Some advice please

[rapcityjrb]

Hi. I just bought a bearded dragon. He eats a little, but not alot and he spends alot of time scratching at the glass and basking under his heat lamp. Ive had him 3 days and the first day he pooped three times but hasnt since then. He has water and a log to get up next to the light. the light is an incandescent day blue light bulb that 'emits full spectrum light and UVA rays needed for a health reptile enviroment' or so it says. its 150 watts. the basking area is ~ 95 degrees. the rest of his cage is room temp. i'm just wondering if this is a sufficient setup?

also, i was told to elevate the temp of the rest of the cage to 85 degrees but how do i do this? a heat lamp isnt going to warm up the whole cage...any help is appreciated.
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[TheVirus]

Before I can help you I need to know a couple things.

What size enclosure is your dragon in?

Do you dust the crickets?

If yes, with what?

What do you use for substrate?

What are you measuring your temps with?

 

[rapcityjrb]

its a 40 gallon...outdoor carpet for substrate and i measured it with a digital thermometer and no i don't dust the crickets with anything yet but i do gut load them.

 

[TheVirus]

Hey,

You need to dust the crickets with multi vitamins and calcium. If you have no UVB bulb you need to dust the crickets with calcium that contains vitamin D3. I suggest getting a repti-sun 10.0 tube UVB bulb.

As far as temps, for 40 gallon breeders I use either a 45 or 50 watt halogen indoor/outdoor flood bulb, or an incandescent 65 watt flood bulb. Both bulbs are large and make sure you get floods and not spot bulbs.

I cover the screen top with aluminum foil. I tape the foil to the top and cut around the lights. With a setup like this, you should get the temps you need. 150 watt bulbs are overkill and unnecessary.

You want a basking temp (surface temp) of at least 120*. Your cool end temp should be about 80. Make sure to provide a large basking area.

 

[rapcityjrb]

i have a 26 watt coil uvb ( i have a tube on the way no need to worry ) and his basking temp is about 100 degrees. he doesnt really eat much. one day he ate 10 crickets and yesterday he ate 10 mealworms. today he hasn't ate anything but i've offered him crickets....any advice? thanks for the setup info i went out and bought a uvb bulb

 

[TheVirus]

Do what I said above and your dragon will be fine. Your basking spot is too low and probably the cause of the poor appetite.

 

[rapcityjrb]

yeah but the thing is even when the lights on he never sits directly beneath it, always to the side. never in the warmest spot.

 

[TheVirus]

Make sure your measuring temps properly. You want the temperature of the surface of your basking area, not the air temperature.

150 watts is too much. Your dragon will dehydrate rapidly in conditions like that. Do what I said in the above post. It will give you a more efficient enclosure.

With a proper basking area and temperature your dragon will spend more time around the direct beam of light, not directly under it. You don't want the animal to spend any real amounts of time basking under the hottest conditions the enclosure has to offer. If they do, it means the basking temps aren't hot enough.