Bearded dragon set up advice for 3ft viv

[Lorne96]

Hello! I am a new member here. Only got my 13 week old baby beardie 2 days ago. It came with a full set up: viv, bulbs, fittings, thermostat, food bowls, decor- almost everything I needed. I bought other things like calcium d3 powder etc myself after a lot of research. Now, I didn't think to ask the breeder what types of lights, thermostat etc it was in the bundle (just way to excited to get my beardie ?) I have a 40w spot bulb and 13 watt curled uvb (I know they're not the best bulbs trying to get a uvb strip light to me asap) and I have a habistat mat stat 100w(max) thermostat. I ordered a 600w(max) dimmer stat that has came today so I will be fitting it later on as I am finding it very difficult to get temperatures right. Maybe this will help? Just need a bit of advice on getting the temperature right for my baby, it's a 3ft viv (unsure of height and width as I don't have a tape measure) with the heat bulb on one side and the uvb on the other. I hope the strip uvb comes today or tomorrow so I can get rid of that other uvb bulb I can tell already he doesn't like it. The temperature only goes to around 99F at the basking site but it round about 85F at the cool side. The mat stat I have in now is at full whack and it is still these temperatures. Once I have fitted the dimmer stat I will update on whether temperatures improve. I have ordered a 60w and 100w bulb to see if that could assist in making the basking spot a little hotter? Don't know of it will make a difference but I will try anything right now to avoid as much stress to the beardie as possible. We had to travel over an hour to get him so he is a little stressed out now anyway. He hasn't eaten much, maybe only 15- 20 baby roaches in the past 2 days too. He emptied his bowels yesterday but not today, he's a little more stressed today. But I just need some advice from the more experienced dragon owners on how to get temperatures right in there for him. He is very active, closes his eyes a lot, doesn't mind being held but doesn't like being picked up sometimes. (I try not to pick him up very often just yet as this could cause added stress right?) I stroke him every time I put my hand in, and he is cool with that. Any advice you can give me on anything from extra equipment i may need or getting my viv temps to the best temperature or anything else that may help me settle my beardie will be much appreciated! Thanks in advance! ?

 

[CooperDragon]

Welcome to the forum! It sounds like the viv is nice but the lighting needs some updates as you said. The 13w bulb isn't sufficient for a dragon so that should be discarded. I suggest placing the UVB light and basking light as close together as possible so both are shining down over the basking area. Depending on the distance between the bulb and the basking site a T8 or T5 tube would be best. A T8 works best at 6-8'' while a T5 works best at around 12''. If you have enough overhead space, a T5 is the better option.

For basking, having a dimming thermostat will be quite helpful. A halogen flood light will work for basking and will handle dimming pretty well. You still want to get as close to proper temps as you can by adjusting the wattage. This will take some trial and error but 60w is a good place to start. Once you have the temps close, the thermostat will take over to fine tune and auto adjust the temps based on fluctuations in the house temps.

If you'd like to post photos of the setup and your new buddy it would be helpful. You can upload photos here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and post them to your thread using the XIMG button when you reply.

 

[Lorne96]

Hi! Thanks for getting back to me, i forgot to check if I had any replies haha. I have changed the 13w coil bulb for an arcadia t8 12% tube light now, i still have the 60w spot light and the temperatures are stable, i got the dimming thermostat set up too. Temps are 107 basking, 92 hot side and 83 cool side, my humidity is around 34% (after buying a hydrometer- it was only 20% before I had this oops!) But I have a big concern he is not eating much at all. He'll have greens when I'm not looking but not many, i have roaches as his staple food, he will eat 1 maybe 2 a day, sometimes I can convince him to have more. I have tried feeding in the cage, in a bowl in the cage, outside the cage in a feeding tub and just letting them run over my floor and he isn't interested. I had to handle him a lot the past week I have had him, i know I shouldn't but the end of his tail is a little black, looks like it is drying up and could fall off.. I took him to a vet (not a reptile vet, just wanted a vet to look at it) I don't think it's tail rot as the black isn't spreading and the only hard part of his tail is the little tip where it is obvious he has either been bitten or got it trapped or a bad shed. Keeping an eye on it though. The vet gave me a cream called flamazine that I have to apply 2 times a day but i don't believe there is an infection so I stopped using it. He finished a shed last week so not due one now for a couple of weeks. Just really starting to worry about his appetite, i have ordered calciworms, locusts and waxworms (I know waxworms are addictive and are really fatty but I just want him to get some food down him! I don't plan to feed him many of them at all) they should be here within the next couple of days. I don't know whether it's relocation stress still or if he just doesn't like roaches or if he is wary of me because of the handling I've had to do the last week. Now his viv is set up fine and I won't need to mess with him I hope he perks up and wants to eat more. If he isn't eating more by next Wednesday then I'll be calling a reptile vet, see if I can get a fecal done and if the vet can help me out here. I feel like a terrible beardie mum all I want is for him to eat and be happy! Any advice you can give me with this would be amazing, I'll try and put up some pictures tonight or tomorrow

 

[CooperDragon]

The Arcadia T8 is a good upgrade, that's a nice bulb. A T8 is best when it's used in a fixture with a reflector and it should sit about 6-8'' above the basking area. Your temperature gradient sounds just right.

Can you post a photo of his tail? Sometimes they just darken at the end naturally and it's nothing to worry about.