Bearded Dragon newbie, please have a look at my setup

[TrisMcC]

Hi guys,
I was given a young male BD last year that was rescued from a pet shop that was closing down and basically starving their remaining livestock that they couldn't sell. He was in a terrible state when rescued but has since made huge improvements over the last 12 months. The person who saved the beardie couldn't keep him which is how he ended up with me. Initially my biggest problem was not knowing much about BD's as I've never owned a reptile before, but I read up as much as I could (which is how I found this website, and a lot of what I've learned has come from here so thank you to everyone) and went about getting him the right setup asap.
It's taken me a while to get everything sorted but here's what I have so far (by no means is it a finished product yet), I would really appreciate if any of you more experienced BD keepers could have a quick look and tell me what you think, and if you see anything wrong please let me know.
Thanking you all in advance!
Tristan.

Additional info - The viv is 150x70x50 cm, the UVB has a 10.0 output (on for 12 hours a day), the basking area has a white day bulb (100W) and his basking spot is 41 degrees Celsius (12 hours a day), he has blue night bulb (60W) and his basking spot goes down to 25 degrees Celsius (12 hours a day). The cool side of his viv ranges around 15 to 20 degrees depending on the time of year (I'm in Ireland). The lights are all on timers so there's no inconsistency to his light and temperature routine.

 

[TrisMcC]

Also, just to add, he's eating well, he seems alert and healthy. I'm not sure if it's just worth mentioning but he doesn't really use the space in his viv that much, most of the time he just basks and will ocassionally walk around. He doesn't really climb on the wood, overall he's quite a lazy lizard and only really becomes active when he's chasing crickets during feeding time. He brumated last winter which was no fun for me as I had no idea at the time what was going on and thought he was dying, but came out of it last January.

 

[jjh1]

your viv looks great but you dont need to have a night light on Beardies like to sleep in the dark at night and there is no need for one at all.
if your temp at night goes below 70 you could get a ceramic heater but if not then there is nothing to worry about on that end.

 

[michigan101]

you have his basking spot at 41 C, which is about 105 F, how is this measured. Seems he would be gaping at this temp? do you use a temp gun or a thermometer (cant see one pictured)

I agree a ceramic heat emitter is needed in place of the blue bulb.

You say the cool side of his viv is 15 C or about 60 F. That seems very cool for day time. It should be up around 28 C or 82 F. This could be why he doesn’t hang around down there. Also, if you were to add a light at the other end to warm it up, it would also brighten it up. The cool side seems a little dark, they are sun loving lizards, the brighter the better in the day time!

Other than that, keep up the good work. Kudos for looking into the care of him since you weren’t familiar!

 

[TrisMcC]

Thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated!
I'm working on getting a second, lower watt day bulb for the other side of the viv to increase overall temp and keep the entire enclosure bright for day hours.
I'll also look into replacing the blue night bulb with a ceramic heater, will I need a thermostat to maintain proper temperature for something like that?
Also michigan101, he basks under his day bulb most of the time and rarely opens his mouth to cool off so I don't think he's too hot, but from what I've read I thought 105 F is an ok temperature for an adult beardie's basking spot, no?
One last thing, what do you guys feel about MVBs? I've heard a lot of good and bad things, also if I go for one it's be a MegaRay, but as it stands is the UVB ok? He's around 6" away from it while basking. Also while I'm using a UVB, would it be better to use a longer one that runs the whole length of his enclosure, or is the one I have ok?
Again thanks for all your feedback so far

 

[michigan101]

105 is a good temp for a beardie, just didnt know how you were measuring the temp. I didnt see a thermometer pictured.

as far as MVB, i havent used them personally. I hear mixed reviews so I stick to the Reptisun 10.0

Also have read that its best to have the UVB stretch the entire enclosure to. So if you are able to change it out, feel free. Or wait til its time to change the one you have

 

[TrisMcC]

Just to clarify, I use a digital thermometer to monitor temperature periodically, I just don't have it installed permanently, so as to save batt life. The day time basking spot is 42.8~42.9 C

And the cool side of the viv is at 22.5 C, is this too low?

 

[TrisMcC]

Oh and one more thing I forgot to add, occasionally my beardie will sleep on the cool side of the viv, and when he does, he will remain there for most of the next day. It appears as if his system has slowed down in the cooler temp and he's become more lethargic.When this happens he hisses at me if I try to touch him. Now when he's under the heat he's really easy going and has no problem being stroked or handled (though I don't handle him everyday, he's still a sociable lizard), but only on these rare occasions when he's cooler he becomes more aggressive and wary of any contact (though when this happens I gently scoop him up and place him back under his basking spot, though he makes his body bigger and hisses he's never made an attempt to bite, but he's clearly pissed off). Shortly after he's been put back under his basking spot his temperament improves and he returns to normal. Now I'm only speculating here but it's as if being in the cooler side sometimes slows him down to the point that he's too lethargic to return to the warmer side and almost gets 'trapped' there, and maybe that makes him more vulnerable which is why he instinctively reacts aggressively to any movement? As I've said above the cool side of his viv is at 22.5 C, which is a tad too low but I wouldn't have thought low enough to cause this kind of behavior?

 

[BadCon]

Its not uncommon for dragons to become less sociable when they are cold. Its most likely an instinctual thing...they lack speed and stamina to run away when cold, so they'll just be extra mean and hope whatever is bothering them gets the hint. As for being "trapped" on the cool side...probably not. They are just really temperature dependent, so when it cools down, they go into a mild brumation state. Probably hoping for warmer temps...or perhaps trying to conserve what little heat they have left. But they can certainly move around in temperatures down to 60 degrees F or so. That said, the cool side should probably be in the 70's at least; 60 degrees just seems a bit too cool for daytime temps.