new to this again

[oberon101]

Okay so im new to this all again. last year we purchased a baby beardy for our daughter. ended up force feeding the little guy so he would survive. he later got fried by the undertank heater we had for him. (advice given to us from a breeder) now know that was a mistake. we recently purchased oberon from a local petstore with a local breeder. he is 5 months old and we are already in love with him. the basking light i purchased for him has already blown. the manufacture is going to replace it for me. meanwhile the poor guy is freezing. i tried the light bulb idea suggested in some care sheets posted. that didn't work. so untill i get the bulb replaced im going to use an inexpensive basking bulb. any suggestions on heat lights for night time? i live in Montana and it gets very cold at night. we only have a petsmart here and find it very frustrating on what they carry. grrr. ill post pics when i figure out how too. im new to this stuff.

 

[fez09]

Hi and welcome!
I would suggest a regular basking bulb or a house light bulb for heat, what type of UVB do you have for him? Can I ask what type of enclosure, substrate you're using?

 

[gini]

Hi and Welcome!!!

I could not get my temps right at first either... I ended up using a regular household 75watt light from Lowes for $3. It's really something you just have to try and experiment with till you get it right. I wouldn't waste the money with the expensive ones at the pet store though...

 

[oberon101]

i don't have a uvb light yet. i need suggestions for a good one. i have a hood for it but i think i want to do two smaller fixtures. i tried a regular light bulb for heat but at no use. i now picked up a night basking light bulb so i can also use it at night till i get the temps regulated. i have him in a 10 gallon aquarium at the moment. he will be put into a 55plus size aquarium when it is fixed up. at the moment he is on newspaper. i picked up some indoor outdoor green carpet that i am going to soak first and sew the edges on. i am not going to use sand because it really scares me. would newspaper be the best?

 

[gini]

i don't have a uvb light yet. i need suggestions for a good one. i have a hood for it but i think i want to do two smaller fixtures. i tried a regular light bulb for heat but at no use. i now picked up a night basking light bulb so i can also use it at night till i get the temps regulated. i have him in a 10 gallon aquarium at the moment. he will be put into a 55plus size aquarium when it is fixed up. at the moment he is on newspaper. i picked up some indoor outdoor green carpet that i am going to soak first and sew the edges on. i am not going to use sand because it really scares me. would newspaper be the best?

As for UVB, Repti-Sun 10.0 is the recommended and can be found the cheapest at http://www.petmountain.com/product/reptile-fluorescent-bulbs/504983/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-uvb-bulb.html Once in a while you can find them at local pet stores, but mine charges $50 on sale for them. With a 10gallon, you probably have a hood that is 18" that would fit perfectly. You don't want a light that stays on at night. They keep them up at night and they like to sleep in darkness, like us. At first I just used paper towel till I got a new viv finished. Now I have slate tiles that I bought for .28 cents each at lowes.

What are you measuring your temps with?

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Hi and welcome, we love pictures here!

 

[oberon101]

so im headed to my least fav place petsmart to get a better thermometer for the new tank. any suggestions? he seems to enjoy his new place. but he hasnt eaten his food in 2 days. i even tried wax worms one of his fav. he didnt sleep where it was warm last night. i don't know what is up with him.

 

[beardieaddict]

hello and welcome if ur house is getting below 65 at night then i would use a che (ceramic heat admitter) but if its not colder than that in ur house then u dont need it and if u do descide to do the che then only make his cage around 65-70 degrees ok because they do require a tempeture drop at night

as for termometers i had the zoomed ones and i didnt really like them i have herd good things about the zilla ones or u can go to walmart and they have a acurite a lot of people are using these ones idk how they work though because i have a temp gun and i love it got it from home depot was about 70 dollars

 

[oberon101]

ok so now oberon is not a boy. (we just assumed) lol. her name is Titania. I got the themometer from wally world. it seems to work well. i had to add a regular bulb along with the heat bulb. as far as the uvb light. repti sun has a compact bulb (simuliar to the energy eff ones for the house.) or do you all recomend the tube ones. oh im so confused. she ate today finally. four crickets. she is moving around the viv more and jumping on her basking spot. she actually cased the crickets.

 

[gini]

Glad she's eating!!!

You definitely want the tube Repti-Sun. The coils are bad.

 

[oberon101]

well she pooped finally. lol never thought i would be giving baths and watching poops again. my kids are grown. nia ate 23 crickets yesterday. she wont touch her greens. i even try to hand feed them to her. (like i have to with the crickets.) going to order the tube light because i cant find them at the stores here. the temp during the day is up to almost 110 degrees. she moves around her viv and jumps on her basking cave. she sure does sleep sound and hates to wake up when i turn on her light. what a joy she is to have! we love her.

 

[oberon101]

well here are some pics of Titania. this whole thing is so hard to figure out with these little guys. going online to buy her lights. she still wont eat her greens any suggestions out there? she will eat a lot of crickets one time then not the next. she will go for days with out a bm. grr