A couple of questions...

The male bearded dragon we just got came with this enclosure. We redid it except the lighting because everything was good there. It is only 18" from floor to ceiling so his basking spot is only 9" from the tip of the light bulb. Directly under the bulb the surface temp is 120°f. He tends to bask a little off center where the basking temp is around 100°-105°f. I'm not sure if I should change to a lower wattage or leave it because the aerial temperature is perfect with this one. The main thing I'm wondering about is if we wanted to switch to a mercury vapor bulb would that be possible with this little amount of height to work with? And also, how can I get his hammocks to stick on? I've only ever used tanks before this. Thanks!

No on the MVB --- it does not have enough clearance for heat --- they get extremely hot because the distance needs to be higher like 12" or more - if I had the tank I would drill a hole in the top where the bulb is and raise it ---- or w/ it being that hot you can try a lower wattage bulb - the reason for the heat is because its enclosed trapping the heat -- where is the UVB and what are you using brand and bulb please and you are taking the temps w/ a digital probe or a IR gun?

KarrieRee":14als19g said:

No on the MVB --- it does not have enough clearance for heat --- they get extremely hot because the distance needs to be higher like 12" or more - if I had the tank I would drill a hole in the top where the bulb is and raise it ---- or w/ it being that hot you can try a lower wattage bulb - the reason for the heat is because its enclosed trapping the heat -- where is the UVB and what are you using brand and bulb please and you are taking the temps w/ a digital probe or a IR gun?

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Reptisun T8 10.0. It's next to the basking bulb and runs along the middle of the enclosure. He spends equal amounts of time under the heat lamp and UVB. I use a temp gun. I see no signs of temperatures being off. He poops daily and it's fine and solid. The heat lamp is a 125w. I have a smaller 75w that I can try but I don't think that would be enough to keep the cool side around 80-85.

This is usually where he will bask. He will sometimes sit directly under it when he wants to get nice and warm but he knows when to move and spends most of the time off center like this where it's around 100°

You can drop it down to a 100 watt and see what he does then - how big is the tank ? Your T 8 needs to be 6-8 inches directly above the basking decor piece -

KarrieRee":3gyxukkj said:

You can drop it down to a 100 watt and see what he does then - how big is the tank ? Your T 8 needs to be 6-8 inches directly above the basking decor piece -

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It's 4 ft long, 2 feet deep and 18" high.

Ok so just make sure your UVB distance is good for the 6-8 inches and change he bulb out every 6 months I recommend 5 - its up to you how you want to do the basking bulb -

KarrieRee":2a3i1yff said:

Ok so just make sure your UVB distance is good for the 6-8 inches and change he bulb out every 6 months I recommend 5 - its up to you how you want to do the basking bulb -

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Yeah I'm not really worried about the UVB placement. He has another rock right next to the basking log that he spends 50% of his time on and he's directly under the UVB on that. On the rock his about 8" below and on the log he is about 9". The fixture was built in by whoever made this so moving it wouldn't be easy. He is the 5th bearded dragon I've owned and I've learned a lot with each one. I was mostly just wondering about the MVB because that would make things easier but i will just stick with the two different fixtures since there's not enough room for it.