UV Lighting Question

[TJinPgh]

One of my local pet store chains decided, for some odd reason, that they were going to stop selling ReptiSun products. Even the managers couldn't really understand why.

At any rate, they marked down all of their florescent tubes and I managed to get some ReptiSun 10.0 tubes for $2 each!!

Here is my question. These tubes are only 18" long and I have a 40 gallon breeder tank. Is there anything wrong with using two of these, end to end, along the length of the tank? Would that, in effect, be the same as using one 36" tube? Or, would that be too much for whatever reason?

I'm assuming that using only one 18" tube on a tank that size wouldn't be enough, correct?

 

[midmichicer]

24" would be best, but 18" will work. 36" is a bit much and a waste in my opinion if it isn't one bulb. I have a 18" in one of my 40 Breeders.

 

[TJinPgh]

Ok.

She just doesn't seem to have a huge appetite so I thought maybe that might have been it.

She'll eat supers if I give them to her (I try not to give them to her more than a few times a week and only a couple even at those times) but she won't even touch her greens no matter what I do to them.

I've tried kale, mustard greens, turnip greens, collard greens. She'll grab a leaf or two of kale every now and again but that's about it.

I tried squash. Strawberries. blueberries. Carrots. Apples. Grapes.

Nothing.

For no more supers than I'm giving her per week, I would think she would be eating more veggies. Was thinking maybe it was a lighting issue but I guess not.

 

[ButterflyGirl89]

Aren't you feeding any crickets? Those are usually staple food from what I understand...
My beardie won't go for worms at all. Wax worms, meal worms, nothing. Maybe it's the way they move or something, but he just isn't enticed. The minute a cricket goes in, though, it's on! He loves his crickets. And he eats his greens on his own, too, even though he's under 3 months old. Collard and mustard plus different kinds of squash are what he mostly gets.

What I've often heard is that you want the uvb light to be covering 2/3 of the tank, which may be why the other poster said "24 would be better", because 24 inches is exactly 2/3 of a 40 gal breeder. What you could do instead of mounting them exactly end to end is make them overlap a little to essentially match it up to 24 inches, and there would just be an area where the 2 bulbs overlap.

The reasoning for leaving 1/3 of the tank uncovered by uvb, from what I've heard, is so that they have an area to get away from the light if they choose to. Kind of like a shady area?

Some people do choose to run lights the full length of the tank though, because they feel better knowing that their beardie is getting uvb no matter where they go.

Just like everything, there's always more than one opinion, and pros and cons for each and every side. But there's a few options. Hope I helped! I'm uber jealous that you got your bulbs for so cheap! :wink:

 

[ButterflyGirl89]

Aren't you feeding any crickets? Those are usually staple food from what I understand...
My beardie won't go for worms at all. Wax worms, meal worms, nothing. Maybe it's the way they move or something, but he just isn't enticed. The minute a cricket goes in, though, it's on! He loves his crickets. And he eats his greens on his own, too, even though he's under 3 months old. Collard and mustard plus different kinds of squash are what he mostly gets.

What I've often heard is that you want the uvb light to be covering 2/3 of the tank, which may be why the other poster said "24 would be better", because 24 inches is exactly 2/3 of a 40 gal breeder. What you could do instead of mounting them exactly end to end is make them overlap a little to essentially match it up to 24 inches, and there would just be an area where the 2 bulbs overlap.

The reasoning for leaving 1/3 of the tank uncovered by uvb, from what I've heard, is so that they have an area to get away from the light if they choose to. Kind of like a shady area?

Some people do choose to run lights the full length of the tank though, because they feel better knowing that their beardie is getting uvb no matter where they go.

Just like everything, there's always more than one opinion, and pros and cons for each and every side. But there's a few options. Hope I helped! I'm uber jealous that you got your bulbs for so cheap! :wink:

 

[ButterflyGirl89]

Aren't you feeding any crickets? Those are usually staple food from what I understand...
My beardie won't go for worms at all. Wax worms, meal worms, nothing. Maybe it's the way they move or something, but he just isn't enticed. The minute a cricket goes in, though, it's on! He loves his crickets. And he eats his greens on his own, too, even though he's under 3 months old. Collard and mustard plus different kinds of squash are what he mostly gets.

What I've often heard is that you want the uvb light to be covering 2/3 of the tank, which may be why the other poster said "24 would be better", because 24 inches is exactly 2/3 of a 40 gal breeder. What you could do instead of mounting them exactly end to end is make them overlap a little to essentially match it up to 24 inches, and there would just be an area where the 2 bulbs overlap.

The reasoning for leaving 1/3 of the tank uncovered by uvb, from what I've heard, is so that they have an area to get away from the light if they choose to. Kind of like a shady area?

Some people do choose to run lights the full length of the tank though, because they feel better knowing that their beardie is getting uvb no matter where they go.

Just like everything, there's always more than one opinion, and pros and cons for each and every side. But there's a few options. Hope I helped! I'm uber jealous that you got your bulbs for so cheap! :wink:

 

[ButterflyGirl89]

omgggg. I don't know how the heck that wound up posting 3 times!!! I'm so sorry. Anybody know how to delete??? :shock: :?

 

[TJinPgh]

I don't feed her crickets. I did early on and the previous owner apparently did, but she got parasites so I stopped giving them to her.

These days, she gets supers as those are the only things around here besides crickets and meal worms that are readily available... even from the reptile shows.

