My dream come true

I am new to owning any pets, and now I have 3 dogs, 2 cats and my precious òmra. He was a christmas present and i got him at 3 months old. My mother in law bought me the whole tank set up as well. As soon as i realized he wasnt a fever dream, i began to look at places like this website for how to take care of him. Ive had him about a month and now im just becoming a member myself.

Above is a picture of his tank, its bed time so the lights are off. He has a hammock, a log, a rock a cave and a bowl for "drinking" (read: bathing) water. He has turf on one side of his tank and sand on the other. I wanted to get the sand out as soon as possible, and replace it with tile, but he seems to have no issues. He has a che lamp, a brand new uvb bulb and a regular house light bulb for heat. The background is sone coloring pages and brightly colored fabric.

I like the setup. If you have any remaining questions yet to be answered, I own a 5 year old beardy and can answer most questions people have(except for medical questions, gotta look more into impaction relief and whatnot since my knowledge is little to none on that topic :study:

Thank you, I was reading about uvb and leting the lamps sit above screens so now I need to rectify that. I have an exo terra double light lamp, with no idea how to mount it inside the tank, an not enough knowledge of vocabs and keywords to search the enclosure forum for information.

I also watch a lot of youtube videos of beardies and they have videos of chopped or juiced prune being visibly very effective for impaction.

When you say you have the Exo Terra double light lamp are you talking about this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001B5DHV2/ref=psdc_2975515011_t1_B0016BGGBO
or the canopy one?

Also, if you have something like a 26w compact setup and provide a perch or whatever it's called where he can choose the distance that he wants to be from the lamp setup, he'll be just fine. While screens filter out the UVB output, it's usually a concern if the beardy can't get within 6-12 inches of it and the UVB bulb is on the weaker side like a T8 tube/compact. if you're using a tube t5 10.0, there are numerous ways to mount it such as involving the use of zip ties. As for compacts(like Exo Terra or another reputable brand as not all brands have fixed their compact bulbs), you can probably use a clamp or something like that or, if the mesh of the screen is not super fine like on a chameleon cage, or just make sure that the beardy can get close to it and pick up the higher wattage version if you're worried about not enough UVB. I'd your using that hood in the link I put, I think it'd be suitable to leave it on the outside.

About the prune juice, I've heard about people using unsweetened applesauce, non solid foods with prune(like you mentioned), pumpkin purée I think it was, and a couple other food choices. I just haven't done any specific digging since my beardy has fortunately never ever been impacted in his life.

My lamp is an exo terra compact lamp and he can not get with in 12 inches of it (eeeek). It kind of looks like the amazon listing only with 2 outlets for lights instead of four. The mesh is not very fine, and the bulb is a higher wattage. So if i cant figure out an easy way to mount it inside, then i will just have to get him the best basking log ever so he can decide what he wants. Thank you, i read something different every turn, but with uvb there isnt a tell tale sign of how much he needs and is getting. We have temp gauges for heat, and humidity gauges but no ultra violet gauges, where we point and shoot and know what rays are reaching which parts of the cage.

Also about the impaction, ive heard about all those foods as well, I looked it all up when i read about sand as a substrate and was informed thats what he had been raised on his whole life! Fortunatley he has had good movement, i found that even after i fed him small amounts of strawberry two days in a row he seemed to move his bowels a bit more often. I try to do an ounce of prevention and keep a watchful eye.

don't worry I also use an Exo Terra compact and my beardy get within I'd say 7 inches and he's just fine. Places that suggest six are usually just trying to be super safe but an inch or two farther is usually fine too.

You need a better UVB bulb. Compacts can hurt their eyes and don’t give much, if any uvb. A better option would be reptisun t5 10.0 fluorescent tube bulb. Not compact or coil

ActuLly, while tubes are preferred, certain compacts, such as Exo Terra compacts are fine. The eye issue rarely harms a dragon. Instead, dragons only close their eye due to the intensity. While it doesn't do harm on their eyes, it is still intense light. So, they will close their eyes a couple times the day. As for effectiveness, if the wattage is high enough, such as 26w, and the beardy can get within a couple inches of the bulb, it does put out enough UVB.

talktothetail":195ngi08 said:

You need a better UVB bulb. Compacts can hurt their eyes and don’t give much, if any uvb. A better option would be reptisun t5 10.0 fluorescent tube bulb. Not compact or coil

Click to expand...

See here https://joshsfrogs.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/201197817-What-UVB-bulb-is-best-for-my-pet-reptile-or-amphibian-

And here https://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=22831

I can provide more sources for reassurance that certain compacts are fine.