My name is Brandon and im new to the bearded dragon community. I just got my beardie yesterday at the St. Louis Reptile Show, his name is Drake. I have been researching beardies for the last month or so and finally got setup to get one. I have found this site to be a great and everyone on it to be so helpful and hope to be around for many years to come!
His terranium is only a 20 gal for the time being however im going to build one in the next month or two... The light im using is an ESU Mercury Vapor Super-B 160W flood.
I do have a question about the light tho, if you notice in the pic its only about 6-7" from him however the temp reading with the digital (where the probe is laying in the 1st pic) is only getting a reading of ~105 F, my question is...is the MVB to close to him (I know they say keep them ~12" away)?.... if i move it up anymore its not as warm....
Well you could have a second light (just a normal bulb from hom depot or something), but right now the temps are fine, but I'm sure if you were saying the temps right now are 105, 105-110 is what you probably want.
Yeah, temps are ~105 in the basking spot (~80 F on the other side) which i know is about right however i was just making sure the mercury vapor bulb wasnt too close or anything says on the box and was told at least 12" away but to get temps right its only 6-7" away... Also, anyone know much on the ESU Super-B MV Bulbs, like if they are good on uvb/uva output and such?
Also, i have another question about his feeding (which i should probably be addressing in the feeding section)....this is only the 2nd day of having him which maybe he is still just getting use to the new environment...but he seems to only be eating 8-9 crickets or so per feeding (been feeding 2-3 times a day) i thought that was a little low...? Also no greens at the moment however that might be because he is still young...
I've had trouble with heating as well sometimes. I struggled to get to 100 degrees. I recently got a breeder tank. Hoping it will help with the heating.
Thanks for the info! You guys/gals think the 160W ESU MVB I have is ok for now or you think i should look into getting a different bulb/light setup pretty quickly? or should it be ok for the next few months until i get his new space built? Thanks again and thanks for the welcomes!
Thanks for the info! You guys/gals think the 160W ESU MVB I have is ok for now or you think i should look into getting a different bulb/light setup pretty quickly? or should it be ok for the next few months until i get his new space built? Thanks again and thanks for the welcomes!
Were you refering that th emurcury light is 6-7" away from your dragon? Not sure if thats what you ment. If you want the light to be 12-13" away from your dragon, and also have good temps, get a regular light bulb, and put it near the basking stop, to get better temps.