Hi! I'm in the process of getting my first reptile, a bearded dragon. I got my hands on a large second-hand vivarium for a really cheap price, 150x60x80 centimeters (roughly 59x23x31 inches). With the enclosure I also got a light fixture with two lights.
1. Here's a picture of the lights I got, seller said that one is UV and one is heat. I'm not planning on using the heat light, but I was wondering if the "UV" light is usable - from Googling it just seems like a normal, cheap fluorescent tube without any UVB output. I'm guessing trash both tubes and buy a ReptiSun or Arcadia like recommended, but confirmation would be nice. Both lights were unused, but bought 1 or 2 years ago. Also, how do I tell if the fixture has a reflector or not?
2. Are the light fixture and tubes long enough for the enclosure? The tubes are about 57 cm long (22 inches), so a little over 1/3 of the enclosure. Should I just get a new fixture?
3. The enclosure is all glass, with a metal wire net section in the middle. Can I place the basking lamp on the top, against the glass/wire?
4. Does the basking light need to be regularly replaced like the UV does?
5. Lastly I'm wondering about which calcium and multivitamin supplement to get. Is Zoomed an okay brand? Most places I've read don't specify a type of multivitamin, but one site said to avoid one with vitamin A. Should I find an alternative to Zoomed multivitamins for this reason, or is vitamin A something to not worry about?
Thanks in advance, I'm loving seeing all the dragons! Can't wait to welcome one into my life!
1. Here's a picture of the lights I got, seller said that one is UV and one is heat. I'm not planning on using the heat light, but I was wondering if the "UV" light is usable - from Googling it just seems like a normal, cheap fluorescent tube without any UVB output. I'm guessing trash both tubes and buy a ReptiSun or Arcadia like recommended, but confirmation would be nice. Both lights were unused, but bought 1 or 2 years ago. Also, how do I tell if the fixture has a reflector or not?
2. Are the light fixture and tubes long enough for the enclosure? The tubes are about 57 cm long (22 inches), so a little over 1/3 of the enclosure. Should I just get a new fixture?
3. The enclosure is all glass, with a metal wire net section in the middle. Can I place the basking lamp on the top, against the glass/wire?
4. Does the basking light need to be regularly replaced like the UV does?
5. Lastly I'm wondering about which calcium and multivitamin supplement to get. Is Zoomed an okay brand? Most places I've read don't specify a type of multivitamin, but one site said to avoid one with vitamin A. Should I find an alternative to Zoomed multivitamins for this reason, or is vitamin A something to not worry about?
Thanks in advance, I'm loving seeing all the dragons! Can't wait to welcome one into my life!