New Beardie Owner In Need of Assurance!!

[ZeeC]

Hey all! I honestly love the crap out of this site. Literally answers every single worry and question I have about Charlie. I got Charlie about three weeks ago and my first vet visit was yesterday, just to make sure everything was peachy with Charlie. Charlie hasn't been sexed yet because according to the vet, Charlie is 7-8 months old... my friend who gave me the beardie said Charlie is 5 months old, so I'm gonna meet both of them in the middle and say Charlie is 6 months old. Just wanted to know if my set up is proper: cool side is 83-85 degrees F and basking side is 103-109 degrees F. Using an infrared thermometer to measure temps. I have a 40 breeder size tank and setting a lamp hanging on the cooler side and using a Philips 75w Halogen PAR30L as his basking light. Charlie has a perch on the basking side, a hideaway, a reptihammock, no substrate as flooring, only using construction paper, a terrarium desert background wall covering. I got the Reptisun T8 10.0 flourescent bulb, just waiting on the electronic ballast hood to give Charlie the much needed UVB. Feeding Charlie small crickets dusted with Calcium and Vitamin D3, also multivitamins every other day. Trying so hard for Charlie to eat greens! Giving Charlie mustard greens as the last meal of the day. Giving the crickets Orange Cube by Fluker's, as recommended by the vet. Charlie poops regularly, not watery, urate is white and I gave a stool sample to the vet just to be sure, haven't gotten the results yet. Charlie is currently in the stage of shedding, so I really need that UVB light. In supplement, I've been taking Charlie out for about an hour when the sun's out just to get Charlie the real deal rays. Also, I must Charlie outside of the tank and give warm baths to Charlie. So far so good?? And I learned all of this from this forum. LOVE IT!!

 

[AHBD]

Hi there, Charlie definitely looks closer to 4-5 months old at the most. Everything sounds good, but you can give him mrdium crickets rather than small, and you can feed the crickets vegetable scraps for food and hydration, just check daily that none of it gets moldy. Calcium every day, vitamins 1-2X a week at most. The Reptisun t8 is not as strong as the t5 so be sure he can get close to the bulb. Taking him out in the sun is the best uvb and will make up for any lack.

So, good job and hopefully Charlie will live a long + healthy life.

 

[ZeeC]

Hi there, Charlie definitely looks closer to 4-5 months old at the most. Everything sounds good, but you can give him mrdium crickets rather than small, and you can feed the crickets vegetable scraps for food and hydration, just check daily that none of it gets moldy. Calcium every day, vitamins 1-2X a week at most. The Reptisun t8 is not as strong as the t5 so be sure he can get close to the bulb. Taking him out in the sun is the best uvb and will make up for any lack.

So, good job and hopefully Charlie will live a long + healthy life.

Thanks for the response and the advice!!! How close would Charlie need to be to the t8?

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

If mounted inside the tank, he should be about 8" from the T8 bulb.

If you are able, I would highly recommend going for a T5 when you can. I just upgraded myself, and it's great peace of mind to know I have the strongest bulb out there right now, so if anything goes on, I will know my lighting can be ruled out almost immediately. This site gives some good comparisons, and is also where I ordered my T5 from, they have great customer service
http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/bulbs/arcadia/
http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/arcadia-d3-t-5-22-inch-24-watt-12-desert-uvb-the-original-reptile-ho-t5-in-north-america/

 

[ZeeC]

If mounted inside the tank, he should be about 8" from the T8 bulb.

If you are able, I would highly recommend going for a T5 when you can. I just upgraded myself, and it's great peace of mind to know I have the strongest bulb out there right now, so if anything goes on, I will know my lighting can be ruled out almost immediately. This site gives some good comparisons, and is also where I ordered my T5 from, they have great customer service
http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/bulbs/arcadia/
http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/arcadia-d3-t-5-22-inch-24-watt-12-desert-uvb-the-original-reptile-ho-t5-in-north-america/

Thank you!!! I bought a 36 inch terrarium hood from petfuys.com, can a t5 fit in there??

 

[traildrifterphalanx]

A T8 and T5 will be different lengths, so unfortunately, probably not
The 30"+ bulb I see off their site is 34"
http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/arcadia-d3-t-5-34-inch-39-watt-12-desert-uvb-the-original-reptile-ho-t5-in-north-america/

Depending on how you want to do things, you can go with a T8 for now and upgrade at a later time. I did a T8 bulb for both enclosures for 4 months before switching to T5, however, the fixtures I got to house the T8 bulbs were free, and T8 needs to be changed out every 6 months, so their time was coming up anyway. No real loss for me. That being said, T5 bulbs only need to be changed every year, if that helps sway your plans

 

[ZeeC]

A T8 and T5 will be different lengths, so unfortunately, probably not
The 30"+ bulb I see off their site is 34"
http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/arcadia-d3-t-5-34-inch-39-watt-12-desert-uvb-the-original-reptile-ho-t5-in-north-america/

Depending on how you want to do things, you can go with a T8 for now and upgrade at a later time. I did a T8 bulb for both enclosures for 4 months before switching to T5, however, the fixtures I got to house the T8 bulbs were free, and T8 needs to be changed out every 6 months, so their time was coming up anyway. No real loss for me. That being said, T5 bulbs only need to be changed every year, if that helps sway your plans

Ahhhh, okay I see. Well, come October, I should be able to get new uvb lighting fixtures for Charlie. Thanks for the help!