First timer here!

[wandigo]

Hey all, just got my first Bearded Dragon yesterday. This is my first reptile pet so I really look forward to using these forums to guide me alone in raising this little guy. I haven't got a name for him yet but I'm leaning towards either Bruce Lee or Seth Able (he created an old 90s DOS game called Legend of the Red Dragon)

Here's his set-up for now. It's a 10gallon tank, and I will be upgrading to a larger size I assume within a few months when he gets a little bigger. Feeding him crickets, cilantro and veggies. I seem to be having trouble getting the temperature in the tank in the 90s though, I'm not sure if it's because I have a weak light (60wat red bulb) or because the cage is near my balcony window.

Thanks in advance for all the help I'm sure I will get from here!!

 

[XiDiS]

Ditch the red bulb... beardies need bright white basking lights. Do you have a UVB light at all? If so what brand name and style is it? Basking temps should be around 110-115f at the hotest spot and 80-90 on the cool side.

 

[wandigo]

Ditch the red bulb... beardies need bright white basking lights. Do you have a UVB light at all? If so what brand name and style is it? Basking temps should be around 110-115f at the hotest spot and 80-90 on the cool side.

These are the two lights I am using. The Day White Light came with the cage setup and the other bulb was given to me by the breeder that sold me the dragon:

If these aren't what I need, what kind of bulbs should I buy instead?

 

[Lindz0518]

I would also get rid of the water bowl, they create humidity with can cause respiratory infections. Most of us on here don't use water bowls, a soak of shallow warm water up to his elbows every other day will keep him hydrated because they absorb water through their vents. I agree with getting rid of the red bulb. You can use a halogen flood or regular clear household bulb for basking. You need a probe thermometer to measure temps, the dial thermometers can be off by 20 degrees. His basking spot needs to be between 105-110. Also you will need to get a Reptisun 10.0 tube uvb light or an arcadia 12%. You can get the fixture for them at walmart for $8. The uvb coils can cause eye damage and don't have the correct wavelengths that beardies require. It needs to be mounted on the inside of the tank because the screen filters out the uvb, you can use 3M command hooks to do this. He is a cutie!

 

[Lindz0518]

Also don't use the red light at night. As long as the tank doesn't fall below 65 at night then he doesn't need any extra heat. If it falls below 65 then you can use a ceramic heat emitter.

 

[wandigo]

Thanks! I went and bought a 13W ReptileGlow 10.0 UVB bulb so I'll see how that goes. I still need to get a better thermometer as well. I already had to give him a quick bath earlier because he ran across my breakfast plate and stepped on french toast covered with syrup. LOL

 

[Lindz0518]

You need to take the bulb back and get a ReptiSun 10.0 tube, the reptiglo will cause eye issues.

 

[speedyfuzzball]

Welcome! Your little guy is so tiny! I love the picture of him sleeping on your finger
You will want to get a reptisun 10.0 or Arcadia 12% UVB tube in order for him to grow properly. Any others will probably cause more harm than good. You can measure temperatures more accurately with a infrared temperature gun or a thermometer w/ probe. Good luck and let us know if you have anymore questions!

 

[wandigo]

I would also get rid of the water bowl, they create humidity with can cause respiratory infections. Most of us on here don't use water bowls, a soak of shallow warm water up to his elbows every other day will keep him hydrated because they absorb water through their vents. I agree with getting rid of the red bulb. You can use a halogen flood or regular clear household bulb for basking. You need a probe thermometer to measure temps, the dial thermometers can be off by 20 degrees. His basking spot needs to be between 105-110. Also you will need to get a Reptisun 10.0 tube uvb light or an arcadia 12%. You can get the fixture for them at walmart for $8. The uvb coils can cause eye damage and don't have the correct wavelengths that beardies require. It needs to be mounted on the inside of the tank because the screen filters out the uvb, you can use 3M command hooks to do this. He is a cutie!

Hey Lindz, thanks for all the advice. So this is what I have so far, just want to make sure I'm doing this properly. I have a Zilla Day White Light incandescent light above his basking spot and I also went and bought a Reptisun 10.0 tube uvb light with a fixure I got from wal-mart. Are they in the right spots?

These are them flipped up just so you can see what I have going on. Do I need the plastic cover on the tube fixure or should I take that off?

Thanks again!

 

[daner923]

Hi there! Unfortunately, you should return that light fixture. You want to get at walmart instead an under cabinet fixture that you can hang INSIDE the tank. The screen alone blocks out 50% or more of the good UVB, and the plastic blocks out all of it. You want to mount the bulb inside the tank with 3M command hooks, 8-10 inches from the basking spot.

 

[wandigo]

Hi there! Unfortunately, you should return that light fixture. You want to get at walmart instead an under cabinet fixture that you can hang INSIDE the tank. The screen alone blocks out 50% or more of the good UVB, and the plastic blocks out all of it. You want to mount the bulb inside the tank with 3M command hooks, 8-10 inches from the basking spot.

This is the fixture I bought from Wal-Mart. Was it the wrong item?

 

[daner923]

If it is the large brown fixture in your posts above, then yes it is the wrong one. You might be able to mount that inside, though. It does have those holes in the top/back that you could hang it on the 3M hooks with. The one I got from Wal-Mart was by the same company, but looked like this (this is my set-up):

 

[wandigo]

If it is the large brown fixture in your posts above, then yes it is the wrong one. You might be able to mount that inside, though. It does have those holes in the top/back that you could hang it on the 3M hooks with. The one I got from Wal-Mart was by the same company, but looked like this (this is my set-up):

Thanks again for the help. I couldn't find anything like yours that was small enough to fit my cage, butI found something similar. Is this okay for now or is it too much for such a small cage? I don't know if it's possible for little Bruce Lee to get TOO close to the light or maybe even touch the bulb and burn himself so I want to be careful. I plan on getting a bigger cage within a month or two once he gets a little bigger. For now should I try this or stick with my 10.0 ubv Bulb until I get a bigger cage?

 

[daner923]

No, don't use the bulb. They can get too close, so you'd have to be careful, but it should be mounted soon.

 

[wandigo]

No, don't use the bulb. They can get too close, so you'd have to be careful, but it should be mounted soon.

Hey. Appreciate the feedback. Are you saying I should use the long bulb that I just bought and mounted? Or stick with the smaller one that goes on top of the cage near the basking spot? Right now the long bulb and fixture has the exposed bulb because I have the plastic cover off of it. Should I put the cover back on, or just not use the fixture at all until I get a bigger cage? Thx.

Ken