Only a lightbulb!

[doodlelou]

I'm trying to adopt a beardie from our local rescue so I don't have one yet but.....

I just went over to my neighbor's house who has been taking care of a friend's beardie, he's probably about 8 months old and very friendly. I was interested in seeing him and talking to them about his care, etc. Several concerns arised when I saw his set up. 1) he is in a very small tank, maybe 10 gallons. 2) he is on sand. and 3) his only light is a regular lightbulb!

When I asked about the light, I was told that he's only ever had the lightbulb and that he's fine with that. From what I've researched on beardies, all three of these things are not right. Right?

He was the sweetest thing, sat on my shoulder, loved being pet under his chin, we even gave him a bath which he enjoyed. I'm just worried about him after seeing his set up. What do you think?

Dana

 

[jharris08]

size is too small for a dragon approaching adulthood.... sand is def not a good thing for any dragon in my opinion...but a regular incandescant light bulb for heat is perfectly fine, Ive used them for 8 yrs of keeping dragons, but the thing wrong is there needs to be a UVB bulb also for UV rays. tell ur neighbor repti-sun 10.0 is the best bulb for this. UVB is a necessity and can cause major consequences w/o it and dusting the feeder insects with calcium.

 

[hardhitter]

It's odd you posted this, I was at petco lastnight and was talking to the guy who takes care their bearded dragons at the store. After talking to him about lighting and what they had in stock he said this to me " I have had them for years in a 40 breeder tank and all I use is a 100 watt house light." I about fell over.

House hold lighting (Incandescent lights) do infact produce SOME UV but not even close to the amount needed. The size of the tank you listed is not even close to the size needed, I'm guessing that the bearded dragon is over 12" the smallest he/she should be in is a 40 breeder in my opnion, at a younger age and smaller a small tank is ok (as they can get lost and have issues finding food). As for the sand, I have mine in sand and Thore is not a messy eater at all. I am however changing the sand to slate as soon as it all comes in.

I would talk to your friend and get your friend to start reading the info on here and other care sites for bearded dragons.

 

[doodlelou]

Thanks for confirming what I thought could be better about his environment. As much as I hate to, I'll tell her about needing to get the UVB right away and that a bigger cage would be ideal. This sucks though as I don't even have a beardie yet and I know more about what they need than they do! They are taking care of it for a friend as his girlfriend is afraid of it so they may be the ones keeping it for good and should know proper care for this little guy.

Dana