Meet King Smite

Hello! We are NEW reptile owners and are welcome to any and all suggestions. However, please keep some of the lingo basic and I am still learning.

My son desperately wanted a bearded dragon, so I finally gave in for his birthday. Here is what we have:
- Juvenile dragon that was given to us by a family who knows them well (healthy and well handled)
- Petsmart habitat kit & a few extra items

My initial questions:
- What do I do with the lights at night??
- Where the best place to keep up with his insect diet? Mail order or Petsmart??
- Recommendations on our current setup
- Anything else I need to know?

I've already grown attached to this little guy and want to give him the best life possible.

Welcome to the forum! I will try to help answer your questions the best I can. I do recommend upgrading the lighting from the petsmart kit. It's important to use a high quality UVB Light and they are absolutely worth the investment. What is the size of the tank you have? I can help you find an appropriate light based on the tank size. If the kit came with a red light I would remove that and not use it. They need bright white light and heat for basking (as well as UVB which should sit right next to the basking light). It's important to have accurate readings of surface temperatures around the tank. Having a couple of digital thermometers with probes or an IR temp gun is very helpful. You want the basking surface to be between about 100-110 and a gradient down to about 75-85 on the cool side surfaces.

At night the lights should be off. Shoot for around a 14hr daylight cycle. It's helpful to have an outlet timer so you can automate the light cycle. As long as the temps in the tank stay above 65 overnight no nighttime heat is needed.

The little guys eat a TON of insects. It's best to order them online in bulk. I used to go through about 1,000 crickets a month and ordered them from Georgia Crickets. I've since found that having a dubia roach colony is MUCH easier so I'd consider that option. They are a lot hardier than crickets and easier to take care of. They do a great job at composting veg scraps from the kitchen. It's also good to order black soldier fly larvae, silk worms, and small hornworms (these are big and best saved for adult dragons) on a rotating basis to provide variety. It's also good to offer a salad although most young dragons may ignore it in favor of bugs which is fine. This site has good ideas for what to put into salads http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

This is some great information. I had a feeling that the lighting was not correct. Here is what we have

(1) 20 Gallon glass terrarium
(1) 12" Hood w/fluorescent lamp
1 Combo deep dome lamp fixture
(1) 10 lb VitaSand substrate
1 Reptile thermometer
1 Food/water dish
1 Bag of food
1 Repti Calcium
1 Bearded Dragon Care Book
Tank Size: 20 Gallon, 30"L x 12"W x 12"H
Environment: Bearded Dragon Habitat

I do recommend some changes with that setup. Unfortunately the kits they sell aren't very good and can sometimes be outright harmful. He will outgrow a 20g tank in a few months so I would plan on building an adult sized enclosure for him. A 4'x2'x2' or larger enclosure is recommended.

For now I would fix a few things with the current setup starting with the lights/temps. I wouldn't use the red light at all. I wouldn't use the UVB light that came with the kit. Using the same fixture I would use the 26w Exo Terra UVB200. It should sit 6-8'' above the basking area for best results. I suggest upgrading to a 22'' T5 UVB light when you get a larger tank though http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/22-t-5-ho-fixture-high-output-with-arcadia-d3-12-ho-bulb/

The stick on thermometer isn't useful for telling you the surface temperatures so I would get an IR temp gun like this https://www.amazon.com/Nubee-Temperature-Non-contact-Infrared-Thermometer/dp/B00CVHIJDK or a couple of digital thermometers with probes like this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0017N8W90/ Use those to double check the surface temperatures and adjust the lighting as needed. You may need a higher wattage bulb or you may need to raise the fixture higher up to cool the temperatures. An adjustable lamp stand is useful for this.

Don't use the sand. It is messy and very difficult to keep sanitary. If it is ingested it can cause some serious problems. I suggest using a solid substrate like non adhesive shelf liner. That is easy to clean and sanitize or replace cheaply as needed.

Wow! So basically the kit was a waste

Do you have an example for a bigger cage setup?

Not a waste. The tank you get is good and you can use it for bugs when he outgrows it. The marketing is sadly very deceptive though and I really don't like it one bit. You will get more bang for your buck if you can build your own tank. I suggest browsing the enclosures and DIY section for some great examples of repurposed furniture. This is a walkthrough of a fairly popular build as well https://beardies.dreamwidth.org/2145.html

Definitely order insects online or search craigslist. I use dubideli.com for our roaches. Well priced and well priced shipping as well as quality roaches. Here in 1-3 days. And they always givr you more than what you pay for in case any die in transit. Plus you can get free samples of differen sizes to see what works best for your beardie.
Also use a reptisun 10.0 tube light. Petsmart has them on sale online and the stores pricematch. I got mine for $19 instead of $40 so we bought 2 for just in case.
Sand is not only messy but can be dangerous and cause impaction. We use tile in his 40gal breeder. Cost us $7!