Planning to get a dragon, i have an unusual question

[dragonroots]

So for christmas this year my mother and sister got me a bearded dragon starter kit and told me that i was finally being allowed to own a reptile. I've been doing research on bearded dragons ever since and in about two weeks as of posting i will be going to a nearby reptile expo to buy the dragon.

My question is this, for 10 months of the year my work schedule is steady but more than a little polarizing for a bearded dragons diurnal nature (3pm-11pm). I have read that it is possible to get them on a more nocturnal schedule providing you can totally black out a room during the day (which i can given i currently sleep through half the day myself). However for the other two months of the year i have an unavoidable drastic shift in my schedule where i start at approximately 7am and finish work at 3pm. would it be doable to temporarily change my beardies schedule for those 2 months providing i slowly change his sleep cycle over the course of a weekend or week if necessary? If this is doable in what increments should i change his schedule and how frequently or infrequently should i do so?

I ask this for both the dragons health and my own as i will have trouble trying to sleep with his lights on just as i will likely disturb his sleep when i wake up to go to work for those two months if his schedule does not change with my own. ideally he would normally have about a 1pm-1am day cycle during my normal work hours and a 5am-5pm to7pm during my abnormal hours.

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

Those bearded dragon kits are almost entirely worthless, they come with bad lights, bad substrate, and depending on the tank size you'll have to upgrade it within a few months.

I suggest you get a timer, it may be expensive but worth it and move the beardie to a different part of the house that wont upset your sleep schedule. 12 hours of light does not work for a beardie unless in burmation, they need a 13-14 hour time period of light, preferable lights on at 6 or 7 am and lights off at 8 or 10 pm.

Changing it to fit your schedule may cause problems to the beardie if you get a young one as they need to eat 3 times a day, 10-20 insects each feeding. I suggest going for a full grown adult (20+ months) as they eat once every other day for insects, the same amount but it would be easier for you as they arent as fragile as well.

Then again reptiles are not for everyone. You cant exactly get a reptile to fit your schedule entirely.
Make sure you know what your getting into before hand, i have 7 reptiles all together however only three actually eat insects 24/7. Which costs me about 47 or so dollars to feed every month, it used to cost me around 20 dollars every two weeks as 1,000 crickets was just not doing it for my juvenile beardie who eats up to 40 or more crickets a day, my adult female who eats 20 crickets every other day and my leopard gecko who eats at least 15 or so crickets each night. And thats just the crickets, you have to pay for uvb when you replace every 6 months, heating, the salad portion when they run out, you have to feed the crickets which 2,000 eats about one whole collard green in less than an hour.

 

[dragonroots]

Those bearded dragon kits are almost entirely worthless, they come with bad lights, bad substrate, and depending on the tank size you'll have to upgrade it within a few months.

I am aware that half the items given were useless, it was a 40 gallon zoomed tank and i am only using the basking light and food/water bowls that came with it. I have bought a hide, a branch, and a hammock for it to climb on and have also purchased a fluorescent uvb tube light. For substrate i am using paper towels at the moment with the intention to switch to a ceramic tile substrate as it got older. I am unable to put it in a different room as i have cats and my room is the only one that is completely secured from them in the house (most rooms dont have walls that reach the ceiling so they climb over them or have sliding doors that they sqeeze through). As for feeding my mother who works a regular day shift all year has agreed to feed it at least once while i am at work. The timer i was fully intent on getting this coming weekend.

Edit: also the two months in question are July and August so assuming i get it as a baby of about a month old or so (which from what i read is about the typical age a baby beardie is purchased) by the time the schedule shift would occur it would likely be in it's sub adult stage in its growth at 6-7 months of age (again going by what i have read).

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

Well theres always putting a very warm and fuzzy blanket over your head with the the heat lamp and uvb tube lights on when you sleep. At least thats what i do, then again its probably easier when you havent slept all night to go to sleep with the lights on.

For the uvb tube what kind is it? brand, basically just tell me everything or send a link to the one your getting. Some brands are better than others.

If you really need to and cant get to sleep with it in your room, its probably fine to have it in a different room. Though some cats are more nosy than others. I have four myself and i know at least two would probably terrorize my beardies by jumping on top of the enclosures while the other two would ignore them entirely most likely.

