New to Beardies, glad for this forum

[Vynzent]

Hi, I bought a young beardie today at a reptile show, kind of on impulse (though I've always wanted one).
I should have bought all the supplies and researched it first, but here I am.

It is currently using spare supplies from when my veiled chameleon was young (chameleon's now 3 years old and healthy).

I'll get new stuff this Wednesday, like the uvb bar and a ceramic heat emitter. I'll also go refund the bag of walnut shell substrate after reading about how bad it can be. Better to play it safe.
(I am happy a forum like this exists. I joined the Chameleon Forums when I bought my chameleon too).

I'll start taking pictures of the beardie soon.


I do have a question I hope someone can help me with. Is there a sheet/graphic here or general rule I can see for how far a heat source should be from the reptile in relation to its watt output?

Do I just buy a high power one and fiddle with distance until I get the right temp? I'd rather know a good approximation rule to start with.





Thanks!

 

[Janelle]

Welcome! I’m sorry to say you’ll have to fiddle with it. It depends on your ambient room temp, tank size, etc, etc. A lot of people just get a household halogen bulb (they can get really hot) and put them on a dimmer so they can easily adjust. If you don’t want to do that, I’d start at 100* and go from there. Easier to move a higher power further away than be too cold.

You don’t need a CHE unless your house goes below 65* at night. Beardies need a cooldown period at night.

Glad you found us!

 

[Vynzent]

Thank you

You don’t need a CHE unless your house goes below 65* at night. Beardies need a cooldown period at night.

I use CHE's for basking in daytime as I don't like having different light colors or shapes going on.

Guess I'll just get creative with how I raise the emitter farther from the tank. It did read temps hot enough but I need more testing to know there are gradients in there.

 

[BeardedHippy]

Get a IR temp gun (thermometer) to accurately measure surface temps and adjust by using a dimmer, though a proper basking bulb is desirabe. CHE's should be used only for raisng nighttime temps. The light from your basking bulb and UV tube should overlap. Take a look at this article on lighting, its quite useful.
http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/An-In-Depth-Look-At-UV-Light-And-Its-Proper-Use-With-Reptiles/

 

[Vynzent]

Thanks @ BeardedHippy
I'm just gonna go with a Mercury Vapor bulb since it does both the UV and heat. No need for multiple lights this way.

The tank will already always be bright during the day since I have him and my chameleon by a window (that stays shut).

 

[Vynzent]

I am being told, actually, that a mercury vapor bulb is not adequate for a bearded dragon. That its output and range just isn't enough and that they're just too hot without a huge enclosure.

I see some people here do use mercury vapor bulbs though, so I'm confused.

 

[Janelle]

I’ve heard mixed reports about them, too. Personally, I like having two separate bulbs. It gives me the ability to fine-tune distances, temps, etc independently and more precisely.

 

[Vynzent]

I’ve heard mixed reports about them, too. Personally, I like having two separate bulbs. It gives me the ability to fine-tune distances, temps, etc independently and more precisely.

I'll go with two. In addition to substrate discouragement, I guess the healthiest setup simply isn't a natural one. But that's ok, because that doesn't mean it can't look wonderful.

My chameleon also has no substrate and I like its cage just fine. I actually tried doing a bio-active substrate tray but my planted plants all died lol. So I threw the whole thing away and just bought a drain tray instead.

 

[Janelle]

Nature is dirty and rough and has predators. Lol

Bio-active sounds too labor intensive for me. I’m using paper towels at the moment. I think we’ll use tile in her new tank. That’s really not that far off from hard, packed clay.