New beardie owners need any help?

[mango_the_beardie]

Hi i feel like this is the time of year a handful of people get a beardie and need a little bit of help we all went through that when we first got our dragons so this is a forum if you need help but don't really know what to ask for if that makes sense and also if you ask for help on this forum I'll most likely respond fast because I get notifications on my phone when someone replies to my threads
thanks for asking for help^^

 

[Adauphin]

I just got a new beardie 4 days ago. I have a 10 gallon setup for now (i will be upgrading to a 40 gallon later when he grows). Im using an 85 watt basking light with uva and uvb all in one. The basking area is between 100-110, but im having some issues with the cool side. Its staying around 75 degrees. Starting yesterday ive noticed him a little less active and not eating his crickets. Im kind of worried about him. Should I get his cool side temp up more, and if so how? Here is a pick of his setup

 

[Adauphin]

I just got a new beardie 4 days ago. I have a 10 gallon setup for now (i will be upgrading to a 40 gallon later when he grows). Im using an 85 watt basking light with uva and uvb all in one. The basking area is between 100-110, but im having some issues with the cool side. Its staying around 75 degrees. Starting yesterday ive noticed him a little less active and not eating his crickets. Im kind of worried about him. Should I get his cool side temp up more, and if so how? Here is a pick of his setup

Oh the thermometer isnt on top of the basking rock anymore lol

 

[mango_the_beardie]

I just got a new beardie 4 days ago. I have a 10 gallon setup for now (i will be upgrading to a 40 gallon later when he grows). Im using an 85 watt basking light with uva and uvb all in one. The basking area is between 100-110, but im having some issues with the cool side. Its staying around 75 degrees. Starting yesterday ive noticed him a little less active and not eating his crickets. Im kind of worried about him. Should I get his cool side temp up more, and if so how? Here is a pick of his setup

it seems like your beardie wants to stay on the cool side because the basking spot is too hot for him and then the cold side is to cold try a 75 watt for him and then when he grows I'm going to say it now GET A 75 GALLON it's not nessicarily a bad thing but its funny because I see someone following my foot steps I had a 10 gallon for my beardie and then we got her a 40 gallon yes it lasted a while but if we would have just gotten the tank that we have now we would have saved HUNDREDS of dollars but another problem is where is the uvb? UVB is VERY important for them and can even cost them there lives I know this isn't the best decision since they need a tube light and in a 10 gallon there's not enough space i'd say get a double dome and put your 75 watt basking bulb in one side and get a 10.0 uvb light for the other side and when she moves into a bigger tank get a tube light if you need help with sizing and where to put it then I'm always here^^

 

[Adauphin]

it seems like your beardie wants to stay on the cool side because the basking spot is too hot for him and then the cold side is to cold try a 75 watt for him and then when he grows I'm going to say it now GET A 75 GALLON it's not nessicarily a bad thing but its funny because I see someone following my foot steps I had a 10 gallon for my beardie and then we got her a 40 gallon yes it lasted a while but if we would have just gotten the tank that we have now we would have saved HUNDREDS of dollars but another problem is where is the uvb? UVB is VERY important for them and can even cost them there lives I know this isn't the best decision since they need a tube light and in a 10 gallon there's not enough space i'd say get a double dome and put your 75 watt basking bulb in one side and get a 10.0 uvb light for the other side and when she moves into a bigger tank get a tube light if you need help with sizing and where to put it then I'm always here^^

Do you think i should get another light for the cool side to bring the temp up a bit? Also everything ive read says basking should be 100-110 degrees. Is that not correct?

 

[smaugthebeardie3756]

You want the temp from the basking spot with a probe thermometer to measure actual surface temp. The stick on can only measure the ambient air temperature, so if it is reading 110 that surface is hotter. Also just be aware that the mercury vapor bulbs like you have sometimes don't produce enough UVB and some brands have even been shown to be harmful. I don't use them so I'm not as knowledgeable on which brands are alright and which aren't. If you want to change to a long tube light, you can get a ZooMed T5 hood and use the 5.0 bulb it comes with for your 10 gallon tank and then change to a 10.0 bulb in a bigger tank.

