My new dragon habitat

[WonderWoman]

Hi my daughter just got a new bearded dragon. His name is Hanzo. I was wondering if someone could tell me if the lights in his home are ok. We have a 24 inch zoo med reptisun t5 HO with a t5 10.0 reprinted sun UVB light and a zoo med dome lamp with a basking light in it. Does that seem ok? I was also wondering if the placement looked ok? Thanks so much!

 

[CooperDragon]

Yeah that's a great UVB light. You might want to move it over next to the basking light so it produces the highest UVB over the basking area.

What are the surface temperatures on the half log he is basking on? You want the basking surfaces to get between about 100-110 and the cool surfaces over by the dishes should be around 75-80 or so. The basking light may need to be adjusted to reach these ranges (or close to it).

 

[WonderWoman]

Hi thanks. I am not sure how to check the surface temp. The thermometer reads 95 in the basking area. Are either of these light sets ups better? The second one allows for me to add another light bulb? Thanks

 

[Reptilelady]

Awe what a cute baby beardie!
Looks good. You might need to bump up the temps a bit like Cooper said, babies like it hot!

 

[WonderWoman]

Thanks. How do I go about getting the temp up. Which light setup is best. I took a pic of the two options. Thanks

 

[CooperDragon]

I would keep the setup in the second photo with the UVB light all the way over to the side. If the top is plastic then it may melt from the basking light though. You can shield it with some foil which should help. If it's metal it shouldn't be a big deal though. To increase the temps you will want to increase the bulb wattage. To measure the surface temps, move the probes from the thermometers. Put one on the log or bridge to measure basking temp and put one over by the food dish to measure cool side surface.

 

[WonderWoman]

Ok thank you. Should I get a longer up light? Or is that size ok. It’s a 40 gallon tank. The pet store also sold me a infrared light to use with the dual light fixture. But I read that is bad for them? The basket is light is 100w.

 

[CooperDragon]

Your UVB light is just the right size and a good one so keep that as it is. You'll want to replace the bulb every year or so to ensure it's producing it's best UVB.

The basking light really depends on the temps it's producing. Having it on an adjustable lamp stand or a lamp dimmer will help to make adjustments to that.

Infrared bulbs are fine for overnight but infrared is a ceramic bulb with no visible light. It just produces heat. The bulbs that produce visible red light can disrupt their sleep and shouldn't be used. If the temps in the tank stay above 65 overnight you don't really need the night bulb anyway.

 

[WonderWoman]

Thanks for the quick replies. So I moved the temps and it says the bridge temp is 105. And the other side of the tank is 80. I have the lights like this now. I just ordered a lamp stand.

 

[CooperDragon]

That sounds just right. I'd keep it as it is then. If you wind up not needing the lamp stand you could use the other fixture and put another basking light in it and set that up on the floor for free range time if it's safe to do so in your house (no other animals around, no small bits to eat on the floor etc).

 

[WonderWoman]

Great thank you so much you have been so helpful