Anyone use Exo terra Sun Glo bulbs.... cage pics too

[seymours]

I was just wondering if the exo terra sun glo are good for beardies? My male has a 55 gallon which i use a 100 watt exo terra sun glo one one side and a regular 100 watt light bulb on the other and it doesnt seem warm enough in there. My female is in a 22 long and i have the same lights in hers and shes fine. Any advise for him? The first pic is my males cage and the second is my females. thanks

 

[Embee]

I was just wondering if the exo terra sun glo are good for beardies? My male has a 55 gallon which i use a 100 watt exo terra sun glo one one side and a regular 100 watt light bulb on the other and it doesnt seem warm enough in there. My female is in a 22 long and i have the same lights in hers and shes fine. Any advise for him? The first pic is my males cage and the second is my females. thanks

The Sun Glo is a basking bulb only (UVA), it does not provide essential UVB to your dragon. Did you mean to say "Solar Glo" perhaps? The Solar Glo is a mercury vapor bulb and does provide both heat UVA and UVB. If you're using just the Sun Glo, you will need to secure a UVB source for your dragons, either a mercury vapor bulb such as the Solar Glo, T-Rex or MegaRay or tube type fluorescent such as the ReptiSun 10.0.

As to your question: two 100w watt sources of heat in a 55 gallon is quite a lot. Usually one 100w heat lamp and perhaps a smaller wattage 30-45w household bulb on the mid to cool side would suffice nicely in a tank of this size.

With what and how are you going about gauging temps?

And what are the tank temps running (basking, mid-tank and cool side) for both?

Thanks,
Em

 

[seymours]

I use a exo terra temp gage to check and it said hes basking was 95 and that is after i moved his branch way up on bricks and the other side with the light is 85-87. He jsut seems really slow and not as active as before and when he is at the bottom of his cage and i pick him up hes cold. And no i ment sun glo so im going to buy more bulbs that you mentioned. maybe thats the problem? I keep my house at 72-73 so its a little chilly in here all the time

 

[Embee]

Hi,

I wouldn't consider 72-73 degrees chilly at all. We keep our house at 68-69 and our 40 breeder tank requires one 100w mercury vapor bulb and a 45w household flood on the cool side to maintain good temps. Indeed, the behavior your beardie is displaying is very common in a beardie who is not getting proper UVB exposure. You will likely find that once you have a quality UVB source installed, your beardie's activity level will pick up as well as his appetite (healthy young beardies can [and should] consume up to 50-110 live feeders per day).

The temp gauges are they the dial type then? Dials are known to be very inaccurate (up to 20 degrees in either direction). What's more, is they are not designed to be placed under the heat source, but to remain stationary in one place, usually on a tank side. It is very difficult to determine an accurate basking temp with a dial thermometer. Either a digital with probe type thermometer or temp gun are best, however good temp guns tend to be pricey. There is a good digital with probe available at WalMart (in the household/hardware section, with the other indoor/outdoor thermometers), made by Acu-Rite, for around $12. It also house a built in humidity gauge which is nice (should run 30-50%). The probe will allow you to place the sensor on the basking surface/directly under the heat lamp. Remember, leave the sensor in place for 45 minutes BEFORE reading temp, to give the thermometer ample time to peak and level off.

Proper temps in the tank should run as follows:

basking, 105-110 (babes and juvies) 90-100 (adults 1 1/2 - 2 years and up)
mid-tank, 85-90
cool side, about 80

As to UVB, indeed, you will need a QUALITY source of UVB, as it is essential to your dragon's growth and health. Without proper UVB a dragon cannot thrive, as it is directly responsible for processing calcium/D3 synthesis, appetite stimulation, proper bone formation, growth and overall health. Below I have cut and pasted (from my own care sheet) the two different ways you can go on this:

Option 1: Tube UVB plus Basking Bulb: The best is the ReptiSun 10.0 TUBE, best price here: http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-fluorescent-bulbs/504983/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-uvb-bulb.html Two lesser recommendations would be the Repti-Sun 5.0 TUBE and the Repti-Glo 8.0 (NOT 10.0) TUBE, but these bulbs are just ‘ok’ in terms of UVB exposure and online, about the same price as the ReptiSun 10.0 TUBE, so always good to go with a higher quality bulb, if at all possible. You can usually find an inexpensive strip fixture for the ReptiSun 10.0 tube at your local hardware store. As to which size, you will need to make sure the UVB strip covers *at least* half the top of the tank.

