Thoughts on upgrades?

[MrsWolvie]

So I am brand new to bearded dragons, we have had Rey just shy of 2 weeks and I have been doing A LOT of research to make sure she is getting everything she needs and then some! We purchased the 40 gallon All Living Thing's desert kit, I have already had to replace the basking bulb because the one it came with blew out so now we are using the 100w Exo Terra intense basking bulb. Since the switch she has been moving around a lot more, she will bask for a bit vent for a little bit more and then run around her enclosure so I think she is good there. We have just been using the dial so far but as soon as we get paid we are getting an IR gun to make sure her temps are within range. Her UVB at the moment is the coil the kit came with, but I am going to order the Arcadia 22" 12% bulb and find a fixture to match. I'm just worried the bulb will be too close to her, the width of my tank is like 16". I will have to mount the UVB inside her enclosure because the lid on the tank sucks lol. Here are a couple pictures of her enclosure, any thoughts or suggestions will be much appreciated by this noob lmao! Thanks in advance!

 

[CooperDragon]

That looks pretty good. The temp gun will tell you a lot in terms of how the lights are doing. You don't need to spend a lot on one, just a basic gun like this will do the trick https://www.amazon.com/Nubee-Temperature-Non-contact-Infrared-Thermometer/dp/B00CVHIJDK

As far as the UVB light goes, the T5 is a very good option but you want it to sit about 12'' above the basking area. If you mount it inside you want to be sure not to make it too close as it will be very intense. Do you have any other animals in the house? If not, perhaps you could take the lid off and suspend the lights from adjustable lamp stands. This is what I do and it works well. If you do have other animals then perhaps you can build a different lid that will better handle lighting on top of it. Chicken wire over a basic frame should do the trick if you have a way of securing it down.

 

[MrsWolvie]

I wouldn't be able to leave the lid off, we have a cat. I did look into replacing the lid it's just really hard to find one that would fit securely because this tank has weird dimentions. I really want to figure out a way to mount the uvb inside so it's not souch of a pain to open the lid. Would a regular 10.0 T8 be better for that?

 

[CooperDragon]

It depends on the distance really. A T8 needs to be about 6'' above the basking area to be effective. A T5 is better overall but it should be more around 12'' up. A lot of the T5 fixtures come with clips you can use to hang the fixture from wire or hooks so that's not usually too big of an issue. The T8 fixtures don't always have that but you can usually suspend them from the mesh top using wire or even some industrial strength velcro. Eventually you may want to consider building a custom tank so you can enjoy front opening doors and larger dimensions will keeping everything nice and secure from the cat. https://beardies.dreamwidth.org/2145.html

 

[MrsWolvie]

I have been thinking about building a custom enclosure for her. Maybe a little summer family project!! Thank you for all of your help!!!