Does this all sound right for a baby?

hey guys, quick question. I just got my 10.0 T5 HO today and i have it mounted above the screen top. Its not like the really think exoterra screen with the small holes, its the zilla fresh air top with like the 1-2mm holes on top. I have it mounted right in the middle of the top with the basking spot a little bit to the right of it. The top of the basking spot is about 11" away from the actual bulb. I have it with the reptisun reflector fixture. Will my baby beardie not be getting enough uvb? Should I try to get it a little closer to the basking spot? Or is 11" through the mesh okay since its a strong bulb? I have it paired with a 90w halogen flood light. The temps are about 112 on the basking side, 87 in the middle, and aboug 77 alll the way to the cool side. Nights the coldest we ever have the air set is about 73 but usually closer to 75. Would those temps be okay for a month old beardie? Also i plan on feeding him 500 small to medium phoenix worms, then once those are gone go to 500 crickets. and i will keep alternating back and forth doing two feedings daily. Once at 9:30 am and once at 7:30-8pm His lights will come on at 8am and go off at 9:30 pm. I'm going to give him little short soaks every two or three days to help the little guy learn to poop in there and not as much in his cage. Also daily salads will consist of collard, mustard, and turnip greens with bell peppers and squash. I'll add little fruits and stuff whenever i can. I hope this is a decent plan for the little fella to grow up well

Yes, that all sounds great. The t5 is a powerful bulb and the reflector intensifies the uvb so you don't need it any closer. Your feeding plan sounds good, be aware that he may favor one insect over another so when you switch to 1/4" crickets he may look at them like " huh, where's my P-worms ? " Lol, hopefully he'll like the cricks as well, but you can always order just 250 of each the P-worms + cricks together just in case. Salads should be finely chopped and fruits are not important, not really necessary in a beardie's diet. Other than that everything sounds good. Be sure to put up pics when you get is set up.

AHBD":32ws08sh said:

Yes, that all sounds great. The t5 is a powerful bulb and the reflector intensifies the uvb so you don't need it any closer. Your feeding plan sounds good, be aware that he may favor one insect over another so when you switch to 1/4" crickets he may look at them like " huh, where's my P-worms ? " Lol, hopefully he'll like the cricks as well, but you can always order just 250 of each the P-worms + cricks together just in case. Salads should be finely chopped and fruits are not important, not really necessary in a beardie's diet. Other than that everything sounds good. Be sure to put up pics when you get is set up.

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Okay great! I'll get a picture of the setup in a little bit. I still have to disinfect everything this weekend since little Clementine passed inside her viv. Do you think a 1:10 ration of bleach to water would be too much to sanitize everything? I was going to just put everything into a big bucket and leave it there for a little bit, then rinse it all of well in the shower and then go put it out on the porch to air dry for like 5 days. I plan on disinfecting on saturday and picking up the baby on thursday. The cool thing is that the baby the breeder is giving me was actually one of the fellas from one of clementines clutches that she had about 6 weeks ago

Aw, I hope Clementine's baby is healthy + happy. And yes, you can clean just the way you mentioned or you can also put all the age decor in the oven for about an hour [ nothing that melts ] at 250F. What I personally use for disinfecting is red wine vinegar, it's much stronger than bleach for killing germs.

What ratio should the vinegar be at to water?
Also, about how many BSFL should a baby beardie go through in say 2 weeks? I found a great website which specializes in them that sells them for $20.00 for 1,000 smalls which I think is great

About the same as you'd do with the bleach. And I don't know how many worms he might eat, they're all different. You'll have to wait + see.

AHBD":sihfrcwp said:

About the same as you'd do with the bleach. And I don't know how many worms he might eat, they're all different. You'll have to wait + see.

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okay cool Well, thank you for all of the help! I'll try my best to take gooood care of this little guy

If I were to want to cut the reflection down off the sides of the tanks, should I paint it with some matte krylon on the outside? Or would I have to paint and seal the inside?

Sorry for the triple post, but would these be okay to hang inside the viv? I could probably use double sided tape to hang them up. I think it could look very nice and cut the reflection from the glass. I just wanted to know if the bamboo was safe and if the tape is as well. https://www.amazon.com/Benson-Mills-Placemats-12-inch-18-inch/dp/B003UERF7O?th=1&psc=1 these are the placemats

If it's on the outside of that tank it should be fine.

You can also look into clingon backdrops, they're probably cheaper than 4 mats

SpacialCoogs":3okx2yzv said:

If it's on the outside of that tank it should be fine.

You can also look into clingon backdrops, they're probably cheaper than 4 mats

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I have a cling background on the back of my tank and the reflections are still pretty bad :/ So the bamboo on the inside would be a no-go?

hmm, I'd be worried about the paint on the mats. These little guys lick everything and I wouldn't want them digesting that.

This one looks like it's a natural finish.
https://www.amazon.com/InterDesign-...1_6?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=VC9SWTG8N5WKBDPXKHJV

Yeah, I could see that becoming an issue. I guess I will just keep the tank how it is until I see if the little guy ever has a problem with it. Kind of with I would have gone with building my own viv instead of buying one haha. Could have been bigger and cooler

You can always build some internal rock formations using foam and grout. Then you can make a fully interactive backdrop. It's not that expensive and you can find some instructions in the DIY folder.

I still haven't finished the basking platform and hidey hole that I started.

I was actually planning on doing something like that more in the future. Especially since I can "borrow" Styrofoam sculpting block things from school ;-) But for now I think i'll just leave it. Or maybe some shelf liner attached with double sided tape? I'm just trying to brainstorm some quick fixes until I can make something cool for the little guy