The previous owner is apparently the problem. According to the shop I bought her from (though I can't vouch for how reliable they are from what I've seen in the shop), the owner they got her from never fed her anything but crickets. No greens at all.

I've tried the tough love approach... giving her nothing but greens for days at a time, figuring that sooner or later she'd eat them, whether she likes them or not.

I put fresh stuff in every day, but you can tell she isn't eating any... or very little when she does. Maybe a piece or two and that's it.

At some point I start to worry less about whatever issues an all insect diet will cause and more about whether she's getting enough to eat. So I give in and give her some supers.

After reading about a lot of the issues people were having with lighting, I was hoping maybe that was part of the issue. Not sure I believe that, now.

I lowered the 18" fixture into the tank (it was previously sitting on top of the mesh), as per what seems to be the standard recommendation here on the board. I'll see what happens.

I put some fresh kale in today along with some of those bearded dragon bites... those little red square things. It looks like she may have picked at it a little so who knows.

If she doesn't start eating her greens soon I may have to look into some better feeders for her and order them online. Probably reptiworms or something.

 

[ButterflyGirl89]

Do not feed kale. I did, and my beardie liked it, and then he started showing little signs of MBD. Then I found out that kale binds to calcium, meaning that your beardie doesn't get to absorb any of the calcium. I was very mad, because yes, a lot of info you can find says to feed kale. But don't. A lot of people reccomend checking out http://www.beautifuldragons.com/ and so do I. It's a lot of good info. Feed mustard leaves or collard greens and/or different types of squash as your staple of the veggie diet. The first veggie I ever got my beardie to actually eat was a butternut squash.

I've never heard of crickets being a culprit of parasites, but I haven't heard of everything, so I can't say much about it. Just that either crickets or roaches should be the staple of a beardie's diet, as I understand it. Period.

I never tried the 'tough love' approach. Although my Geo might have gotten a bit hungry between morning and dinner and perhaps that's when he decided to start trying veggies, but who knows. Anyway, it might seem like a waste to keep putting fresh stuff in all the time (it felt like a big waste to me for a while, after all) but like I said, I reccommend to keep at it. I feel like it'll pay off eventually. I also reccomend crickets, though. So it's up to you in the end. =P

Here's another site with a lot of nifty info, like different people's tricks and success stories on getting beardies to eat their greens etc.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/ktosney/file/BDveg.html

Keeping the light inside the cage underneath the screen rather than on top of it is definitely a good move, too. 8)

 

[TJinPgh]

Do not feed kale. I did, and my beardie liked it, and then he started showing little signs of MBD. Then I found out that kale binds to calcium, meaning that your beardie doesn't get to absorb any of the calcium. I was very mad, because yes, a lot of info you can find says to feed kale. But don't.

I admit that I've wondered a bit about this. We tell people not to feed spinach because of the iron content but Kale doesn't have substantially less. But, you're right, there isn't a source, here or otherwise that says that it's bad for them. So, who knows.

At this point, though, I don't think she eats enough of it to matter one way or the other.

A lot of people reccomend checking out http://www.beautifuldragons.com/ and so do I. It's a lot of good info. Feed mustard leaves or collard greens and/or different types of squash as your staple of the veggie diet. The first veggie I ever got my beardie to actually eat was a butternut squash.

I do have that list from that site. I've tried pretty much all of the "greens." She won't go anywhere near them.

I haven't tried fresh squash. I did try the butternut squash baby food, on the advice of some others. mixing it with other greens and fruits. She wouldn't go anywhere near it.

Maybe I'll try some endive. Not always available around here, though.

That and some fresh squash.

I've never heard of crickets being a culprit of parasites, but I haven't heard of everything, so I can't say much about it. Just that either crickets or roaches should be the staple of a beardie's diet, as I understand it. Period.

I've seen it mentioned numerous times through out the board. She hasn't had a problem with them since I stopped feeding them to her. Can't say for certain that's a cause and effect thing, though.

I never tried the 'tough love' approach. Although my Geo might have gotten a bit hungry between morning and dinner and perhaps that's when he decided to start trying veggies, but who knows. Anyway, it might seem like a waste to keep putting fresh stuff in all the time (it felt like a big waste to me for a while, after all) but like I said, I reccommend to keep at it. I feel like it'll pay off eventually. I also reccomend crickets, though. So it's up to you in the end. =P

Well, I give her fresh stuff every day regardless of whether or not she eats it.

Right now it's tough to determine much of anything because she's still going through a bit of a brumation cycle and has a tendency to spend most of her time in her log. If she spends too much time in there (like more than a couple of days) I usually take her out and place her on her rocks so she can bask. She's usually active for a day or two then she starts to wind down again.

Really hope she gets through this soon. Still seems to be no definitive word on how to best deal with brumation.

Here's another site with a lot of nifty info, like different people's tricks and success stories on getting beardies to eat their greens etc.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/ktosney/file/BDveg.html

Keeping the light inside the cage underneath the screen rather than on top of it is definitely a good move, too. 8)

I'll check out that site. Thanks.

Yeah, I do think that she probably wasn't getting enough of the UV with it on top of the screen. So, hopefully, now that it's inside, once she has time to get the benefit of it she'll do better.

I do have a 24" fixture so I will eventually be putting that in the 18" fixture's place. I simply got a great deal on those 18" tubes so I figured I'd use them first.