Help with Coil Bulbs?

hello beardie lovers!
im a new beardie owner (Blue Belle is my first bearded dragon) and i have been learning things by trial and error and this site! I kinda stumbled across a topic that coil UVB's were bad...the terrarium i have now is much more of a taller terrarium than a lenghthy one. I will be uprading her tank within the next two months to a long one, so i will be able to have a tube UVB. My concern is that the coils that i currently have are doing more harm than good? The terrarium is 30 gallons. They are the UVB ReptiSun coils, two of them in an overhead compact top (one 10.0 and one 5.0) and then she has her regular basking light for her basking area. A little background info: Blue Belle is approximatley 3 months old and is about 7.5 inches tip to tail. She has fairly regualr sheds, her diet consists maostly of crickets, and a salad of chopped collard greens, cauliflower, and red cabbage/brocoli that she is slowly starting to take interest in. her subrstate is slate, she loved to climb, bask, eat, take daily warm water soaks in my sink and trips outside for some sun. she appears and acts what i THINK a healthy young beardie should (alert, good sleep pattern, easy to handle, curious and sweet) i just adore her. But if i am doing something wrong with coils, i ofcourse want to change things. What are the risks here? i have heard everything from blindness to over heating with coils...is this consistent with the truth? THANK YOU so much for your help!!! i REALLY appreciate it more than you know!!!!

thanks! i will definitley be working on getting better UVB lighting. and yes it made total sense, lol. the veggies i was using along with her collard and dandelion greens was like a slaw mix (slivers of cauliflower/brocoli/red cabbage/carrots...raw, ofcourse, not actual "coleslaw" ..... the sliced up mixture that comes in a bag, similar the the shape of little worms thinking that might entice her. god i hope that made sense. when she was a BABY baby i tried her on butternut squash, but then again, she wouldnt eat ANY veggies as a hatchling which makessense, but i will grab some squash tomorrow and diced it up or mash it up really well. have you ever had any luck with alpalpha sprouts? i recall somewhere reading that they were good for beardies...there is so much good and bad info floating around ya know? now that hse a few months old, im really doing my best to get those greens and veggies in. i was really happy to see her taking some bites of her salad tonite!!! i dont want to do the whole "with-holding" of crix in order for her to eat all of her salad, i have heard of people doing that, and i just cant!! i know she needs that daily protein at her age, and she is a growing girl so i just cannot bring myself to do that. So i will look for a TUBE UVB that is the right dimension for her size terrarium...i had NO idea about the coils being bad, i feel so borrible. thank you so much!!!! i appreciate all the advice i can get. i have learned so so much and am still learning, so THANK YOU!!!!! any other tips are totally welcome, im aiming for the best for my Blue Belle, and im always up for any tips, adivce or ideas. thank you again!!!

P.S.
your "lighting for newbies" link is GREAT!!!!! does the screen really effect the UVB absorption that much? i read how you mounted the tube in the inside of the terrarium, but im SO not .... carpentry inclinded (is that that right word? ha!) i really just need to get my booty to the pet store tomorrow and get this going. if i did have to temporarily have to use a tube OVER the screen, would this be a REALLY bad thing?

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752557&lmdn=Reptile
the link above...this is what i have....the large 18 inch top.
like i said its an front swing door open terrarium, and i will be changing over to a longer terrarium in the next month or two. but for now, this is what im working with. and this one has no place for a tube, so would i just buy the tube, get rid of this current hood, and mount in inside the terrarium? im sooooooooooo sorry for asking so many questions.

blue11":2nnhr1ok said:

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752557&lmdn=Reptile
the link above...this is what i have....the large 18 inch top.
like i said its an front swing door open terrarium, and i will be changing over to a longer terrarium in the next month or two. but for now, this is what im working with. and this one has no place for a tube, so would i just buy the tube, get rid of this current hood, and mount in inside the terrarium? im sooooooooooo sorry for asking so many questions.

Click to expand...

Yeah, you can go ahead and sell that hood. You can keep the reflecter though if you can take it out, because using that will help a lot if you have to keep the tube light on top of the screen for a while.

And don't worry, better safe than sorry!

we did post at the same time! ha! i am just so thankful you are helping me! im going to head out tomrrow on a mission. is it ok to hit you back up when im HOPEFULLY done with trying to get this .... done? it just re-assuring to have someone with UVB lighting knowledge!! i CANNOT thank you enough! and Blue Belle says thank you too!

OK! well, i didnt get the tube UVB bulb monted inside the tank yet, BUT, the coils are gone. :!: this is a good thing. it actually ended up steamrolling into a whole new home for her. i had to just get rid of the narrow tall tank, and get a 30 gallon tank out of storage, with LENGTH instead of all height. looking at it now, i dont know how i got talked into getting such a tall terratium rather than a regualr long one. she now has a VERY definitive basking side and VERY definitive cooler side. the UVB tube is lighting both sides, and the basking lamp on just the one side. i thought had it all figured out before - but this, i think, is so much better for her. she is on her new gnarly log soaking up some rays and doing the periodic gape (this is a good thing right?) regulating her temps, right? i am letting her get used to new set up, and the tile in this one as flooring is even better than the last. not that i have it all figured out this time either, but i think (i hope?) im heading in the right direction! and it all started with switching from sand to tile, then coils to a tube. her hammock is up, her veggies are in (great veggie website by the way jess ty!!) her lights are working, now i just have to wait and see what the temps are getting to (i LITERALLY JUST finsihed doing all this) so im hoping the temps will get to the optimal degrees. i tell ya she look alot smaller in this tank, but thats a good think i think to...there was sooooooo much waster space in the other. i know im going to have to tank upgrage gallon wise as she grows more: cross that bridge when i get to it. i feel so much better for my Blue Belle ty so much for your help, i REALLY mean it. i hope to get the UVB tube mounted inside the tank soon. The one thing i did have a question was, i noticed that with the coils, it looked REALLLLLLLLLLLLLLY BRIGHT in her other terrarium, like the put out a very very bright light...i guess im not used to tube, but the light is softer looking more flourescent then BAM! bright. is this normal? when i took that top off her old tank and looked into the coils lights i was like WOAH thats bright...do they put out a really different looking light? ok ok ok ok im so sorry you hooked a question freak like me. i just want things the best for her....THANK YOU JESS~!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! xoxoxoxo Em and Blue~Belle