Building a New Enclosure.....

[twixy79]

Hey all,

I am a newbie so please excuse me if I post this in the incorrect place. I am setting up an old (old meaning not used, not age) 55 gal tank for my baby beardie. My hope is to have this completed before Christmas, because having the 55gal and his 10gal in my room, along with my 40gal fish tank, makes me feel like I am sleeping in an fish tank store....


Tank & Decor.......

We are converting a 55 gal fish tank into a new home for our baby beardie. We have already gone ahead and ordered the Zilla Fresh Air Screen Cover to replace aquarium cover. We also have gone ahead and ordered a fun desert background. We are torn between using a sand mat, and a reptile rug (we have already ordered both) so any input on which your beardie likes better will be greatly appreciated.... and we are totally confused about lighting/heating.


Lighting......

I read that the light is only supposed to be 2/3's of the tank, therefore if the tank was 48", the lighting should be 32"? Correct? If that is the case, we are thinking about either the ReptiSun or the Arcadia. I would consider the Arcadia 14%, however I am afraid that that will just be too much UV rays for our little bugger... I did reach out to Todd from Lightyourreptiles.com and I am sure I will get some good input there..... Any recommendations from you guys will be greatly appreciated as well...

Next, we were going to be buying a CHE (because we rarely turn on our heat) and we don't want to sweat our butts off at night just to keep Chewie warm. We are also thinking about using just a regular energy saver bulb on our cool side (because even with the Reptisun or Arcadia, I am afraid we will "dark" spots. Is this regular light bulb ok to use?

For basking, I know we need a 100w basking bulb. But I just don't know what brand to go with. I think I am confusing myself with reading too much about zoomed and zilla bulbs being bad for beardies, and affecting their appetite... So any recommendations for this will also be greatly appreciated.

Setup

This is where I am afraid I am going to cook Chewie. I know for the ReptiSun they need to be 6-10" from the bulb, and I believe the Arcadia 12% is 12" from the bulb. Is that correct? Basking bulb distance? Is there one? I don't want branches/climbing stuff going all the way to the top of the tank, but I also don't want him to not get enough UV rays....

Temperature Regulation

I have purchased 4 NOMOYPET Reptile Digital Thermometer and Humidity Gauge with Suction Cup to place throughout the tank. One at the basking spot. One on the basking side of the tank, but not in the direct path of the light, one to place in the middle of the tank under the UV bulb and the last one will be on the cool side. Is this enough, or do I need more? I also have a infrared thermometer gun (which I have been using) to regularly check his tanks temperature....

I also have several Zilla Reptile Terrarium Heat & Habitat Lighting Temp. Controller,1000W that I purchased to help regulate the temperature when I am not home. I will have one set up near the basking site, and another in the cool zone. Am I correct in assuming that I do not want to have one on the main UV bulb?



Did I miss anything? Anyway, I have no idea what to put in his tank for decoration. He currently has a rock cave, a climbing stick, and his food/water rocks. I think I'd like to keep things simple in the new tank, especially since he will still be relatively small for a 55 gal......

 

[Taterbug]

UV : a 10.0 or 12% should be fine. The 14% needs to be about 15" away and that might get clumsy. Todd should give you some guidance. With either of these a 22" bulb would be fine - they are bright enough. Todd sells some multibulb units - one of these with a UV in one bay and daylight bulbs in the others would work nicely. A long one would work as I believe Todd sells plastic UV blocking shields so you can control the UV gradient.

Ambient Light : I like fluorescents for ambient since they are nice and bright for he amount of space/energy they use. Regular lights would be fine too. A multibulb fluorescent unit on a stand might work well for your situation.

Ambient heat : a CHE at night is good. I also really like radiant heat panels.

Basking heat : brand doesn't matter as much as performance. I just use flood lights. You want a bulb as far away as reasonably possible - 12"min is a good start. You want to make sure there are no "hotspots" which are generally caused from being too close. These can lead to thermal burns. The basking zone should be at least as big as the lizard and uniform in temp.

Decor : personally I don't care for simple setups. Dragons aren't not always but can be active lizards and simple setups leave them with nothing to do or be challenged by. They are semi arboreal and with practice are really good climbers. Of course you don't want to croud him but offering lots of climbing opportunities and such will help keep him mentally and physically stimulated and healthier in the long run.

 

[twixy79]

UV : a 10.0 or 12% should be fine. The 14% needs to be about 15" away and that might get clumsy. Todd should give you some guidance. With either of these a 22" bulb would be fine - they are bright enough. Todd sells some multibulb units - one of these with a UV in one bay and daylight bulbs in the others would work nicely. A long one would work as I believe Todd sells plastic UV blocking shields so you can control the UV gradient.

Ambient Light : I like fluorescents for ambient since they are nice and bright for he amount of space/energy they use. Regular lights would be fine too. A multibulb fluorescent unit on a stand might work well for your situation.

Ambient heat : a CHE at night is good. I also really like radiant heat panels.

Basking heat : brand doesn't matter as much as performance. I just use flood lights. You want a bulb as far away as reasonably possible - 12"min is a good start. You want to make sure there are no "hotspots" which are generally caused from being too close. These can lead to thermal burns. The basking zone should be at least as big as the lizard and uniform in temp.

Decor : personally I don't care for simple setups. Dragons aren't not always but can be active lizards and simple setups leave them with nothing to do or be challenged by. They are semi arboreal and with practice are really good climbers. Of course you don't want to crowd him but offering lots of climbing opportunities and such will help keep him mentally and physically stimulated and healthier in the long run.

Well we moved Chewie over to his new setup because he was not eating in his small 10 gal tank. I had originally thought that maybe he couldn't chase the crickets because it was too crowded and he didn't want to have to maneuver around things, but as it turns out, I think he is just a very very very picky eater (as he is still not showing any interest in food). We ended up with the ReptiSun 10.0 (for now) and will probably purchase the Arcadia 12% next week. The ReptiSun was the easiest to get my hands on thanks to Amazon Prime.

We ended up with 2 basking bulbs, one 150w and one 100w. One is on his stick. One is on his rock platform. We used the Chromalux bulbs Todd recommended. We also have the CHE on mounted on the "cool" side of the tank, and we have that set to a temperature timer (I am really not sure what those things are called) but it is set to come on and turn off as temperatures fluctuate outside of the set parameters.

I also got a few repti-vines for climbing as you recommended, however I forgot to put them in originally, so my pics below are before the vines...


So far, Chewie is still not eating. Or if he is, it is only when we are asleep, or not in the room. I haven't seen him come off of his basking stick, or platform. He still does well in the bath, and will drink if sprayed down. I haven't seen him venture over to the cool side of the tank AT ALL yet. Not sure if that's normal. I am currently on hold with FedEx as they "lost" my overnight shipment from Rainbow Mealworms so now, I have to come up with a new plan for trying to feed him.