new dragon owner..need lighting help

[davimi]

Hello,
We are bran spanking new bearded dragon owners. I have been reading up on the care of the dragon. I have a 60 w bulb over his cage now. Can I turn it off at night? I also have read that you can buy vitamins with D3 in it instead of using a UV light. Any advice would be great.
Thanks

 

[herpfreak]

Depending on what size cage you have, a 60w may not be enough. This is the hardest part in setting up for a beardie; getting the heating/lighting right. It takes a lot of experimenting with different kinds of bulbs of different wattages.

Lights should be on for 12 hours during the day, off for 12 hours at night. Heat and UV are not the only important thing for beardies; lighting is also very important. I recommend buying a light timer so that you don't have to worry about them going on/off at the right times.

During the day, ambient cage temps should be 80-85* with a basking spot of 100-105* (105-110* for beardies under 6mo). At night, temps can go down to 65*. If your house gets much colder than 65 at night, I recommend buying a low-wattage ceramic heat emitter, which is a heat bulb that doesn't give off light, to turn on during cold nights.

The subject of D3 is a very controversial topic. Be careful about what to trust, as there are no set-in-stone facts. It is possible for beardies to overdose on vitamin D3, but if they don't have enough, they are unable to absorb calcium; calcium is useless without D3. Again, more tests will have to be done to determine the "best" situation, but there isn't a lot of D3 in supplements; many use D3 supplements in addition to UV lighting (which provides D3), but it is generally agreed that supplements are not enough. Your best bet would be a UV light.

Be careful when you purchase your UV light; many lights do more harm than good. There have been cases of beardies going blind due to a bad UV light.

One great UV light is the ReptiSun 10.0 (not the ReptiGlo!!).
http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-fluorescent-bulbs/504983/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-uvb-bulb.html

Calcium supplements are a must-have. If a beardie doesn't have proper calcium levels, they may get metabolic bone disease. When my beardie, Budo, came to me, he had a mild case of MBD. It is a really terrible disease that is incurable and preventable that deforms a beardie's bones.

RepCal is a great brand of calcium. As I mentioned above, some choose to use calcium with D3, some choose calcium w/o D3.
With D3: http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-supplements/105551/rep-cal-ultrafine-powder-calcium-with-vitamin-d3.html
W/o: http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-supplements/105556/rep-cal-ultrafine-calcium-without-vitamin-d3.html

Good luck with everything!! If you have any questions, ask!

 

[davimi]

Thank you so much for your advice. We want to do everything right for this little guy.

 

[zebraflavencs]

Hi and welcome. Piiiictures ! We need lots of pictures, but we'll settle for one
Janie

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Hello and Welcome!!!

 

[davimi]

someday ill figure out the photo thing...ghuess i have to ask the kids..lol

 

[herpfreak]

Use the IMG codes. Put the link between

Btw, he's adorable!!

 

[davimi]

how old do you think he is?