Bearded Dragons at night

[Turnermator01]

Hi,

I am looking into getting a bearded Dragon in a couple of months to go into a 4ft woodden tank.

I have read a lot of people saying various things about night time temps.

I am am new to this so if someone can answer the following questions then that would be great:

• Is it ok to use a flourescent UVA & UVB tube that runs the length of the tank & a basking light??
• What do i do at night? Turn everything off or leave the basking light on??

Thanks

[Breadrun]

Hi there, before anything i would buy a book on bearded dragons and search this forum for various posts about beardies, you will find out a lot and notice that different people have different ways of doing things, it is ok to use a florecent tube as long as it is around 10" from the beardie when in the tank and it must be the right spec (desert spec), at night i personally turn everything off but i have a heat mat in the tank which keeps the tank at the right temp at night, as for the lighting 12hours on and 12hours off is what most people prefer although mine has her light on when i wake up and when i go to bed (or before 10pm), you can set up a timer if you wanted but its not nescessary, you shouldnt have the lights on at night time because then this could stress the beardie out, they have to know when day and night is so they can rest, hope this helps

[Turnermator01]

Thanks for that, the tube i will be using is the Zoo med ReptiSun 10.0 UVB & i will prob still use a basking light.

Do you use a basking light aswell??

Thanks again

[hickman2342]

We've just set ours up and have three 1x Male ad 2x females in a 3ft viv, however changing this in the coming months, we have a 24" 10.0 exo terra uvb we keep this on for around 8-10hrs and a red heat lamp we use red as beardies cannot see red so when uvb is off it's dark, this stays on 24hrs a day,

We have also set up a heat rock, rather than use a heat mat

Our temps are as follow, cool area around 80-85F and basking area around 90-100F

Here a picture of them having their dinner

[IMG][/IMG]

[Turnermator01]

I have read lots of people saying that heat rocks shouldnt be used as they can damage the underside of the beardie so i prob wont use one of those.

What lights do you use for the basking area??

[louize]

i did a post on this yesterday asking about night time temps, have a read off this some good and intresting info


http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/lizar...ting-info.html

hope this helps has i ask the same question not long ago lol

[pete-vtr]

Originally Posted by hickman2342

We've just set ours up and have three 1x Male ad 2x females in a 3ft viv, however changing this in the coming months, we have a 24" 10.0 exo terra uvb we keep this on for around 8-10hrs and a red heat lamp we use red as beardies cannot see red so when uvb is off it's dark, this stays on 24hrs a day,

your UV light should be on for 12-14 hours not 8-10 this isnt enough. the red heat lamps are for night time heating if your house gets really cold, its pointless having it on durin the day, you should use a white bulb afterall your trying to replicate the sun...

We have also set up a heat rock, rather than use a heat mat

please please get rid of your heat rock, beardies warm themselves up from ABOVE not below, they get notoriously hot, and it has been known that they burn bellies of bearded dragons. rendering them completely usless. new doorstop ftw!

Our temps are as follow, cool area around 80-85F and basking area around 90-100F

your basking temp is too low, it needs to be around 110-115F. you also said they are 'around 90-100F' you have got digi thermometers to check this havent you? as the analogue ones are completely inaccurate!!

Here a picture of them having their dinner

MMmmm i envy your dragons, id love a bowl of fruit put in front of me now

image]image[/URL]

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[Breadrun]

see thats a classic example of certain people have their different ways! it is frowned upon having heat rocks but hey they wouldnt sell them otherwise....right???? and theres no probs about using a basking light because a basking light is a MUST, beardies will lay under it and get the heat from it to digest their food, you will often see them laying underneath with their mouth wide open (this is to regulate the heat) a simple set up is to have the UV tube going the length of the viv, a basking light in the hot side and then a heat mat under the viv on hot side, this means that in night time if the beardie gets too cold he can go to the hotter side to sleep, saying this you should make sure the temps are correct in each side of the viv day and night so before getting your beardie set the viv up for a couple of days before and check the temps, change things when you need and then when you have the desired effect leave it

oh and the heat rock comment was sarcastic, personally i dont know why companies sell them (other to make money)

[hickman2342]

Originally Posted by pete-vtr

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The heat rock was advised by where we got them

the dragons only go on it for 5-10 mins at a time, they spend most of their time stood watching the world go by from the front of their tanks, one of them has even took a shine to climbing to the top of our artificial plants and hiding...(photo below)

I will be getting a couple of digital thermometers this week, after reading alot of people prefer these, looking at the current temperature of the basking area it is 95, i have the thermometer placed around 10 inches to the left of the basking area so when i get new ones i will be able to get an exact reading

[Turnermator01]

Thanks for that guys, there is some fantastic links & comments there.

Im actually at work (naughty) so i will look at them properly tonight.

Thanks again