they are sleeping. My frogs favorite place to sleep is under the UVB light.