New Beardie setup questions

[tmoore229]

Hi! I will be adopting a juvenile beardie who is currently being boarded at a vet for eye issues (they thought possible cancer but it's not). I want to make sure I have the right lighting in the right places. I have a 48L x 20h x 20d enclosure. I am planning on an Arcadia Pro T5 UVB 39W kit (44" long) installed under the hood. I also have planned on the basking light to be a 100W UVB/UVA basking heat light bulb UV Sun Lamp from Yauldsun.

1) with the T5, does the basking ALSO need to be uvb or is this tooooo much (should I get a "regular" basking only)

2) the T5 runs pretty much the entire length of the enclosure ensuring that he gets plenty of UVB - but again, is this too much and should I opt for a shorter light or just make sure I have hideouts and greenery allowing breaks from lights if he needs it?

I plan on a 12" distance from basking spot to basking bulb.

I will be using a ceramic heat emitter for night as my house (at least in winter) gets below 65 degrees.

ANY information, tips, tricks and help is GREATLY appreciated.

Also, I'm thinking this enclosure is too big for him now and plan on putting in a divider until he gets a bit bigger so he's not overwhelmed.

I do see that cilantro and dandelion greens are good for them to eat daily and am curious about planting some of those and some succulents in the enclosure to both add natural grazing and decor but also aid in humidity levels being maintained (I live in the south - naturally humid to begin with). Again, thoughts on this would be appreciated.

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[xp29]

So 2 of these-1 for ceramic heat emitter and 1 for basking bulb. Correct?

Yup. That's exactly what I had in mind

 

[ChileanTaco]

I do see that cilantro and dandelion greens are good for them to eat daily and am curious about planting some of those and some succulents in the enclosure to both add natural grazing and decor but also aid in humidity levels being maintained (I live in the south - naturally humid to begin with). Again, thoughts on this would be appreciated.

With planting dandelions and cilantro into the enclosure, you will have no luck. The succulents, yes, but the leafy plants won't survive high UV.
How I know?
- I live in a region with a climate similar to where bearded dragons are from, and with temperatures and UV like we want to have them in a dragon's enclosure. What I can grow well on the balcony are succulents - they look so (sooooo!) nice, but any of cilantro, basil, oregano... also other herbs, they just don't grow. They don't germinate correctly (no leaves developing, leaves falling off if they develop, or seem to start just right but don't get larger than half an inch...) also die off quickly if bought as rather large plants from a garden center. And I'm not a "black thumb" person, I grew up with doing a lot of gardening, and had beautiful gardens in other places of the world. So not lack in experience, but the climate here (and in a dragon's enclosure) just isn't right for those plants.
- I put in potted herbs like cilantro, oregano (I cannot get dandelion here) into the enclosure. Despite I water them well, the plants die off if he isn't eating them - within days.

So for anything that's herbs, I can strongly recommend: Grow those plants outside of the enclosure (living in the South will help, I guess; I lived there for some years and gardening was quite easy), and then put in the potted herbs for some days, but you have to expect they die off easily even with watering them enough.