Lighting Help With My New Beardie - PLS HELP

[beardierhaegal]

So I just brought home my first pet bearded dragon about 5 days ago, so far he is doing very well. I am just concerned about the lighting situation I have setup for him. As of right now I have two bulbs, one is a zilla t8 desert 50 lamp, this lamp says on the actual bulb that it emits uva and uvb light. I am not entirely sure if this is true. My main heat lamp is a Zoo Med 100 W uva basking lamp, it is white light. I just want to make sure that with this setup my beardie will be fine in the long run. Each bulb is around 10-12 inches from his basking spot.

I am very nervous that this lighting setup is not correct, however with that being sad everything health wise seems fine with Rhaegal so far, he eats everyday and his poop looks completely normal. I am just worried that with both lamps giving off uva light there could be a problem.

Thanks to everyone that helps me out both Rhaegal and I will greatly appreciate it.

 

[CooperDragon]

Your T8 does produce UVB, but it's not very strong. Best suited for very small tanks. 6-8'' is the effective range and it's not very useful beyond that. At 10-12'' I think you're best off getting a T5 bulb and fixture. Also, be sure to remove the clear plastic from in front of the bulb as that will intercept all of the UVB.

As far as the heat lamp goes, that should be fine as long as it's producing proper surface temps. 100-110 basking area surface temps and a gradient down to about 75-80 on the far side is what you want to shoot for. It's important to use an IR temp gun or digital thermometer with probe to get an accurate reading.

 

[beardierhaegal]

Your T8 does produce UVB, but it's not very strong. Best suited for very small tanks. 6-8'' is the effective range and it's not very useful beyond that. At 10-12'' I think you're best off getting a T5 bulb and fixture. Also, be sure to remove the clear plastic from in front of the bulb as that will intercept all of the UVB.

As far as the heat lamp goes, that should be fine as long as it's producing proper surface temps. 100-110 basking area surface temps and a gradient down to about 75-80 on the far side is what you want to shoot for. It's important to use an IR temp gun or digital thermometer with probe to get an accurate reading.

Okay so I switched my heat lamp and my uvb lamp around on top of the tank and I think that will help. I have a branch that he usually basks on which will make it so that the uvb lamp is about 6-8 inches away compared to the 10 inches away it was before in the front. I think that should help him absorb more of the uvb.

Here is a picture of the tank just to get an idea. Let me know what you think. Also, thanks for the help.

I know it is kind of hard to see, but you can see the uvb tube behind the heat lamp now and this picture is perfect because he is in the exact spot he usually basks in.

 

[CooperDragon]

That sounds good. I'm not able to see your photo though. Please try uploading it here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and then post it to your thread using the XIMG button when you reply.

 

[beardierhaegal]

That sounds good. I'm not able to see your photo though. Please try uploading it here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and then post it to your thread using the XIMG button when you reply.

 

[CooperDragon]

Yeah that should help. You may want to add a branch or vine (or similar) to allow access even closer to the lights as an option.