New to the Dragon scene , habitat questions

[James Revenall]

Hi all , like the title says I'm new to the hobby and with most pets like these I figure habitat and diet are the two most important things a man/woman should know going in. I think I have the diet down my girls eat Mango, Kale and Zuchinni daily as well as crickets 5-6 days a week and small superworms 3 or 4 times a week. Growing like weeds and molt almost every other week.

They have been living in a maybe 25 gallon reptile enclosure with the front opening glass doors with two basking lamps and two UVB bulbs but as of today I have gotten a 50 gallon breeder with a top sliding screen don't like that but it was free so cant complain. So my question boils down to how much heat and UVB do I need ?

Right now I have a 75 watt infared heat bulb and a 100 watt regular basking lamp bulb in separate dome 5.5" dome fixtures and two UVB bulbs rated at 10 a piece in a twin 5.5" domed fixture. The question is do I need an extra basking bulb when I move them from the 25 to the 50 breeder ? At present the basking area stays at around 100 degrees but the 25 gallon tank stays at 90-95 and the cool side at 80 + - a few degrees.

one more long winded question , I have tree braches from the tree in our backyard for them to lie on .... is that safe ? there were some termite holes in them but I cleaned them up and stripped the bark off, they love em they lie flat on their bellies and kick ther feet off and sleep for hours on it

Thanks for taking the time to read all of this
James

 

[bookac]

This is a realy good topic, that is written by the members of the forum.. U should check it, it has answers to your questions

http://www.beardeddragonforum.com/threads/general-info-set-up-1st-timers.13863/

And welcome to the dragons world

 

[James Revenall]

I read it but as far as the tree branches I'm trying to use and specific light and heating questions it doesn't go into detail about that

 

[bookac]

I read it but as far as the tree branches I'm trying to use and specific light and heating questions it doesn't go into detail about that

For the branches I think you should boil them for couple of hours or something, then let them dry really good. Mine branches was prepared by a friend who study interior mebel design, and has the whole procedure in his lessons.. I think its really impprtant to boil them and dry them very well..

 

[Hdrydr31]

Just saw this post..
The big thing is Beardies are solitary creatures and should not be housed together.. No matter the size of the enclosure they will turn on eachother, and if you end up having a male and a female he will once of age will mate with her literally to the point of exhaustion and even at times to death, they can be very violent towards eachother even if they are clutch mates... 1 will always be the dominate one even if you have both females, and will nip tails, toes, extremities off If you end up with both males things will turn very violent for territory. Please keep them in their own enclosures.
The amount of lighting you need depends on the age of your little ones.. they range from 95 up to 107F basking 80-95F warm area and the cool end should dip down to the 70's as long as they don't go below 65 at night no CHE (ceramic heating element) is needed. They have to have the heat and UVB to digest and convert the nutrients and need to bask for several hours prior to and after eating. No lighting at all at night so they can sleep.
In the link you'll find 2 sources of food items that most of us use as guidelines.
Get yourself an IR temp gun that will guide you alot in what bulbs to use.. I myself am not the greatest one on bulbs but Patsyb is better on that area so she should be chiming in soon. Here is another in depth link on lighting.. http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Reptile-Health/Habitats-Care/Reptile-Lighting-Information/
Making sure you clean the branches really well, boiling them. Rocks can be boiled, baked but do this very carefully as they can explode. I've not used this process but I know others have so they should chime in as well..

 

[James Revenall]

Thanks I guess. I was a moderator for a popular fishkeeping site for a while and the biggest cause of "flame wars" was you cant put that fish in with that fish or that tank is too small for that fish, I didn't ask if two Dragons could live together I asked about heat and UVB f or my enclosure I have no want to stay on a forum that doesn't only not answer my question but chastises me for a "wrong doing" . Thank you please remove me from your forum ! As for the branch I tried to boil but the 4' branch wouldn't fit into that pot

 

[Hdrydr31]

Thanks I guess. I was a moderator for a popular fishkeeping site for a while and the biggest cause of "flame wars" was you cant put that fish in with that fish or that tank is too small for that fish, I didn't ask if two Dragons could live together I asked about heat and UVB f or my enclosure I have no want to stay on a forum that doesn't only not answer my question but chastises me for a "wrong doing" . Thank you please remove me from your forum ! As for the branch I tried to boil but the 4' branch wouldn't fit into that pot

I did not chastise you I was only sharing the same info that I would share to all new beardie owners..
Next I did give you another link to a very thorough lighting thread that should answer your questions..
Sorry you feel that way

 

[Hdrydr31]

As far as the 4' branch if you have a tub you could boil water and put them all in the tub and soak them in boiling water for a bit..Boiling water doesn't mean you have to stick to a pot to use this technique.

 

[PatsyB]

Thanks I guess. I was a moderator for a popular fishkeeping site for a while and the biggest cause of "flame wars" was you cant put that fish in with that fish or that tank is too small for that fish, I didn't ask if two Dragons could live together I asked about heat and UVB f or my enclosure I have no want to stay on a forum that doesn't only not answer my question but chastises me for a "wrong doing" . Thank you please remove me from your forum ! As for the branch I tried to boil but the 4' branch wouldn't fit into that pot

Well this was very unnecessary. You said that you are new to the bearded dragon "HOBBY" so they were just offering you some good advise. As a moderator of another "PET" forum you should know that even though you ask a certain question, people are going to offer help on other things that they see is harmful to your "PET". So you want to know about UVB well coil UVB in dome fixtures is crap! Coil bulbs are notorious for causing eye problems in bearded dragons along with not providing enough UVB throughout the tank. But you are currently housing them in a 25 gallon tank, so at the moment they probably are getting enough UVB because the tank is too small for one dragon let alone 2. UVB tube style bulbs are the main stream, you want one long enough to cover 2/3'rds of your tank. You need a basking light that will get your basking spot to 107 degrees for babies or 95 degrees for adults. Cool side of your tank should be around 75-85 degrees no matter what age of your beardie. At night do not use any light at all. If the tank temp drops below 65 degrees then get a CHE to warm it at night, but not to warm....65-70 degrees is good at night in the whole tank, they need the drop to regulate their body temps.

Since you are only asking about UVB/HEAT I will address your housing 2 beardies together with a UVB/HEAT answer. One bearded dragon is going to be the alpha and that alpha is going sit on top of the other in the basking area and in other spots of the tank. This will deprive the other of beneficial UVB/HEAT to digest it's food and grow. I have seen plenty of cohab situations where one dragon is considerably larger than the other and the reason being is the alpha is hogging the the light. The smaller beardie will not eat without proper temperatures and can also get MBD without proper UVB.

As far as the branch goes...if you are a moderator of a fish keeping web site, I would think you would know how to prep a branch to put in a tank with "PETS". It's the same with fish, lizards, amphibians or if you just want to keep it on you coffee table. If it doesn't fit in a pot to boil you can bake it in the oven on a very low temp for an hour. Another way, as my brother who kept fish for 30 years used to do, soak it in a bucket of diluted bleach for 24 hours then soak it for a few days in plain water, changing the water out each day and rinsing, rinsing, rinsing until the bleach smell goes away.

If you would like to leave the forum, that is fine. You don't have to announce it you just stop posting.