Beginner Bearded Dragon Owner

[quantum]

Before I start, I need to establish some things.

I got my first ever personal pet today, a bearded dragon.
I have never owned my own pet, nor do I have any pet experience under my belt.
I got my bearded dragon today (4/27/24) at PetSmart.


I have a 40 gallon tank that came with the things I need for Hybrid by the brand Thrive. It came with a carpet, lights, water bowl thing, etc.


Now, the thing that worries me the most is the humidity and temperature levels in my tank. I have little to no idea how humidity even works, either. The device that measures the temp. and humid. measures it simultaneously, so it displays both temp. and humid. levels in the tank. The thermometer and hygrometer has a small needle/pin on a circular frame that turns to what temperature it is, so, if the temperature is 110°F, the needle/pin will rotate/turn to that degree on the circle. Now, the thing that worries me the most is that the cold side of the tank has a 70% humidity level meanwhile the hot side has a humidity level of about 46-48% according to the hygrometer. The temp on the cold side is about 80°F and the hot side is about 100°F-ish. I've done some quick research, and I'm heavily confused. The humidity is supposed to be 20-30% in the tank, but both sides show nowhere near that. I have no clue if the gauge is just inaccurate or not. I'm buying a ZooMed thermometer and hygrometer in case they are just inaccurate, but the huge difference between humidity between both sides is concerning me a lot. Also, am I supposed to keep the basking light off for 12 hours and keep the cool light on and vice versa or keep the basking light off for 12 hours and keep the cool light on all 24 hours?? I have no clue. I'm so completely new and need all the help I could get.


Now I don't know if this matters or not, but the basking stick is about 8" or less away from the light, so should I raise the basking light higher or get a shorter basking stick?
And also I used a thermometer gun on the basking stick, and it reached about 153°F, don't know if that's relevant or not.
Immediate help will be greatly appreciated by us both.

 

[Meli]

Before I start, I need to establish some things.

I got my first ever personal pet today, a bearded dragon.
I have never owned my own pet, nor do I have any pet experience under my belt.
I got my bearded dragon today (4/27/24) at PetSmart.


I have a 40 gallon tank that came with the things I need for Hybrid by the brand Thrive. It came with a carpet, lights, water bowl thing, etc.


Now, the thing that worries me the most is the humidity and temperature levels in my tank. I have little to no idea how humidity even works, either. The device that measures the temp. and humid. measures it simultaneously, so it displays both temp. and humid. levels in the tank. The thermometer and hygrometer has a small needle/pin on a circular frame that turns to what temperature it is, so, if the temperature is 110°F, the needle/pin will rotate/turn to that degree on the circle. Now, the thing that worries me the most is that the cold side of the tank has a 70% humidity level meanwhile the hot side has a humidity level of about 46-48% according to the hygrometer. The temp on the cold side is about 80°F and the hot side is about 100°F-ish. I've done some quick research, and I'm heavily confused. The humidity is supposed to be 20-30% in the tank, but both sides show nowhere near that. I have no clue if the gauge is just inaccurate or not. I'm buying a ZooMed thermometer and hygrometer in case they are just inaccurate, but the huge difference between humidity between both sides is concerning me a lot. Also, am I supposed to keep the basking light off for 12 hours and keep the cool light on and vice versa or keep the basking light off for 12 hours and keep the cool light on all 24 hours?? I have no clue. I'm so completely new and need all the help I could get.


Now I don't know if this matters or not, but the basking stick is about 8" or less away from the light, so should I raise the basking light higher or get a shorter basking stick?
And also I used a thermometer gun on the basking stick, and it reached about 153°F, don't know if that's relevant or not.
Immediate help will be greatly appreciated by us both.

Congrats on the lil baby you've adopted!

There appear to be quite a few peeps that are very knowledgeable here, so you should get some answers pretty quick. I've had my gal for about a year, so a few things from me:

The 153 degrees F on her basking spot is a bit hot. Ideally it shouldn't go above 115F. So you might wanna move the stick down or the light up!
As for the two lights, twelve on and twelve off for both. If you still use your room during lights out, I'd also recommend getting a lil towel to drape over the spot they're sleeping in so it's dark for sleeping.

For humidity, 70% is way too high and 30% is within ideal range. 40-50 is acceptable and shouldn't hurt the lil one. Humidity is basically how much water is in the air. Too much and they might get sick!

