New with some questions

[Marjam]

Hello, I just got a new bearded dragon and I have some questions. I have 2 lamps, a heat lamp and another lamp that came with the kit we bought. Do I keep the heat light on all the time or do I turn it off at night and leave the other one on all the time? Also what kinds of fruits and vegetables can I give him and how much and how often? Thank you for any advice!

 

[GodzillasDumbCousin]

The heat lamp and the uvb lamp must be on for about 12 hours a day. I recommend buying an outlet timer or two. Also the heat lamp on the hot side should give the surface of the basking site a temperature of 105 to 110. Achieving this will give the hot side a nice warm ambient temperature(surrounding). Depending on the size of your tank, you may need a separate lamp to reach a cool side temperature of 80-85.

For example I have a 40 gallon tank. If I only used one lamp, which is above the basking site, then I would get about 75 degrees on the cool side. I bought a separate lamp and a lower wattage bulb to get a nice temp of 84 on the cool side as pictured on the right side of the photo.

 

[GodzillasDumbCousin]

I bought two timers at walmart for a total of about six dollars and they haven't failed me in the 13 months that I've been using them.

here's a great link for your food question:

http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html

 

[Marjam]

Thank you for the help! Do do I turn both lamps off at night? I have been leaving the other one on all the time cause it gets pretty cold in our house at night, it stays at about 78 degrees on that side.

 

[Sauzo]

I personally run about 105-107 degrees on the hot side and around 75-80 degrees on the cool side. At night, you don't want any lights on as that will mess with the dragons sleeping. You don't need any heat for them at night as long as it doesn't get colder than 68 degrees. If the temp drops below that, you can use a small ceramic heat emitter to bring the temp up a little. Like a 40 watt one or something small like that at night. Then turn it off when the lights come on. But remember, you want them to cool off during sleeping since they need that so their metabolism slows down and they can rest. Then in the morning when the lights come on, they can sit and soak up the heat and uvb and raise their metabolism again and continue to eat you out of house and home.