UV bulb?

[kristy55303]

I recently set up my beardie tank. Need advice on the tube uv lighting i got. first off, i bought the exo-terra 100 watt sunglow basking light. secondly i bought the 36inch (i think) exo-terra repti glo 10.0 for the uv. are these bad bulbs for my dragons-adults.
My cage set-up is 3 vents on back, one on each side (small circular vents)fake rock background with some basking ledges, two light fixtures installed one with basking light as stated above and another empty for now, just has the uv tube hooked into its electrical socket on it.
substrate: white washed and sifted palysand from menards.
cage items in addition include some basking wood (mopani i believe?) and i also bought a few 4-5 inch diameter granite smooth rocks to decorate and for the beardies to bask on if they like them. also in it is some silk plants hanging down to add more flavor to the tank.

tank: custom made out of mellamine and laquered wood/glass pull down big door. locks on it, glass not plexi.
corner bowl dishwasher safe for food (greens, insects etc)

I am about to do my purchase asap on the adult beardies. temp gun says basking spot is 109 fahrenheit. other end is in the upper 80's .

i would guess the cage itself is darn near 85 gallons or bigger?

does this all sound right? my house is very airconditioned during the day. set at 72 degrees, at night will the beardies be ok?

Thanks for reading and answering all of my questions.

I am very excited.

Kristy

 

[Buggsy]

Ok, there are only 2 things i can spot right off. The repti-GLOs are bad bulbs. The ammount of UVB they give off is inconsistant and has been known to cause eye problems. I used them for nearly a year, luckily Gizmo was only lethargic with some eating issues, but i was lucky. You really want a reptiSUN if your in the US, and the Arcadia 12% if in Europe. I use the latter and have nothing but good things to say!

Secondly the sand, its a long debated issue but i thought i would share the advice given to me. ANY particle substrate has a risk of impaction, if you feed in the cage, they can ingest sand, if you have a licker as i do, they could ingest sand, if they poop in their cage, it harbours bacteria, and so on. I personally wouldnt take the risk of impaction. BUT if you choose to, there are precautions to lessen the liklyhood.
1) dont feed in the cage, ever
2) clean poop ASAP and change the sand fully every other week
3) Only used washed and sifted KIDS PLAY SAND. Im not familiare with the brand you mentioned, but it should be the kind for sand pits.

As i said its a big debate, all i can say is my opinion, in the end its your dragon and you will know him better than we do. Other substrates incluse stale tiles (i use these) repti-carpet, or non-adhesive shelf liner.

Hope this helps! Is sounds like a lovely set up and im sure your well on the way to being a good beardie slave!!

 

[kristy55303]

ok i can change the repti-glo bulb. I can just bring it back at this point lol. I just hope they have the right bulb i need. reptisun-got it as luckily it is returnable, just bought it and still have the package....oh and the paysand is not the brown playsand, its the white playsand that is washed i believe. Hope to post pics soon! the lighting was my major concern. Do is still need to sift this white washed playsand? If so, how? what about the basking bulb? is that ok? or should i choose another basking bulb as well. Want the best for my dragons. Thanks for all the help.
Kristy

 

[gulfbrzdawn]

Hello Kristy,

Glad to hear you are doing your research beforehand. Buggsy gave you some great advice Like she mentioned...the ReptiSun 10.0 uvb fluorescent bulb is the best on the market. If you cannot find it at your local pet store you can get them online here(it's actually cheaper too! :wink: ) http://www.petmountain.com/product/fluorescent/504983/zoo-med-reptisun-10.0-uvb-bulb.html

The type basking bulb you have is fine. I would suggest though if you are planning on getting an adult dragon to try and get the temps down a bit. The adults don't need it to be as warm as the babies. For basking temps between 95-105 (around 100 degrees is best) the coolside should be between 78-82 degrees. If you cannot attain these temps with the bulb you have, you can go down to a 75 watt. It does not neccessarily have to be a so called basking bulb. You can use a regular bright white household bulb.
At night, as long as the temps do not dip below 65 degrees, your beardie will be fine. Beardies prefer it to be cooler when they sleep.

As for the playsand...like Buggsy also mentioned, this is something we do not recommend. If this is something you insist on doing...yes, it needs to sifted white playsand.

You mentioned getting adult "dragons". It is highly recommended you do not house beardies together. They are very territorial creatures and the end result could be disastrous. Please...only put one in your enclosure. If you want two, consider getting another enclosure for that one also!

Hope this helps!

Good luck with getting your new beardie(s)

 

[kristy55303]

thanks guys, much appreciated. i do have another question, how the heck do i sift the darn sand or is it already sifted in the bag? it was different from the other playsand. the other brown was bigger particles, this stuff looks all the same particles and very tiny. shoot, my children would love me if i had them in this white sand. only our sand box takes up half the yard! lol im running down to the petstore here in about an hour or two. i will call and see if they have that bulb. I paid big prices for this tube so if not, i can return and just order overnight this time for the reptisun instead. i appreciate all the help.

Kristy

 

[kristy55303]

OK got the correct bulb and replaced the other one. Though i am definately going to order online from now on. 50 bux! and i called the reptiles tore to see if they had this specific bulb, said yes, then drove two hours there to find out they didint??? ugghhh :evil: so two hours back and to petco i go. I am definately going to order from the link above for future bulbs. Got some silk plants stuck into my fake rock background and I think I'm ready to put substrate in and basking wood peices and some granite smooth rocks (as soon as the wood is cleaned and backed) and as soon as the rock are steamcleaned. Helps to have a power steamer on hand!
Kristy