Additionally, you will need a basking bulb for UVA and heat. This can be a specific pet store basking bulb such (as the Sun Glo), or a regular household incandescent bulb, or household flood or spot, so long as it provides BRIGHT WHITE LIGHT, and proper temps. Beardie should to be able to get to within 6-8 inches (but no closer) of the UVB tube at the basking area, and the two bulbs should align at the basking end of the tank as follows:


______________tube
0 basking bulb

...so that beardie has benefit of both bulbs while basking, for optimum UVB exposure/calcium absorption/thorough digestion, and so the bright light from the heat/UVA bulb will guard beardie's eyes while under the UVB. With the tube UVB, you will want calcium WITH D3 for your feeders. Dust 5 meals per week with calcium. A good calcium supplement at a good price is: http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-supplements/105551/rep-cal-ultrafine-calcium-with-vitamin-d3.html. Replace UVB tubes every 5-6 months.

Option 2: (for tanks 40 gallons and larger) MVB (Mercury Vapor Bulb) These bulbs house UVA/UVB/HEAT/D3 all in one bulb. The best I can recommend is the MegaRay http://www.reptileuv.com. MVBs have a “burn in” period, so watch temps VERY closely for the first few days as you will probably see them rise. You may need to raise the bulbs (or lower the basking surface) to get proper temps. The bulbs tend to level off after the 4th day or so. Replace bulbs every 10-12 months.

Important when purchasing UVB: Avoid all compact and coil light. Avoid any bulbs/tubes that I have not specifically mentioned here. Here is a thread link/WITH link, that will explain the importance of this: viewtopic.php?f=1&t=65424&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=coil+uvb


For nighttime, if the room in which beardie is housed does not go below 65 degrees, no supplemental heat source is needed. If the room does get lower than 65 degrees, consider using a ceramic heat emitter (CHE). It gives off heat, but no light. Avoid red/colored bulbs for night heating as beardie can see the bulb, and it can disturb his/her sleep. Beardies prefer dark at night/while sleeping. Also, avoid under tank heaters and heat rocks. Beardie's sense heat only from above, and both of these items are a serious burn risk.

Daytime lights should be on for a minimum of 12 hours per day for a 12 hour day/12 hour night lighting cycle. Up to 14 hours a day of daylight lighting is ok.

Hope that helps in your decision. Please let me know if there is anything else I can help you with. Also, if you would like, I'd be happy to PM you the entire care sheet from which this excerpt was taken. Just let me know!

Em

 

[seymours]

Ok so the UVB just helps with calcium? Cant i just use a UVA bulb and calcium powder instead?

 

[peera]

No, you can't just use calcium, because without UVB they have no way to process it.

 

[Embee]

No, you can't just use calcium, because without UVB they have no way to process it.

Yes, this. You can give your beardie plenty of calcium, but as Peera said, he won't be able to process it without proper UVB. As I mentioned in my above post:

Without proper UVB a dragon cannot thrive, as it is directly responsible for processing calcium/D3 synthesis, appetite stimulation, proper bone formation and sustaining of healthy bones, growth and overall health.

Indeed, there is NO substitute for UVB exposure. Calcium and UVB work in tandem. You can not use one over/in place of the other. Dragons are desert animals and the UVB source is the equivalent of their sunlight. Without it, they cannot thrive. It is an essential part of any dragon enclosure. A dragon without proper UVB will begin to show signs of--and subsequently succumb to--metabolic bone disorder (MBD).

They need calcium supplementation, yes (5 meals per week for babes and juvies and 3 days per week for adults 1 1/2 -2 years), but they need the UVB light to provide the means by which to process that calcium.

Dragons have very particular needs. Lighting, gauging accurate temps, supplementation, etc., these are all things that need to work together for a dragon to grow well and be healthy.

If it helps, I (along with MANY others here) learned all of this the hard way.

The best,
Em