how can i make this better?

[thewalrus]

I got my beardie Yoda about two weeks ago. So far I think he is doing fine, but I constantly worry that i am not doing enough to make him happy. I have a 55 gal aquarium, it is 48" long. As of now i have (1) repti Glo 10.0 uvb long bulb. (1) 150W Heat Glo Infared heat Lamp, which is over his basking log, and stays on 24 hours a day., and I have (1) 75W Basking bulb W. UVA Incadescent lighting.

If anybody has the same size aquarium, can you tell me if i should change, anything or everything? Should i add another UVB, or UVA lighting source, the 10.0 is 18" long, and my tank again is 48".

I am so paranoid that i will mess up.

Also while i am here are 1/8" crickets two large for a baby beardie, he is about 7" from head to tail, maybe 8 or 9. I know that the space between his eyes is bigger than 1/8" but i do not know how they measure the crickets. I just ordered from an online store, and am expecting them to arrive any day.

 

[citrusdragon]

The only thing I don't see noted is basking and ambient temp, and assuming those are correct, he should be fine. If you see his poop in the cage, he's eating. As long as the skin on his flanks is not too loose, a sign of dehydration, he would be very normal. As long as the crickets aren't so small he leaves them alone, and they aren't 1/2 or larger I'd say you gonna be okay. Sometimes it can be a little overwhelming with the many authorities on this site. Judging by the set up your describing, does his behavior seem normal?
Continuous basking sounds like the life to me

For me poop is the key... you can tell a lot just from the doodoo. How often? How much? How runny? Urates? Normal everyday semi-solid poopies are what your looking for

Just the straight poop

Jeff

 

[thewalrus]

hello, the ambient temp on his warm side stays between 85 - 90 degrees, basking spot about 95-105degrees, oin the cool side it is usually around 70-75... that seems cool for me.

He has pooped once a day so far, it is generally black and white.. and is semi solid.

I have question about where to place the lighting. As of now i generally have the infared over his basking log, the other heat light in the center and the UVB covering teh cool side. I tend to move the uvb, and the uva heat bulb to different locations, because i dont know where they should be, should they all be on one side, or how would you recommend placing the lights that i have on my screen?

 

[Stephies_Leo _Dragon]

I would suggest putting your uvb tube light on the same side as your heat light because that is where he is going to bask the most. And the Repti Glo 10 is known to cause eye problems in beardies I would switch that out as soon as I could with a ReptiSun 10 bulb. Also 18" tube light is a little short for a 48" tank I would have at least a 24" light. I am not sure if you should leave the infrared heat light on all the time but maybe someone else could comment on that one. It really depends on how cold it gets in your house. Beardies can stand cooler temps at night when they are sleeping, and by cooler I mean like 70 degrees. Someone can correct me if I am wrong. I would try to get his basking temp up to like 110-115 degrees, babies like it alot warmer than adults. 1/8" cricket sounds fine to me as well for now .....lol The little booger will soon grow out of them !

 

[thewalrus]

thanks for the reply, I will be switching to a reptisun 10.0 24" asap, thanks for the info. It gets quite cold here, its like in the minus 0 outside now. His tank is on my first floor in a hall near the front door, and it tends to be colder than the rest of the house there. And i really have no other room to keep him, so i think it would get to cold without the infrared light. When it was warmer at night last week he would sleep on the cooler side away from the light, it would be down to around 70 there. now he sleeps closer to the center of the tank, because i guess he like the heat from the warm side. if there is an alternative i am open ears. but thanks again for the info about the reptiglo 10.0, that is very scary, he has had it now for two weeks, do you think it has done permanent damage already? also before i go and buy a new light, are we sure that teh 24" will be large enough?

also is there a place where i can find cheap fixtures for a 24" bulb, i currently have two 18" fixtures, only using one. would it be better that i use two 18" bulbs? 2 10.0's? One 10.0 + One 5.0, One 10.0 + One 2.0? What would you think would be best? Or just one 24" 10.0?

 

[wizbee]

Beardies need total darkness at night to get proper rest. I don't know about the infared bulb. Does it give off light? Some people in colder places use a ceramic heat emitter that gives off heat but not light.

 

[AprilMayJune]

I have only owned our two beardies for about 3 months now, but have done extensive research on them since. I am constantly on this site, reading, soaking everything in. I think I have read almost all the posts in each section of these discussion forums.

When we first got our two beardies, they came with an infared light. The previous owners said to keep it on at all times. Not knowing anything better, we did. We had them about a week and the infared burnt out. We went to the pet store and just bought a bright white basking light.

The beardies seemed to absolutely LOOOOOOVE the bright white light as opposed to the red light. We also red on here that if temps don't get below 65 F at night we don't need a heat source for them. We monitored their temps over night and it didn't get below 65 so we didn't need a heat source for the night.

Our beardies are now seperated, and they seem to sleep so much sounder with no lights on in their vivs. They used to move about during the night with the infared, but now, once they zonk out, they are gone for the night. I can even pick them up and move them and they won't budge.

I would suggest, because of my experience with the infared (even if it was only for a week or so) if you do need a heat source at night, invest in a ceramic heat emitter. You could always use a heating pad but it is suggested you attach it to the outside of the walls as opposed to under the tank.

Just my two cents.

 

[Stephies_Leo _Dragon]

you can purchase light fixtures for the tube lights at Wal Mart or like Home Depot or Lowe's for fairly cheap. Just one 24" Reptisun 10 will be fine for him. I doubt there is any permanent damage to his eyes in that short a time but I would switch it out as soon as possible. As for the infrared I would replace it with a ceramic heat emitter so they can sleep well at night. And if you need it a regular house hold bulb for extra heat and basking during the day. You can also find the dome light fixtures really cheap at WalMart in the auto or hardware department. I agree with everything else April said especially about the temps at night.

 

[thewalrus]

thanks for everyones help, I replaced the reptiglo with a 24" reptisun 10.0 today, i will be replacing the infared light when i can, as of now, he sleeps fine everynight when i turn the UV's off. But i will replace that when i can save some more money. thanks again.

 

[AprilMayJune]

You could always just use a regular normal household bulb. That gives off enough heat. sometimes you just have to play with the wattage on the bulb until it's at the temp your beardie needs.