New guy

[Aleena]

Just a thought on the heat pads though... generally they're not recommended because bd's don't have heat sensors on their bellies and tend to burn themselves.

 

[HDreptiles]

@Mungi's Buddah - What is your take on UV lighting? Where should it be placed? Right now I have a 5.0 reptisun lamp on the tank. It is the 18" T8 and it is in a 20" aquarium hood. It is right next to the heat lamps. I can easily get a spiral UV lamp instead when I get paid, but I saw something in this site suggesting the 10.0. Am I right? Also, I have put the heat lamps on the timer so they will not be on at night anymore. And I am going to find a battery for my therm tomorrow. I would do it today, but my work schedule was changed and now I have to be at work in an hour. I also took out the water tub. Now here is my question on that, where is he going to get his drinking water from? Should I mist him on a daily basis? And how important is a hide to this guy? I probably have one sitting around here that I can give him for now until I make his palace that will have a couple built in. Thanks for all the help so far. One more thing. If he had a hide in his new enclosure, could I put some dim moonlighting on his enclosure, more for my appeal then anything, but if it is going to be detrimental to his health and well being, I will leave it off.

@Aleen - That is good to know about the UTH's. Going to be sticking with heat from above for his new viv for sure. Thank you.

 

[HDreptiles]

@HDreptiles...As to the water bowl in the enclosure...although you might not have noticed the rise in humidity it does raise it screen lid or not. I see the gauge on the back wall up near the top of the basking limb and couldn't be sure from the photo whether it was a thermostat or a humidity gauge..Either way I can tell you that those dial gauges are notoriously inaccurate, hence the recommendation of properly placed digital probe type thermometers for example. Whether you are noticing a raise in humidity or not doesn't change the fact that these dragons are dry climate creatures and therefor humid environments of any level do have adverse effects on them and can actually harm them..I can't control what you do with your dragon and I am certainly happy to hear that the water dish will not be going in his new enclosure, but I am sure that anything you can do especially one that is easy, quick and free that could benefit him greatly you would want to do so I wouldn't wait until his new enclosure is built to remove it..besides removing that now will also give your dragon more room which he will enjoy infinitely better than the water bowl any day

That dial thing is a thermometer and humidity guage. I usually don't go by that one as I had the digital thermo on there, but in a pinch, it is better than nothing.

 

[Germ]

UVB must cover the basking spot, the way you have it set up works, but yes, you should have a 10.0 (10% or Better) when mounted above a screen & have the Basking spot within 8"-10" from the center of the bulb. If you choose to go with the coil instead, and choose the Repti-Glo 10.0, be sure to purchase the 25 Watt & not the 13 Watt, The Repti-Sun 10.0 Compact only comes in a 26 Watt. The compact should go in your dual fixture beside the heat lamp so both cover the Basking Spot, if that is the route you go. Both the Heat & UVB should only be on during the daylight hours, most of us have found that 12ON\12Off works the best for our BDs. BDs will rarely use a hide, other than possibly for Brumation, if everything is setup properly in the enclosure, but are a just in case thing, some don't provide one at all as it provides a Haven for the feeders to hide in. Personally, I think one on the cool side is a good thing, gives something to climb, perch on & provides a retreat when\if needed.

on removing the swimming pool. BDs are desert creatures, not too many puddles to romp in there, they receive all the moisture they need from the well hydrated & gutloaded feeders that they should be being fed & their Greens. A weekly 15-20 minute warm soak should be given for added Hydration that will also help to clean it out, as it more times than not, will induce a Bowel Movement in the warm water. When this happens the bath should be drained & fresh warm water (Basking Temps) run. The temp of the bath water should be slightly warmer than how you would test a babies bottle on the inside of the wrist, which would be as mentioned, in the vicinity of Basking temps. I notice what looks to be lettuce in your enclosure, this is not a good staple green, is mostly moisture with almost no nutrients at all. Below I will post some helpful links with a really good nutrition chart of what is good & not so good to feed included. Lighting in the enclosure of any kind or any color will bother most BDs sleep, so I do not recommend going ahead with your Dim Moonlighting idea, they should have no lighting at all at night.

A few good links that you may find helpful ...

Basic BD Care Sheet - A Place To Start

Bearded Dragon --- Exclusive Care Info Library

Beautiful Dragons Nutrition Chart

Is Bearded Dragon Co-habitation a good plan?

