1/4" In 3 days!

[Ranchero]

My dragon has not ate much and only grew 1/2" in a month since we got him. I recently switched from the coil bulb to the reptisun 5 (he is in a 20g long) and not only did his feeding intake explode but he grew 1/4" in 3 days. Is that too fast too soon? I dust vitamines monday-friday and calcium daily. He also eats his greens daily

 

[daner923]

No that's not too fast. My beardie grew almost an inch a week for a while. The reptisun 5.0 tube a tally isn't enough. You should get the reptisun 10.0 tube light! You should actually dust with vitamins 2 days a week, and calcium only 5 days.

 

[Ranchero]

Well zoomed rep and my pet store said because the tank is only a 20 gallon long and the light is 18" which takes up all but maybe 2" of the tank that I should use the 5 other wise the 10 can cause snow blindness. So many opinions floating around makes my head spin

 

[daner923]

Are you sure it is a 20 gallon long? They are 30 inches long, so with an 18 inch bulb there should still be 12 more inches! I have not heard anyone on here complain that reptisun 10.0 tube causes blindness. The 5.0 does not emit enough UVB for a desert animal. As long as you have a bright WHITE basking light, it shouldn't be a concern. Bottom line is to not trust pet store people! They are very often wrong on beardie care. This place is awesome and has great, great advice.

Also, how big is he now?

 

[Ranchero]

I meant that I am using the 24" reptisun 5 and yes my tank is 30 long. I was going to use the 18 originally so thats what i had in mind ha. I also talked to two reps from zoomed that said the ten would be too much in that size tank for the 24". Thats why its so confusing

 

[daner923]

I understand that's what they said. However, the 5.0 is really not sufficient for a beardie. That is pretty much agreed upon across the board around here.

 

[sweetpea1981]

I agree with Daner.

 

[Ranchero]

Well looks like I am headed to the store tomorrow to get the 10. I guess i can keep this 5 for back up. I thought my saltwater aquarium was alot of work whew lol!

 

[sweetpea1981]

Don't feel bad we've all done it, bought something or a lot of things just to come here and see everything we bought needed to go back....lol.