New Beardie Mom; Does My Setup Look Alright?

[ScatterBrain]

Hello everyone, my name is Jaden and I'm a new beardie mom! I got this little guy named Sebastian a few weeks ago for my birthday and I'm so excited to have him. I've done an exhausting amount of research to ensure he lives a good life. However, there's one thing I'm not so certain about...

I don't know if my setup is good or not, so please tell me if there's anything I should add/remove. I'm only 15 and I don't have a lot of money left, but I'll try my best to fix anything as soon as possible. (Sorry for the poor quality, I'm on my laptop so I can't take clear pictures.)

Right side of tank: Basking rock, plant, and Zilla humidity gauge (at 40%/100 degrees F currently)

https://www.petsolutions.com/images/Products/96368029.jpg

Middle of tank: Large log for him to climb on

Left side of tank: Food bowl and water bowl

Three Zilla lights: 150 w on the left side, 70-80 w black/purplish bulb in the middle, and 20 w coil light on the right side.

Also, how the heck do I stop his humidity levels from going over 40% at night? I stopped spraying his cage every day, but it still gets to 50-60% when I wake up to turn his lights on.

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

Greetings!
Welcome to the forum with your new buddy!

Thank you for supplying photos right away as that helps us a lot. I do unfortunately have some immediate suggestions regarding the setup :wink:

Firstly, THANK YOU for not having a loose substrate like sand or crushed shells. Many new owners go for that stuff right away, and though not all agree, most do believe that this loose material is not good for dragons, especially babies. So thank you for doing your research there

What I did notice right away is the lighting.
:!: Dragons will only need 1 basking bulb and 1 UVB bulb. At night they need no bulb. If your room gets below 65 degrees at night, a Ceramic Heat Emitter (CHE) is recommended as this puts off heat but no light. Lights will disturb their rest and can affect their overall health, so please remove the purple/night bulb unless you want a cranky dragon
:!: I can also tell from the setup you are using a compact/coil UVB bulb. While this may be ok for now, I would recommend a tube/long UVB light like a Reptisun 10.0 (or arcadia), however you did mention you are short on cash. The reason this is recommended is that the UVB output from the compact/coil is very limited and cannot travel far, meaning that unless your dragon is always 6" from this light, he isn't getting the UVB needed.
In the meanwhile, you should move the basking/heat light and UVB light right next to each other so your dragon can absorb both at the same time. Upgrading to a tube light when you can would be a great idea or your dragon could suffer health issues.

Regarding humidity, it's safe to remove that water bowl in the enclosure. Dragons do not recognize standing water to drink from, and your dragon will likely just use it as a poop spot. Totally up to you, but removing it will also take the humidity down. Also, daily misting isn't necessary unless you are misting them to drink the droplets off their nose, or to aid in shedding.

Regarding the tank it self, it looks on the smaller end, so please know you will need to upgrade in just a month or two to at least a 36x18x18 as these guys grow like wild fire. While my oldest grew to only 16.5", my 6 1/2 mo old is already almost 17" long with a lot of time to keep growing.
You may also want to consider covering at least 2 of the 4 walls in a background to help your dragon feel secure. They do not understand glass very well and think they're floating in the middle of no where.

 

[ScatterBrain]

Hello, and Thank you for the reply!

Dragons will only need 1 basking bulb and 1 UVB bulb. At night they need no bulb. If your room gets below 65 degrees at night, a Ceramic Heat Emitter (CHE) is recommended as this puts off heat but no light. Lights will disturb their rest and can affect their overall health, so please remove the purple/night bulb unless you want a cranky dragon

When I'm able to get the CHE thing, should I get rid of the purple bulb (Or "UVB" bulb as you referred to it) and switch it out with the CHE? Where would I place the CHE on top of/inside the tank? My room gets below 65 degrees sometimes, so I want to make sure he's warm enough.

