Lighting Question

[jenspets]

Hey! This is my first post and I just got my first beardie yesterday. He is about 2 years old and I adopted him from the ASPCA. I have been researching their care for a few years, but I have a couple questions about lighting. First, I have a 50 gallon tank that is 48” long, 20” wide, and 12” high. Since it is only 12” tall, should I use a 10.0 t5 or t8 uvb? I am concerned about the distance. Thanks in advance!

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

You'd want to use a T5 HO 10.0 reptisun bulb.
If you used a T8 it would be far too weak and the beardie would develop MBD from the lack of UVB.

Screen blocks about 40-50% of all UVB.
If you were to use a T8 it would have to be mounted underneath the screen at about 6-8 inches at the very least.

 

[jenspets]

Ok, without a screen, would a t5 or t8 bulb work better for my tank? My tank is only 12 inches tall, so I’m concerned that he would get too close if it was a high output uvb bulb.
Also, should the uvb be the full length of the cage? My tank is 48 inches long. Thanks!

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

I'd go for the T5 personally, this way it provides high UVB and you also don't have to replace it every 6 months like the T8's. You'd only have to replace it every 12. I doubt it would put off so much UVB that it would harm your beardie at that height.

I raised one of my bearded dragons underneath a 46" Reptisun T5 HO 10.0 bulb with no screen except underneath the basking bulb. She did entirely fine with the high UVB in that 20 gallon tank.
The 20 gallon she was in was about 30"L-12"W-12"T.

Every beardie has a preference though, some like really high UVB levels while some prefer a bit lower and less intense.

I like providing UVB all over the tank and then having multiple hides so they can get away if needed. However you could also go for a 34" rather than a 46" so you have a bit of the cool side without UVB if the beardie wants to get away.

 

[jenspets]

Ok I think I’ll try 10.0 HO t5 uvb bulb. Thanks! Should I have a basking spot so he can get closer to the uvb?

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

Its good to offer a variety of temperatures and UVB levels. In one my of my adult females enclosures she has a hammock that sits beside her log and goes from there to the middle of the enclosure.

She can get high levels and low levels of UVB on these two areas along with 88-110 temperatures.
On her log it sits about 105 with about an inch or two away from her Arcadia D3+ T5 HO 14% bulb that is on screen. It also has a fork in the log so if she wants she can go down to the next level which sits about 5 inches from the screen and about 103.
On the middle portion of the log it sits about 6 inches away from the screen and about 108.

On her hammock it has the lowest of UVB levels on the basking area as it his the farthest away, it has low temperatures near the lowered end and high temps on the higher end.

With my sub-adult female her enclosure has a single basking spot rather than multiple like my adult has however I plan to add more in the future.
Her basking spot sits at about 108 directly below the light, she mostly basks right there however occasionally I may see her on the tile which can get up to 103.
This area doesn't exactly have high UVB levels, I can not monitor them yet but taking a guess its more of a moderate/middle level of UVB.
However on her hammocks that sit on the cool side she can get right up to the UVB which she normally does during the mornings and afternoons. She has the same high output bulb as my adult female.

And then with my male, since his tank is a 50 gallon rather than the minimum of a 75-120 gallon (hes getting an upgrade within a few months) he doesn't have too many options. It's mostly just the standard 105 basking temp, 88 warm side, and 75 cool side with a lower percentage UVB bulb, that being a T5 HO 10.0 bulb rather than a 14% bulb. However once his bulb runs out he'll be getting a 14% bulb and hopefully have a new 75 gallon where he'll have more options.


Anyway if you can go ahead and try to setup a second basking area thats closer to the UVB light to offer that type of option... Only problem I really see with a 12" high enclosure is it limits the space you can use. Beardies are quite the climbers and seem to enjoy climbing quite a lot so in the future It may be good to get a enclosure thats 16 inches or more so that you have more space.

 

[jenspets]

Ok thank you so much! I plan on building a cave/basking site with bricks, so I use that under the uvb so he can get closer.