I feel like my tanks kinda empty

[GroomerMo]

I feel that my dragon doesn't have enough to do or climb or hide can anyone make any idea as to what I should add?

 

[Augie]

If he's a baby I wouldn't add anything at all. It will keep his stress level down and it will be easier for him to catch his food.

 

[Germ]

BDs don't do much Climbing or hiding, the majority of their pastime is - Eat -> Bask -> Eat -> Bask -> Poop -> Sleep -> Repeat ...

Your enclosure has everything your BD needs, other than your UVB Bulb is too far from anywhere that your BD has access to, to be effective & this should be rectified ASAP, because your BD has not had the benefit of any effective UVB since you have had it. Anything else in the enclosure would be for your eye candy only & would serve absolutely no benefit to your BD.

Do you still have the 2 together?

 

[Pat B]

Your enclosure looks good for a baby beardie. I wouldn't change anything. If you want, you can hot glue gun your uvb to the inside of the tank under the screen. That is what I did.

 

[Germ]

A good suggestion Pat, has been suggested to her some time back with instructions .

GroomerMo said: ↑

Is it ok to have a 100 watt basking bulb and a 75 watt just until the temp rises​

If it takes them both to get the heat up, one won't keep it up. Besides it would be difficult to be there monitoring the temps all the time to shut one down when it gets too hot. The best bet is to experiment with a few different types & wattages of bulbs, until you find the ONE that does the trick. This is something that we ALL have to do to get our temps right for each different enclosure. Having only the one heat fixture would enable you to place the linear UVB fixture on the basking end along the back with the heat fixture in front of it, so both cover the basking spot. Better yet if you can 'Hot Glue' the UVB fixture inside the tank, just under the screen in the back corner, so the UVB is not blocked\filtered\refected by the screen. Here is a good post By Mungi's Buddha on the subject. Hot Glue has been holding my UVB fixtures in place for many years.
Mungi's Buddha said: ↑

MVB's are not really a great choice for small enclosures. The are also much more expensive. My preferance is to use standard household Halogen floodlights for basking the bulb. These are readily available and cheaper than the "reptile" bulbs at the petshops. They also put out a clean bright white light which dragons are attracted too and a lot more heat per watt. In your 20 gallon Long tank it would probably only take a 50 watt to produce the right basking temp. That saves you significant both on the cost of the bulb and in electricity used.
For the UV light I use and recommend 18" inch 10.0 0r 10% ReptiSun or ReptiGlo tube lights. I also recommend mounting them inside the enclosure using a cheap 18" under the cabinet mount fixture you can get at Walmart for about 10 dollars.(Note: These fixtures come with a clear plastic shield that covers the bulb. Make sure to remove and discard this shield as it will cut of all of the UV output.) This can be mounted to the back glass wall and side wall about an inch under the lip of the tank so you can still slide the lid closed and using a hot glue gun.
Here is a picture of what I am talking about. This is in a 40 gallon Breeder tank but they sell a slim-line fixture as well which may work better in your 20 gallon tank. You can order the slim-line version for about 14 bucks at Walmart.com. The type in the picture is sold in the stores.

Mounting the UV this way will give your dragon full unfiltered UV light. The screen top of your enclosure can filter out up to 50% of the UV of your bulb when the light is placed on top. With the light unfiltered you will only have to change the bulb out every 12 months too instead of every 6 months with an above the screen mount which saves a lot of money again as well as being better for your dragon.
It will also then allow you to line up the basking and UV lights easier like I had shown you in your other thread so that both shine down on the basking spot making them both highly efficient.

The foil in the pic around the bulb is just heavy duty aluminum foil and there to intensify and direct the UV at the basking spot.

Again these are inexpensive and quick fixes that can be done in just a few moments and when you compare prices you will see that this way is much cheaper than a single MVB as well too more efficient and safe for your dragon.

Enjoy!!​

As for the CHE, as Noella said, a 60W should easily do the job.

The enclosure is starting to look very good, btw .

The way it is setup your BD will not receive any Benefit from the UVB Bulb. UVB Bulbs have a very limited range & do not emit usable amounts of UVB as far as the light is emitted. If my memory serves me right, you mentioned that you are using a slimline fixture with a Zilla Desert 50 T8 bulb. If you have not already removed the plastic cover over the Bulb, you must, UVB will not pass through a solid filter such as glass or plastic. A Desert 50 Bulb, that length, will only emit effective UVB to a max distance of 12" from a NEW bare unfiltered bulb. Being mounted above a screen can block\reflect\filter as much as 50% of the effective UVB from ever entering the enclosure. UVB bulb's effective range dissipates quite quickly as the bulb ages & is why they must regularly be replaced. When properly set up, mounted above a screen, they must be replaced a minimum of every 6 months for this reason. A Repti-Sun or Repti-Glo 10.0 linear tube has a maximum effective range of 20" from a NEW, bare, unfiltered bulb.​

​

This is why it was previously mentioned to you that the UVB must also cover the basking spot alongside the heat bulb. In most setups the basking spot is the only area that it can get close enough to the UVB bulb for it to be effective & is also where it should be spending the majority of it's time if your temps are correct throughout the enclosure. ​

​

It was also mentioned that you may want to consider mounting the UVB fixture inside the enclosure, below the screen. Here is a good example of hot gluing the fixture inside the enclosure with a tin foil reflector to help intensify the radiated effective UVB.​

Mungi's Buddha said: ↑​

MVB's are not really a great choice for small enclosures. They are also much more expensive. My preferance is to use standard household Halogen floodlights for basking the bulb. These are readily available and cheaper than the "reptile" bulbs at the petshops. They also put out a clean bright white light which dragons are attracted too and a lot more heat per watt. In your 20 gallon Long tank it would probably only take a 50 watt to produce the right basking temp. That saves you significant both on the cost of the bulb and in electricity used.​

