I’m very confused about lighting requirements for my beardie

Hi, I’m new to owning bearded dragons or any reptile in general. I read that you need UVA and UVB and now I read that I only need a tube fluorescent light and a heat lamp?

I’ve re read so many forums and I’m just so confused as to how to light my tank.

I was going to buy a ”repti-sun 5.0 T5-Ho Uvb fluorescent lamp”

What else do I need besides that? Does it provide UVA also?
Do I only need a heat lamp now? And what kind of heat lamp do I even use?

I see some people with three or four lamps on their cages and then a tube inside and I don’t understand any of it

My dragon has a 100 watt flukers mercury bulb in it right now and I read that you need a full light fixture (tube) across the tank because the mercury bulb is only in the basking spot. I’m just using that because that’s what the people gave me when I bought her off of craigslist a month ago, she’s 7 years old in a 75gallon tank.

Beardies should have both a UVB and a basking light. They get everything they need from that. A UVB should be cross tank so they get nutrients from eating all throughout their tank. While the basking should only be in one on one side of the tank so they can do exactly that -- bask.

You need a basking bulb, and then a UVB tube light. Some people need a second heating element if temps drop below 65 during the night, which would be a ceramic heat emitter.

The basking bulb should be positioned on one side of the tank, while the UVB should either go across the whole tank or half of the tank. If it goes across half it should be mainly over the basking spot (either behind, next to or in front of the bulb) and then a bit in the middle.

For a basking bulb, most will do as long as it produces a white light and gets the basking temps up to 100-110. Flood/halogen bulbs are a slightly cheaper option compared to reptile branded bulbs, they also seem to last longer and produce more heat.

For a UVB bulb a Reptisun T5 HO 10.0 34" with a reflective fixture will work.
Heres some links to the bulb and fixture.
https://www.amazon.com/Reptile-T5HO-Standard-Fixture-Reflector/dp/B01B209YQC/ref=sr_1_5?s=pet-supplies&ie=UTF8&qid=1523586973&sr=1-5&keywords=t5+ho+fixture
^ 34" T5 HO Fixture

https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-26062-Reptisun-Fluorescent/dp/B00AQU8HKO/ref=pd_bxgy_199_img_2?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00AQU8HKO&pd_rd_r=ZNH52XHETCP3Y7K5FGA2&pd_rd_w=GIi1G&pd_rd_wg=oAEwd&psc=1&refRID=ZNH52XHETCP3Y7K5FGA2&dpID=31QDwNV8eSL&preST=_SY300_QL70_&dpSrc=detail
^ 34" T5 HO 10.0



I'd avoid use of MVB's as a main source of UVB. They have far too narrow beams and produce an odd color, they also suck at heating.

Hello,

As suggested, for basking lights, a nice bright halogen PAR 38 is perfect for basking. I would
avoid any basking light that says daytime & says Reveal brand because it will be coated with
Neodymium which is hard on the eyes.

Tracie

What watt of the flood light suggested would I need for my 75 gal? Could I use it just the same in my current fixture for my mercury bulb? And is that what produces the UVA?
(apologies if these are stupid questions, I want to make sense of everything and make sure I do okay.)

kinleigh":3t6xkvgr said:

What watt of the flood light suggested would I need for my 75 gal? Could I use it just the same in my current fixture for my mercury bulb? And is that what produces the UVA?
(apologies if these are stupid questions, I want to make sense of everything and make sure I do okay.)

Click to expand...

Starting point = same wattage or slightly higher .

Measure temp of air and surface at the basking spot ... if 38 to 40 degC .... that's the optimum.
If hotter , move the basking spot lower or the globe higher until you get the above , or invest in dimming thermostat and set the temperature , it will reduced the amps until the wattage output gives the set-temperature.