Bright lighting

[Stephanieml1]

My two year old beardie refuses to eat veggies and I noticed the only way I can get him to eat veggies is outside in the sunlight. However, he eats his insects perfectly fine inside his viv without need of sunglight. Is this a personal preference thing or is it because I need brighter lighting in the viv ?
I'm also concerned when winter approaches how will I get him to eat his veggies without bright sunlight
Thanks !

 

[CooperDragon]

What do you have in place for lighting? It's more likely he's just being picky if he's otherwise eating well and is active/alert.

 

[Stephanieml1]

What do you have in place for lighting? It's more likely he's just being picky if he's otherwise eating well and is active/alert.

he's eating perfectly fine. he just doesnt eat veggies unless he's outside
I have a T8 10.0 reptisun mounted inside along with a 100 watt zoo med basking light thats outside

The only thing I can think is that one side of the viv is dark, however he tends to spend his time on the basking side anyways. Also, the 10.0 reptisun i have is 18 in which idk if its good enough for a 55 gallon

 

[CooperDragon]

That should be pretty good in terms of a basking light. In a 55g you may want to consider using a T5 UVB Light which would also put out a bunch more visible light. I was blown away by how much brighter my T5 was when I upgraded from a T8.

 

[Stephanieml1]

wow i didnt know the brightness would vary on a t5, Thank you so much for feedback !

 

[Taterbug]

T8 lights are rather dim and most lighting severely lacks in UVA. UVA is visible to dragons and often adds a different level of "color" or patterning to plants. Natural sunlight may actually make the veggies LOOK tastier. Google UV photography of plants. It's wild.

The T5 also has a higher output of UVA so it might help If that's the case along with the added brightness.

 

[Drache613]

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