Bearded Dragon Issues!!! Please Help Me!!!

Question

Ok please do me the favor of reading this all, im getting a bearded dragon in a month and a half and i want to get my set-up perfect so i can give him a happy and healthy life but i need help on the lighting/heating of the set-up-

The basking spot has to be around 105degrees farenheight give or take

and i bought a 100watt mercury vapor bulb and it says that for the uvb to penetrate it has to be a distance of no more than 12 inches from the basking site, the problem is that when i put the basking light at that distance the temps go up to 120 degrees..i cant raise the lamp because the uvb wont penetrate, i can still return the bulb, is there any other suggestions?

THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH!

Answer 1

You should check this site, it has video clips on different aspects of taking care of your dragon.

http://www.monkeysee.com/play/10263-sett...

Answer 2

i'd agree, take it back and get smaller wattage.  i have 2 beardies and i've always heard 90-100 degrees for a basking site, and of course a cooler area for them as well.

Answer 3

Id return the bulb and exchange it for another. There are a million different bulbs to choose from to get the right bulb for your terrarium.

PS: They love live crickets!!!  strawberries and roamine lettuce (cut into small pieces)

Good luck!

Answer 4

return the light and get a diffrent one.  You want the heat to be pretty much perfect but 120 degrees farenheit will probaly stress your beardie out.

Answer 5

I use seperate bulbs for heat and UVB.  Most UVB sources need to be within 8-12" of the animal to be viable, and only output for 6-8 mo., though the heat aspect of the bulb will good for long beyond that.  So, if you're using a combination bulb, you will be tossing the still working UVA emitting bulb which still works, to replace it again with another new one emitting both UVA and UVB.

http://www.uvguide.co.uk/

But, as your other posters indicated - you can return the bulb for a lower wattage, if you still wish to combine the two with one bulb.

(Here come my thumbs down votes) Please do research, and do not keep your bearded dragon on sand or a loose substrate at any age (most sites recommend 18 mo. or older).  Though the sites you google will mention loose substrate usage - you must realize most of these sites haven't been updated in five years or more, and impaction studies results weren't available at the time they were posted.

Please talk to your vet in depth about this issue.  Impaction isn't the only factor - mold, parasites, and bacteria are futher concerns.  Just use common sense: if you're keeping a lizard on paper, you clean it every 2-3 days to removed fecal matter and bacteria, and keep the lizard's enviroment healthy.  So... what happens in sand or substrate which isn't changed in entirety for weeks or months?  You simply cannot remove bacteria by scooping food and fecal particles from sand.

I'm sure you know about calcium with D3, and MBD.

http://www.dachiu.com/care/abeard.html

Study up all you can before you get your BD.  An informed owner is a happy one with a healthy and content animal.

I'll post some links below, incase you haven't peeked them out already.

Enjoy your pet, and I hope this has been helpful.