Mercury vapor bulb & tank question!!

[wolfiemorph]

I'm getting a mercury vapor bulb on Friday for my bearded dragon. I only just realized that the girl I got the tank from had him in a 20 gallon tank instead of 40 gallon, like she'd said. He's a juvenile.

Is the mercury vapor bulb too strong for a 20 gallon tank?? Or would I be able to just make the fixture and the bulb higher away from the tank so that it's not too hot?

Please help, he has bad/cheap lights right now(no clue about what they are) and I really would prefer to get him the mercury vapor bulb. It's 100 watt, Fluker's Sun Spot Bulb..It's already been ordered, too..

Thanks

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, yes you can still use it and it should rest just a bit higher than the screen to be sure it doesn't burn it. If the screen lid is the larger gauge [ rather than the flyscreen type ] then it can set on top of it.

Can you post a pic of him + his tank showing the screen ? Here's how to post :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then use the XIMG to upload

 

[wolfiemorph]

Here's some pictures I took yesterday. I can take better ones of his tank when I turn his lights on today. It'll be about 30 min before his lights can be turned on, though. Then I'll take a pic of the screen on his tank. Sorry

*EDIT*

Here's the top of the tank

 

[AHBD]

That screen should be fine....how many watts is the bulb that is resting on it now ? If it's 100, then it can take a 100 MVB. Also, it looks like a red bulb being used [ if so, get rid of ] and looks like the crushed walnut bedding. Be sure to get that out ASAP, beardies can ingest it + become seriously impacted. Children's playsand from Walmart/Home Depot is much safer but there are still some reports of ingestion/blockage . The calcium sand from pet stores is also bad, avoid that completely.

You might want to use non adhesive shelf liner instead. It looks good, is easy to wipe clean and no danger of ingestion. But try the MVB on the screen briefly to see if it burns any, it may not and you'll be fine. If it does, just raise it an inch, no more than that + it should be fine.

That's a pretty little dragon + looks very healthy !

 

[wolfiemorph]

Thanks!!!
I have no idea about what the bulb is. It's probably less than 50 watts, because the fixture says that nothing more than 50 watts should be used. The girl didn't tell me what wattage any of the bulbs were.

I'm getting his new substrate(Exo terra sand mat), light, temp gun, calcium & vitamins all on Friday. I really can't do anything about it now.. will he be okay?... I've ordered everything and the soonest it's all arriving is Friday...

 

[AHBD]

Yes he'll be fine in there until then. If you ever need new fixtures for a high watt bulb you can find aluminium dome reflectors at places like Home Depot, Walmart, Agway, Tractor Supply [ in some areas ] for a very good price.