Ceramic bulb confusion! Please help :(

[Kelss]

Hey everyone

so I am all new to this and it will be my first time buying! I have pretty much everything ready but still reluctant to buying the bearded dragon till it is all perfect.
I went to a pet store to where they sold me infared bulb and despite me asking was it ok a night due to the light being bright he said it is ok. Anyway I went home researched and was still concerned. I'm concerned about it getting cold at night and especially when winter comes so want to be prepared.
if I was to buy a ceramic bulb, (sorry for dumb question) but where would I put it? I can’t imagine switching the bulbs between the basking one due to having to constantly take the shielded guard. So would it just go into another fixture in the Vivarium?
Just so you know my Vivarium is 50 gallons I think, it is 86 cm length
hope this makes sense!
And any tips for newbie be great thanks

 

[Motherofdragons0727]

I'm new as well but what we do for ours at the moment is switch bulbs when it's his bed time. It's definitely ideal to have a separate dome and that's what we plan to do as well. Also, I have an alarm set on my phone to wake him up(switch to the uvb bulb at 6 am) and bedtime(switch to night time bulb) at 830 since bearded dragons live in the desert, it stays light out longer so we have our little guy awake longer than he's asleep 14 hours with the basking light then 10 hours with the other. I read Beardies love being on schedules when it comes to feeding as well as their daily routines. This site is awesome for information for sure. I'd most definitely suggest asking any questions on here before you ask "reptile experts" at the pet stores if you have any questions. Its better to get answers from an experienced Beardie parent Good Luck!!

 

[Kelss]

I'm new as well but what we do for ours at the moment is switch bulbs when it's his bed time. It's definitely ideal to have a separate dome and that's what we plan to do as well. Also, I have an alarm set on my phone to wake him up(switch to the uvb bulb at 6 am) and bedtime(switch to night time bulb) at 830 since bearded dragons live in the desert, it stays light out longer so we have our little guy awake longer than he's asleep 14 hours with the basking light then 10 hours with the other. I read Beardies love being on schedules when it comes to feeding as well as their daily routines. This site is awesome for information for sure. I'd most definitely suggest asking any questions on here before you ask "reptile experts" at the pet stores if you have any questions. Its better to get answers from an experienced Beardie parent Good Luck!!

Thank you! But do you find it awkward changing the bulbs? I’m just thinking cause I’ll prob have a shield around it!

 

[Dexter_Dragon]

I ended up purchasing a separate lamp fixture for his CHE. The swapping out became bothersome and once while switching out I dropped my basking bulb and it broke (glad I had a spare). I keep the CHE lamp in his cabinet and pull it out and plug it in when needed.

 

[Kelss]

I ended up purchasing a separate lamp fixture for his CHE. The swapping out became bothersome and once while switching out I dropped my basking bulb and it broke (glad I had a spare). I keep the CHE lamp in his cabinet and pull it out and plug it in when needed.

Ok great this is what I was thinking of doing. Sorry to ask again but where do you have it located? To the side of the basking light?
Thanks a lot

 

[Dexter_Dragon]

Ok great this is what I was thinking of doing. Sorry to ask again but where do you have it located? To the side of the basking light?
Thanks a lot

If I think temps are going to be too low, I'll locate where's he's settled down for the night and will put it near where he is so the heat will hit close to his evening resting place. Sometimes I have to move the basking light over out of the way as he tends to have a favorite spot on his basking side. Sometimes he'll move to a different location for the night and I won't need to move anything. I haven't had to use mine much as it's been warm fairly warm here in the evenings.

 

[Kelss]

If I think temps are going to be too low, I'll locate where's he's settled down for the night and will put it near where he is so the heat will hit close to his evening resting place. Sometimes I have to move the basking light over out of the way as he tends to have a favorite spot on his basking side. Sometimes he'll move to a different location for the night and I won't need to move anything. I haven't had to use mine much as it's been warm fairly warm here in the evenings.

Ok so you don’t attach it to the ceiling on the Vivarium like you would with with the basking light? You see mine is a wooden Vivarium so I was under the impression I would have to Screw the fixture into somewhere! I’m so sorry if I am being annoying

 

[Dexter_Dragon]

Ok so you don’t attach it to the ceiling on the Vivarium like you would with with the basking light? You see mine is a wooden Vivarium so I was under the impression I would have to Screw the fixture into somewhere! I’m so sorry if I am being annoying

No worries. You're not being annoying. Hmmmm, no. I only have my UVB attached under my screen. My basking lamps sit on top of my screen. (Discovered I needed two lamps to keep his temperatures right). You could most certainly screw the fixture in if you can find a sweet spot so to speak. I think the idea of the CHE is to keep the temperature in the tank up high enough during cold nights. If you can mount it and keep the evening temps above 68 F (I think it's not ever supposed to get lower than that, but not positive) then you should be good. I think the ideal is 70 F. Not sure as that's just what I've read. Experienced peeps may know a definitive on the evening temps. My tank temps, so far, have rarely gotten below 70 in the evenings so I haven't had to use the CHE much. I do know that their sleeping temps are lower than their daytime temps, but you don't want them to go to low.

 

[Motherofdragons0727]

Thank you! But do you find it awkward changing the bulbs? I’m just thinking cause I’ll prob have a shield around it!

It isn't too awkward because our current set-up is the dome fixture sitting on top of the top so I just pick it up, turn the switch off and switch bulbs. Now I do have to say, 2 days ago, Our UVB bulb went out (and those are the more expensive of the 2 that I've noticed for a good one) but we also had a spare. But i think our bulb went out after though examination, because it was defective. It looked like some glass on the inside of the bulb had actually been scraping off the film inside, if that makes sense?! Lol But I've looked and bulbs are supposed to last a good long time. If fact, I've also read that even if it hasn't gone out on you, you should change out your UVB bulb every 6 months as the effects with the lighting aren't as strong (if im not mistaken)

 

[Kelss]

No worries. You're not being annoying. Hmmmm, no. I only have my UVB attached under my screen. My basking lamps sit on top of my screen. (Discovered I needed two lamps to keep his temperatures right). You could most certainly screw the fixture in if you can find a sweet spot so to speak. I think the idea of the CHE is to keep the temperature in the tank up high enough during cold nights. If you can mount it and keep the evening temps above 68 F (I think it's not ever supposed to get lower than that, but not positive) then you should be good. I think the ideal is 70 F. Not sure as that's just what I've read. Experienced peeps may know a definitive on the evening temps. My tank temps, so far, have rarely gotten below 70 in the evenings so I haven't had to use the CHE much. I do know that their sleeping temps are lower than their daytime temps, but you don't want them to go to low.

Awww ok I see, thanks a lot for the help

 

[Kelss]

It isn't too awkward because our current set-up is the dome fixture sitting on top of the top so I just pick it up, turn the switch off and switch bulbs. Now I do have to say, 2 days ago, Our UVB bulb went out (and those are the more expensive of the 2 that I've noticed for a good one) but we also had a spare. But i think our bulb went out after though examination, because it was defective. It looked like some glass on the inside of the bulb had actually been scraping off the film inside, if that makes sense?! Lol But I've looked and bulbs are supposed to last a good long time. If fact, I've also read that even if it hasn't gone out on you, you should change out your UVB bulb every 6 months as the effects with the lighting aren't as strong (if im not mistaken)

Brilliant thanks a lot for the help

 

[Motherofdragons0727]

Brilliant thanks a lot for the help

Not a problem!