new here! general questions

[rossm007]

hi all< i jus bought my first beardie 2 weeks ago. hes very young, id say prolly only 4-6 weeks but cant tell for sure.right now im keeping him in a 10 gallon tank jus until i make room for his new biger home, and it has a 100 watt bulb on it.
Should i put more lights on the new viv (so he has more basking spots)?
should i use one of those heat/uv lights now or wait till hes a bit older?

 

[BrittanyS]

They NEED a uv light. The Repti-sun 10.0 is one of the best out there. They need the light to absorb calcium.
What are the temps of you basking spot and the cool side and what are you taking the temps with ( digital with long wire and probe end, stick on, or temp gun)?

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Hello and Congrats on your new Beardie,

Like BrttanyS mentiined you do need to get a UVB and yes the Reptisun 10.0 fluorescent tube light is a really good UV bulb. The 100w bulb is too much(hot) for a 10 gal tank. In a 10 gal tank you could probably use a( 60w bright white household ) bulb, you don't neccessarily need to go out and purchase another basking bulb if that is what you are currently using. You can use the 100w in your beardies new enclosure.
Are you measuring the temps at all ? The best way to measure the temps is with a digital thermometer with wire probe. You can pick one up at Walmart. They have one called Acurite which will give you your basking and coolside temps. The Acurite is $12.
For a baby the basking spot should be 105-110. With a cool side of 80-85. Right now you probably don't have a cool side with the 100w bulb your using, so take that out ASAP and replace it with a 60w.

If you don't mind answering a few more questions, maybe we can help see if your all set up for your little guy.
-Usually we ask about your basking/uvb(but we have already gone over that)
-What are you measuring temps with?
-What are you feeding your beardie and how often?
-What kind of substrate are you using in the bottom of the tank?
-How often does your beardie poop?

Dawn

 

[rossm007]

thanks dawn! ive changed that bulb to a 60 for now, the lady at the store told me to buy a 100 watt so thats why i did. she also said that he doesnt NEED the uv light right now cause hes so young but said to come and buy one within a couple months. should i jus do it now? anyways to answer ur other questions, im using a digital therm. to check the temps. i have that green carpet cause i heard sand wasnt good for their digesion. im feeding him mostly crickets 2-3 times a day. i offer him greens but he hasnt taken to those yet. and i noticed early that those pellets were a waste of money but oh well lol. and finally he poops twice a day so thats a good thing!

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Hello again,

Unfortunately not all people that work at pet stores are knowledgable about the pets. I don't know where that woman got her information, but she was wrong.
Yes, they do need the uvb from the start and yes, you should probably go ahead and get one.
Have you measured your temps since changing the bulb?
Your little guy sounds like he's eating and pooping just great. The veggies sometimes take a while for them to get use to, but eventually he will. I tried the pellets years ago also and my bd was not real fond of them either. Some people moisten them and put them on top of the veggies, like croutons.

Dawn

 

[rossm007]

ok thanks alot for ur help dawn< im going to go to the pet store and buy one right now lol.
also i have one more question,
my little stumpy(thats his name) is only like 5 inches long right now, im eventually going to put him in an, at least, 50 gallon tank but i heard that u shouldnt put them in such a big viv when there that small. is that true? and if so how big should he be before he moves into a significantly larger home??

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

You could probably start looking for a larger tank now. Your little guy is going to grow pretty quickly. There is no set age for moving them into a larger tank. You just don't want to overwhelm him with too big of a tank right now. You could get a larger one and partition half of it off with a piece of wood or cardboard, then when he's a little bigger take out the partition.
Hope that helps.

Dawn