How To Sex A Bearded Dragon

Good Luck

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

@HDreptiles...Germ is spot on with the info about the UV lighting ...I use the 18" ReptiSun 10.o bulb in an 18" fixture and have it placed right beside the basking bulb which in my case a 75 watt halogen flood in a Mini Deep Dome...the UV fixture lays on top of the screen and the basking light is suspended about 6" above the screen from one of the PVC light racks that I build for my tank enclosures..the rack is adjustable so I can raise or lower the basking light as needed to get my basking spot temp set.

 

[HDreptiles]

@Germ - Thanks for all the info. As for the moonlight, gonna ditch the idea. I am just nervous about a dark cage where I can't see him. Not sure what I am going to do about the UV light. I know I am going to up it to the 10.0, but not sure about which one I am going to use. The cage design will dictate that one for me. I think I have some good ideas bouncing around the old noggin now though. I run my reptile enclosures on 12on/12off as well. Same thing I run my fish tanks on. 9 am to 9 pm. Now, them needing darkness to sleep well, what about ambient lighting from the room they are in. usually the lights are off about 10, but when I get home from work at night at 3 or 4 am, I have a habit of turning on my desk lamp so I can see and not kill myself getting ready for bed. Is that a problem too? And what about something like a TV being on? Right now, putting Trebuchet in another room is out of the question, but I am thinking of some type of curtain for the front of the cage that I can open during the day and close at night. Thanks for the links. That dietary one is probably the best I have ever seen. Next trip the the grocery store is gonna be easy now. As for co habitation? No worries here. I refuse to do that. It may work for some animals, but not all, and definitely not reptiles. especially BDs. Thanks again for all the links man.

@Mungi's Buddah - That is almost the same setup I run too. Now, after all the info you guys have given me, I need to swap out some heat bulbs though.

Expect to see a thread in the enclosure section with some viv plans in it in the next week or so. Thanks all.

 

[Germ]

I don't worry about the room lights, hasn't seemed to bother my BDs, and they are on & off all hours of the night.

 

[HDreptiles]

I don't worry about the room lights, hasn't seemed to bother my BDs, and they are on & off all hours of the night.

That was a fast response. Thank you.

Sent from my phone via my job's wifi, most likely.

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

@HDreptiles...I dont worry about ambient lights from other rooms either...when I suggest to people no lights at night basically what I am referring to is the use of special night lights specifically used for a particular tank. I just don't use them and believe most are solely for the benefit of us being able to view a creature not for the creatures good. Haven't seen a nocturnal creature either that needs light to navigate...well except for most humans that is

 

[HDreptiles]

@Mungi's Buddah - Thanks. I won't bother with the curtain idea then. If there is no light, how do you view your dragon at night? I have a tendency to check on my daughter, wife, then all the animals when I come home from work, just to be sure everything and everyone is all right.

Lol. I can't see worth a crap in the dark.

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

@HDreptiles...generally I try not do disturb them period but I do go around and check on their temps..truth is when I do that I use the light of my phone screen mostly..lol...The 4.3 inch display on my htc Rezound puts of a lot of light but I also have my thermometer displays mounted up high and on the front of tanks..thats another great thing about the remote probe thermometers..that way I can take a quick peek and be done.I generally don't sit and stare at them though..Probably because I know it would creep me out to wake up and have somebody standing there staring at me..lol

 

[HDreptiles]

Yeah. I do that too. I have an assortment of flashlights too though. And for whatever reason, I put the battery back in my therm and it is working fine now. *shrug* No idea why. But I am not going to complain about it.

 

[HDreptiles]

So, I updated Trabuchet's cage a bit. Replaced the red light with a 100watt day lamp. Added a 50watt CHE for night heat as it gets cold in our house, and gave him a better basking platform. Also have been working on his diet too. On top of all that, he is now part of our ReptiRack. I got a 4'L x 18"W x 6'H wire shelf from work that I put all of the reptiles on. I like it a lot better.

His cage.

I had a piece of wood and some 3" PVC lying around. I covered the wood shelf in newspaper and used the PVC for the support. Added an extra piece of wood the the pile to to add some support. Everything can come out of the cage for cleaning and go right back in. He has already taken to sleeping on the shelf toward the front of the tank.

Here is the rack so far. Trebuchet is on the bottom, or leo, Drop Dead Fred, is above that along with an enclosure I am working on for a Crestie, and on the top are our two snakes. Each shelf has it's own power strip with a timer for light and all that. Everything will change a bit once I start making new enclosures, but for now, it works.