 

[dragonroots]

The brand is "All living things" for the uvb bulb and it was a 50 microwatt bulb 24" bulb.

Also it's not just about sleep (though that is the main concern), it is also about feeding as i intended to feed it once when i woke up, once when im at work my mother would feed it, and then one or two times after i get home from work (admittedly during 2 months it would have a slight delay in its bug feeding but again at that point it would be a sub-adult requiring less bugs).

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

The uvb may be a big problem if your getting it from a knock off brand like all living things..
Preferably unless you have a 200-300 dollar solarmeter to measure how much uvb it actually produces you want a arcaidia or reptisun t5 HO 10.0 tube light with a reflective fixture.

 

[3magpie3]

Can you get an adult instead of a baby? That will help with the feeding issue, since they eat more salad than bugs. You could put a salad in the cage before you go to sleep.

Those eye mask things work well for keeping things dark when you're sleeping, too. My husband used to use one when he worked nights.

 

[dragonroots]

If i absolutely have to i can get an adult but i would rather get a baby.

The fixture for the light is also an all living things brand with a white paint like surface surrounding the bulb, if by "reflective fixture" you mean mirrors reflecting the light i will have to return the fixture and look for a new one.

Also im at work now and have learned that if i ask i may be able to get an 11am-7pm shift during those 2 months depending on who my current supervisor is at the time and how understanding they are (i currently have a temporary supervisor and have had rotating temps for the past 3 years) and this would result in minimal to no changes necessary in its schedule (maybe a couple hours difference instead of an 8hr difference)

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

Yes you have to have a reflective fixture, so return both fixture and bulb as all living things is only good for the furniture they have i believe. Not entirely sure but i believe my juveniles basking spot, or what used to be her basking spot platform is made by them, shes decided she will only bask on the warm tile rather than her basking spot which is understandable as it gets quite warm with the 75 watt halogen bulb in her 75 gallon, however it holds heat very very well and she used to like it when she was younger.

For a good fixture and bulb amazon is the place to go as most petstores only carry the very weak or small t8 reptisun bulbs and no fixtures. Like stated before you want either a 22" or 34" reptisun or arcaidia (if you go with arcaidia i believe they have a website of their own) T5 HO 10.0 tube light with a fitting reflective fixture.

 

[dragonroots]

One of my aunts relatives apparently had a bearded dragon that recently passed away and they were apparently looking to get rid of their equipment so im trying now to find out exactly what equipment they have to see if at the very least i may not have to pay as much as if i were to get brand new lighting and other such equipment. and given that the dragon in question apparently lived roughly 10yrs i know at least that the equipment will support a dragon.

 

[VenusAndSaturn]

Im sure they have some good stuff for inside the tank probably, depending on what it is you can wash it with warm or boiling water and then bake it at 250f in the oven for 30 minutes. Mostly logs/tile/rocks though for that. Just make sure you disinfect it really good in case it had anything, you wouldnt want it passing on to your beardie.

Though if they have actual proper tube lights being the arcaidia or reptisun t5 HO 10.0 with a fitting reflective fixture make sure to ask how old the bulb is because usually they have to be replaced at 6 months unless you have a solarmeter and then you can see when to exactly replace it, but they cost a lot.

 

[dragonroots]

to be safe i will likely just buy a new bulb to be sure of its longevity.

 

[dragonroots]

Well apparently they already got rid of the stuff because they got a new baby (human) and needed the space so im back to attempting to order it off amazon, unless petsmart carries the fixture and the required lights.

 

[CooperDragon]

That's too bad. It's worth it to get new lights though, and worth investing in a high quality T5 UVB light. They last for quite a long time (at least a year) without needing replacement. Petsmart doesn't usually carry them in house though so it's best to get them online.

I like this one a lot http://www.lightyourreptiles.com/22-t-5-ho-fixture-high-output-with-arcadia-d3-12-ho-bulb/

 

[dragonroots]

Thanks for the link, i will order it this weekend after i return my current light.

And as far as food goes im planning to give it a worm based diet (mother has said no roaches and i personally dont want crickets because of their noise and smell). I plan to go with phoenix worms as their staple with a hornworm every now and then as a treat. About what size should i order the worms for a baby and how many is it likely to eat per week? If i do give it crickets it will likely be in the summer months and only as many as i necessary for the next feeding.