I can also tell from the setup you are using a compact/coil UVB bulb. While this may be ok for now, I would recommend a tube/long UVB light like a Reptisun 10.0 (or arcadia), however you did mention you are short on cash. The reason this is recommended is that the UVB output from the compact/coil is very limited and cannot travel far, meaning that unless your dragon is always 6" from this light, he isn't getting the UVB needed.

So the 20 w bulb isn't necessary to have at all right now? And where would I place the Reptisun 10.0 on my tank as well?

In the meanwhile, you should move the basking/heat light and UVB light right next to each other so your dragon can absorb both at the same time. Upgrading to a tube light when you can would be a great idea or your dragon could suffer health issues.

Wow, I didn't know the lights I have could cause health issues. I'm so glad you told me that. Anyway, so should I move the UVB and basking light to the middle of his tank? Or somewhere else?

Regarding the tank it self, it looks on the smaller end, so please know you will need to upgrade in just a month or two to at least a 36x18x18 as these guys grow like wild fire. While my oldest grew to only 16.5", my 6 1/2 mo old is already almost 17" long with a lot of time to keep growing.
You may also want to consider covering at least 2 of the 4 walls in a background to help your dragon feel secure. They do not understand glass very well and think they're floating in the middle of no where.

Oh geez, I didn't realize they grow that quickly. I'll see what I can do regarding the tank size. Also, what exactly should I cover the walls with? Right now I only have a few fake leaf vines taped at the back of his tank. I had to place them outside of his tank because he kept trying to eat them, lol.


Thank you again for you reply. Everything the guy at the pet store told me was completely different from your advice. Now I know to be cautious in the future of them :|

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

Thank you again for you reply. Everything the guy at the pet store told me was completely different from your advice. Now I know to be cautious in the future of them :|

:lol: Welcome to dragon ownership!
Don't worry, they basically dish out the information they are told to tell people and unfortunately are often incorrect. My first dragon they told me I would need a night bulb and I flat out told them no, so they looked it up and agreed. You can't really blame them. Many times they are working only part time for minimum wage and are just doing as instructed.

I'll tackle your responses one at a time because I know I gave a lot to respond to.

:!: Regarding CHE
I personally have not had to use one, I keep my house at 72 constant in the winter here in Wisconsin, and then set the thermostat to maintain 68 in the summer (will only kick on if it dips below.)
I would recommend the CHE on top of the screen as it would get very hot and you'd of course not want the dragon to come in contact with it. I would keep it clustered to one side of the enclosure to make the other side cooler if need be. Right in the center would keep the entire enclosure likely the same temp and could get too warm.

:!: Regarding UVB
I do not believe the purple bulb is your UVB, should be considered an infrared light which is unnecessary. The one putting off the bright blue/white light is your UVB, and in the meantime, snug this one over to the basking light. As mentioned above, I recommend the lights on 1 side of the tank to allow the other side to be cooler.
If you were to get the tube style/reptisun UVB I personally have mine mounted inside the enclosure, attached to the screen top. You can see it in the back of this photo of my oldest (sorry I don't have one specifically showing this, I'm at work). Her basking light is on the far left on the enclosure.

It's recommended inside the enclosure as the screen will filter out a good amount of the UVB waves. I am actually in the process of upgrading my own UVB lights as well to
http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/22-t-5-ho-fixture-high-output-with-arcadia-d3-6-ho-bulb/
Which I will be placing on top of the screens as this light is powerful enough that even with waves being filtered, it's still very effective.

I hope this helps!

Found a better example of the enclosure setup though this is an older photo.
The tube UVB expands the entire enclosure and the basking spot I have to the way right of the enclosure.

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

Forgot to mention backgrounds.
Both of mine have custom backdrops from someone on Etsy, though I cannot find the listing...
***edit - found it: https://www.etsy.com/listing/270503877/custom-aquarium-terrarium-background?ref=shop_home_active_3

Otherwise, most pet stores carry backdrops, or you can even use magazine pages, depends on your style