 

[mango_the_beardie]

Do you think i should get another light for the cool side to bring the temp up a bit? Also everything ive read says basking should be 100-110 degrees. Is that not correct?

For babies that is pretty intense and if you get the double light it should make the cool side a tad hotter

 

[Rubble1212]

Like Smaug said get yourself a probe thermometer and then use your other thermometer for the cool side. 100-110 is fine for any age dragon but again like Smaug mentioned above if that dial says 110 it’s probably 120-125 on the surface. So maybe until you get a probe thermometer see if you can get the dial to read 95 or so by raising the light up but that’s going to decrease the uvb and hence the problem with MVB bulbs. Use it for now and maybe save up for a t5 setup.

Arcadia ProT5 UVB Kit 24"

 

[Rubble1212]

Another thing is invest in a temp gun their pretty cheap and great to use along with the probe because I’ll find when my probe says 105 for example the temp gun might read 110 so you can use the two to tweak the temperature to exactly what your dragon likes.

Limited-time deal: Etekcity Infrared Thermometer 774, Digital Temperature Gun for Cooking, Non Contact Electric Laser IR Temp Gauge, Home Repairs, Handmaking, Surface Measuring, -58 to 716 ℉, - 50 to 380 ℃, Yellow https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B00837ZGRY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_dl_EDMJ8S2PG3Q8B7VEA90F

 

[Laura Kathryn]

I just got a new beardie 4 days ago. I have a 10 gallon setup for now (i will be upgrading to a 40 gallon later when he grows). Im using an 85 watt basking light with uva and uvb all in one. The basking area is between 100-110, but im having some issues with the cool side. Its staying around 75 degrees. Starting yesterday ive noticed him a little less active and not eating his crickets. Im kind of worried about him. Should I get his cool side temp up more, and if so how? Here is a pick of his setup

ALL looks good , they do need to adapt to their new home wouldn't worry eating just yet. However a double dome light should be perfect you don't want it to be too hot on the cool side. When you get your bigger habitat then you could have the extra lights uv-b especially. Can't wait to see the new crib

 

[Laura Kathryn]

ALL looks good , they do need to adapt to their forever home . Be patient, and do not leave any live crickets in your babies habitat please . Big no no . They are smart , so don't stress about the cool side . They know where to go to warm up . Best of luck. Can't wait to see the new crib .

However a double dome light will work. When u get hee big home definitely add a long tube light . Change often. Xxxooo i wanna see pic's

 

[Laura Kathryn]

Hi i feel like this is the time of year a handful of people get a beardie and need a little bit of help we all went through that when we first got our dragons so this is a forum if you need help but don't really know what to ask for if that makes sense and also if you ask for help on this forum I'll most likely respond fast because I get notifications on my phone when someone replies to my threads
thanks for asking for help^^

Thank you for being there for us

 

[Adauphin]

However a double dome light will work. When u get hee big home definitely add a long tube light . Change often. Xxxooo i wanna see pic's

Here is my new setup. Heat bulb over the basking area and uva/uvb over the mid. Hes so much happier with more room. I should have done this from the beginning.

 

[Adauphin]

Here is my new setup. Heat bulb over the basking area and uva/uvb over the mid. Hes so much happier with more room. I should have done this from the beginning.

Obviously i took the box at the bottom off lol. This pic was at first setup.

 

[Adauphin]

Like Smaug said get yourself a probe thermometer and then use your other thermometer for the cool side. 100-110 is fine for any age dragon but again like Smaug mentioned above if that dial says 110 it’s probably 120-125 on the surface. So maybe until you get a probe thermometer see if you can get the dial to read 95 or so by raising the light up but that’s going to decrease the uvb and hence the problem with MVB bulbs. Use it for now and maybe save up for a t5 setup.

Arcadia ProT5 UVB Kit 24"

I got a thermal temp gun and its working great. Thanks