Question about heating and lighting.

[V1nom]

A lot of people say to do this for heating and lighting. 12-14Hours of basking and lighting/UVB on.

If this is not right, what would be the best rotate for that?

Another thing:

Is this good? Have one basking lamp on one side of the cage, night lamp on the other side of the cage and UVB somewhere in the middle area.

 

[Luthien]

As long as the light time is constant every day that's fine, my beardie is on 13 hours of light (Basking and UVB) a day.

You shouldn't need a night lamp on, beardies need darkness to sleep just like us. As long as his temps don't drop below 60F he'll be fine with nothing. Yes it's good to have the basking light on one end and the UVB on the other end.

 

[V1nom]

ok thank you, just getting all the information right that i need before i get him/her

 

[Luthien]

No problem! Any other questions feel free to ask

 

[GAIJINIJI]

Forgive me if I am wrong but shouldnt the UV and basking light be in the same place? If your beardie is going to spend most of its daylight time under the basking light it should also have the benefit of UV there as well.

 

[Luthien]

Forgive me if I am wrong but shouldnt the UV and basking light be in the same place? If your beardie is going to spend most of its daylight time under the basking light it should also have the benefit of UV there as well.

Beardies are very smart little things. They know what they need and if given the instruments for it will take care of their own needs. When my baby Kadin is cool she sits under the basking light on the right side of my tank, when she needs the UVB rays she switches to the left side up on her log under the UVB light. Even more then that she she doesn't need anything she hides in her house

 

[Judah'sHuman]

It depends on what type of UVB you are using. If you are using a floresent tube these dont emit heat and you need a basking bulb. but if you are using a Mercury vapor bulb, these emit heat and UV and you should not need a basking bulb. I have a merc bulb and I use just regular household bulbs in a few other areas of the tank for added light. Sometimes he will climb closer the them if he needs more heat. Usually if you have a Merc blub and a basking bulb in there, this will be way to hot (depending on your tank size).

I also change his basking times as per the season. Durrign fall & winter I shorten the basking time gradually down to 10 hrs. Durring spring & summer I increase from around 12-14hrs...mostly it depends on him sometimes he doesnt want to be awake 14hrs so i turn his light off a little early (I too have a timer) and just let the natural outside light shine in which he doesnt seem to mind.

 

[GAIJINIJI]

Beardies are very smart little things. quote]

Smart would certainly not be a word I would use in conjuntion with my beardie

My reasoning is that they get heat and UV from the same source in the wild (the sun) and self regulate by ducking in and out of shadows where both are reduced. It stands to reason then that they should be allowed a hot spot with UVB and a cooler dark side to retreat to.

Combine that with the fact that artificial light only provides as fraction of the UVB of natural sunlight and Im convinced that they should have UVB in the spot they spend most of their time in (under the basking lamp).

(feel free to correct me if I am wrong!)

 

[Luthien]

No GAIJINIJI you are right. They don't get natural light in captivity and so we need to provide the light they need.

The only reason most beardie owners like to split the Basking and UVB lights is because it's easier to regulate the temps in the tank. Remember that you need a basking spot of 100-110F and a cooler side of 75-85F. When you combine the Basking and UVB (if their not all one light) you have to drop both wattages to keep it around the 110 mark which then doesn't give enough UVB rays. Make sense?