I'd also recommend that you start saving to upgrade the tank, too. When they get bigger they'll need a bigger tank, to the tune of 90-120gal depending on a few factors. It's not relevant now, but might make things easier in the future!

 

[KarrieRee]

Welcome to the forum - your tank is good for your baby eventually you will want to upgrade to a 120 gallon but for now we need to get the surface basking temps up to par - they should be taken w/ a digital probe thermometer- 105-110- ambient temp around 100-- cool side of the tank 80ish during the day - night time temp 65-75 no lights on at night- cool and dark-- uvb a long tube fixture if your is in a dome it is a coil and a health hazard - we can work on humidity but for now everything I have posted about is crucial to your dragons survival

 

[quantum]

Congrats on the lil baby you've adopted!

There appear to be quite a few peeps that are very knowledgeable here, so you should get some answers pretty quick. I've had my gal for about a year, so a few things from me:

The 153 degrees F on her basking spot is a bit hot. Ideally it shouldn't go above 115F. So you might wanna move the stick down or the light up!
As for the two lights, twelve on and twelve off for both. If you still use your room during lights out, I'd also recommend getting a lil towel to drape over the spot they're sleeping in so it's dark for sleeping.

For humidity, 70% is way too high and 30% is within ideal range. 40-50 is acceptable and shouldn't hurt the lil one. Humidity is basically how much water is in the air. Too much and they might get sick!

I'd also recommend that you start saving to upgrade the tank, too. When they get bigger they'll need a bigger tank, to the tune of 90-120gal depending on a few factors. It's not relevant now, but might make things easier in the future!

Thank you so much! Just to clarify though, for the lights, I keep both on for 12 hours and both off for 12 hours? Sorry I didn't quite catch that part

 

[Meli]

Thank you so much! Just to clarify though, for the lights, I keep both on for 12 hours and both off for 12 hours? Sorry I didn't quite catch that part

Yup! Both on for twelve, both off for twelve n-n
And you're very welcome!

 

[AHBD]

Can you post some pics of the tank and the lights ? A temp. of 153 is waaaay too high and needs to be addressed right away. You definitely need a different bulb, that is pretty much an emergency. A beardie would be at risk of a very serious burn if it stayed in that zone for even a short time. It can also cause a respiratory infection wuth super high temps. like that.

 

[Chris.]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your first pet

As the others mentioned 150°F is waaay out of the range, you want something around the 120°F for a baby.
You also want a way to meassure the temps correctly, so you should get a probe thermometer or a temp gun!
Temps and lights are the single most important thing for your dragon!!

THIS NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED ASAP!!!!


As Meli explained humidity is the amount of water in the air and bearded dragons should be kept between 0% - 50% or so. The reason being they can easily get infections with higher humidity. High humidity also promotes growing of bacteria, fungus and mold. Needless to say you don't want any of those.
High levels are usually caused by something wet or moist inside the tank (substrate, wood, etc.) or very humid air in your room around.

 

[quantum]

Can you post some pics of the tank and the lights ? A temp. of 153 is waaaay too high and needs to be addressed right away. You definitely need a different bulb, that is pretty much an emergency. A beardie would be at risk of a very serious burn if it stayed in that zone for even a short time. It can also cause a respiratory infection wuth super high temps. like that.

I should be able to

 

[quantum]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your first pet

As the others mentioned 150°F is waaay out of the range, you want something around the 120°F for a baby.
You also want a way to meassure the temps correctly, so you should get a probe thermometer or a temp gun!
Temps and lights are the single most important thing for your dragon!!

THIS NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED ASAP!!!!


As Meli explained humidity is the amount of water in the air and bearded dragons should be kept between 0% - 50% or so. The reason being they can easily get infections with higher humidity. High humidity also promotes growing of bacteria, fungus and mold. Needless to say you don't want any of those.
High levels are usually caused by something wet or moist inside the tank (substrate, wood, etc.) or very humid air in your room around.

Thank you for your help! But with the temperatures, what bulb do I get? I feel as if the bulb I currently have is wayy too strong, also considering the height of my basking spot. I did some research and I'm being told to get a thermostat or something like that to adjust my temperature and humidity. I'll be getting two probe thermometers and hygrometers soon.

 

[quantum]

Welcome to the forum and congrats on your first pet

As the others mentioned 150°F is waaay out of the range, you want something around the 120°F for a baby.
You also want a way to meassure the temps correctly, so you should get a probe thermometer or a temp gun!
Temps and lights are the single most important thing for your dragon!!

THIS NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED ASAP!!!!


As Meli explained humidity is the amount of water in the air and bearded dragons should be kept between 0% - 50% or so. The reason being they can easily get infections with higher humidity. High humidity also promotes growing of bacteria, fungus and mold. Needless to say you don't want any of those.
High levels are usually caused by something wet or moist inside the tank (substrate, wood, etc.) or very humid air in your room around.

Also, this might seem a bit silly but how do I know what types of bulbs to get for the hot and cold sides?... I think the UVB bulbs are used for the hot side but even then I'm not entirely sure.

 

[Chris.]

Also, this might seem a bit silly but how do I know what types of bulbs to get for the hot and cold sides?... I think the UVB bulbs are used for the hot side but even then I'm not entirely sure.

Exactly wrong
You want a tube style uvb that spanns around 2/3 of the tank and a basking bulb for the hot side.

If you will upgrade to a bigger tank soon (it sounds like you will) you can get a mercury-vapor-bulb or better a metal-halide-bulb. Those are pretty good all-in-one bulbs.
When you have your final tank (probably 120GAL for an adult) you can pair those up with a tube uvb:

Here is what I did, notice the round metal-halide-bulb on the hot side, the uvb tube in the back and some led stripes to light everything out.

The temps you get will depend on the wattage (W) of the bulb. If it's too hot you should get a bulb with less wattage and/or raise the distance to where your dragon will sit (aka the basking spot).

 

[quantum]

Exactly wrong
You want a tube style uvb that spanns around 2/3 of the tank and a basking bulb for the hot side.

If you will upgrade to a bigger tank soon (it sounds like you will) you can get a mercury-vapor-bulb or better a metal-halide-bulb. Those are pretty good all-in-one bulbs.
When you have your final tank (probably 120GAL for an adult) you can pair those up with a tube uvb:
View attachment 89224
Here is what I did, notice the round metal-halide-bulb on the hot side, the uvb tube in the back and some led stripes to light everything out.

The temps you get will depend on the wattage (W) of the bulb. If it's too hot you should get a bulb with less wattage and/or raise the distance to where your dragon will sit (aka the basking spot).

So the metal-halide-bulb is for basking and the UVB one is for cooling off

 

[Chris.]

You don't need a light for cooling off. You just want a spot in the tank that is cool enough for your dragon to drop its body temp if needed.

Your dragon needs two things basically:
- UVA and warmth to digest his/her food
- UVB to process calcium and produce vitamin D3

UVB is the one every one makes a fuss about (rightfully) as it also triggers activity, appetite and lack of it causes metabolic bone disease.

A standard halogen basking bulb will put out UVA but no UVB.

A tube style UVB bulb will produce UVB and some UVA (not enough though). But will spann a big area of the tank.

A metal-halide-bulb and a mercury-vapor-bulb will produce UVA as well as UVB but mostly in a single spot.

The mercury will result in very high (dangerous if placed too close) UVB so is better used in bigger tanks.
Metal-halide-bulbs will put out propper UVB and a lot more visible light compared to mvbs.

For a small tank I'd get a metal-halide-bulb only because your dragon will be in its beam most of the time.
For a decent size tank I'd pair it with a uvb tube to be on the safe side.

 

[quantum]

You don't need a light for cooling off. You just want a spot in the tank that is cool enough for your dragon to drop its body temp if needed.

Your dragon needs two things basically:
- UVA and warmth to digest his/her food
- UVB to process calcium and produce vitamin D3

UVB is the one every one makes a fuss about (rightfully) as it also triggers activity, appetite and lack of it causes metabolic bone disease.

A standard halogen basking bulb will put out UVA but no UVB.

A tube style UVB bulb will produce UVB and some UVA (not enough though). But will spann a big area of the tank.

A metal-halide-bulb and a mercury-vapor-bulb will produce UVA as well as UVB but mostly in a single spot.

The mercury will result in very high (dangerous if placed too close) UVB so is better used in bigger tanks.
Metal-halide-bulbs will put out propper UVB and a lot more visible light compared to mvbs.

For a small tank I'd get a metal-halide-bulb only because your dragon will be in its beam most of the time.
For a decent size tank I'd pair it with a uvb tube to be on the safe side.

Where can I get a metal-halide-bulb?

 

[Chris.]

Unfortunately I'm in Europe but maybe @AHBD can give some insight, she uses mvbs if I remember correctly?!