For the UV light I use and recommend 18" inch 10.0 0r 10% ReptiSun or ReptiGlo tube lights. I also recommend mounting them inside the enclosure using a cheap 18" under the cabinet mount fixture you can get at Walmart for about 10 dollars.(Note: These fixtures come with a clear plastic shield that covers the bulb. Make sure to remove and discard this shield as it will cut of all of the UV output.) This can be mounted to the back glass wall and side wall about an inch under the lip of the tank so you can still slide the lid closed and using a hot glue gun.​

Here is a picture of what I am talking about. This is in a 40 gallon Breeder tank but they sell a slim-line fixture as well which may work better in your 20 gallon tank. You can order the slim-line version for about 14 bucks at Walmart.com. The type in the picture is sold in the stores.​

​

Mounting the UV this way will give your dragon full unfiltered UV light. The screen top of your enclosure can filter out up to 50% of the UV of your bulb when the light is placed on top. With the light unfiltered you will only have to change the bulb out every 12 months too instead of every 6 months with an above the screen mount which saves a lot of money again as well as being better for your dragon.​

It will also then allow you to line up the basking and UV lights easier like I had shown you in your other thread so that both shine down on the basking spot making them both highly efficient.​

​

The foil in the pic around the bulb is just heavy duty aluminum foil and there to intensify and direct the UV at the basking spot.​

​

Again these are inexpensive and quick fixes that can be done in just a few moments and when you compare prices you will see that this way is much cheaper than a single MVB as well too more efficient and safe for your dragon.​

​

Enjoy!!​

Mounted above the screen, with the plastic cover removed from the fixture, your basking spot would need to be within 6" from the UVB bulb to be effective at all. The way it is setup now, virtually NO UVB is reaching the areas that the BD has access to & spends any amount of sustained time.

​

As mentioned in PM, the thermometer sensor should be place directly at\on the basking spot, not attached to the glass, to provide accurate readings.​

​

These are all issues that really need to be addressed, for the continued health & wellbeing of the animals. Please deal with the Cohabitation issue, asap.​

Something needs to be done very,very soon, before the lack of UVB becomes a serious health issue.

 

[GroomerMo]

Well it is a 40 gallon long so what I should do it attach the UVB fixture to the inside of the tank? Because I paid 50 dollars for that fixture and everyone said this was the one to get. So as long as its inside it will be ok correct or do I need to return this fixture for another?

 

[GroomerMo]

And yea it is a you're correct about what type of fixture I got it from Petco

 

[Germ]

That fixture & bulb is OK, (My choice would have been the Rept-Glo 10.0 or Repti-Sun 10.0 - 10% UVB bulbs that are effective up to 20" from a NEW unfiltered bulb or possibly the Arcadia 12% bulb if they are available where you are), providing that things are setup so the BD can get close enough for it to be effective when it is basking. Mounting it inside the enclosure will help immensely, as it would not have the screen to block\filter\reflect a huge amount of it's effectiveness. Also be absolutely sure to remove the Plastic cover over the Bulb, UVB can not pass through solid filters such as glass or plastic. The new specially formulated covers used on the new slimline fixtures are supposed to be formulated to allow most of the UVB to penetrate, but still blocks greater than 10%. When you add that to what the screen is blocking, which could be up to an additional 50+%, there is very little UVB left to enter the enclosure & would only be effective for a couple of inches distance. The effective distance from that bulb is only 12" from a NEW unfiltered (No screen, no cover) Desert 50 bulb that length. So if you take away 60% because of filtration (acryllic cover + screen), you are left with less than 5" effective range that dissipates to nothing in a very short time because of the relatively quick natural deterioration of the UVB strength with use\age.

This is a copy of my email to Zilla & their reply concerning the plastic covers on the slimline fixtures.

Date: Thu, 30 Aug 2012 07:31:35 -0700
From: Rob Moneyhan <[email protected]>
To: Germ


It all depends on the generation of Slimline fixture. We used to put a sticker on the lens that said to remove the lens for full use of UVB as the lenses blocked out a fair amount of UVB radiation. The newest ones we have out do not have this sticker on them. They have a starter fuse set into a cone shaped depression on the underside of the fixture. The lens uses a special type of plastic that only bocks 10% of the UVB rays. If you need 100% then you can remove the lens.

Regards,


Rob Moneyhan
Central Aquatics Tech Lead
Kent Marine, Coralife, Aqueon, Oceanic, Zilla
Phone# 888-255-4527 or 414-423-8544
Fax# 800-398-0396 or 414-421-9682
Email: [email protected]

From: Germ ***************
Sent: Sunday, August 26, 2012 7:24 PM
To: Zilla Rules
Subject: Zilla SlimLine Fixtures

Comments :​

I was wondering if the acrylic cover on the slimline UVB fixtures is designed to let UVB pass through or whether it must be removed because UVB will not pass through a solid filter such as glass or regular clear plastic. Your prompt response is appreciated. Germ

 

[GroomerMo]

Ok I zip tied the UVB fixture to the inside part of the lid is that what you ment I can post pics if needed

 

[Germ]

Pics are worth a thousand words ...

Did you remove the plastic cover\lens over the bulb?

 

[GroomerMo]

I couldn't remove it without breaking the houseing

 

[GroomerMo]

I'll post pics once I get home and today I suppose to be rehoming the little one as long as the guy doesn't change his mind and I did make sure he's had dragons before.

 

[GroomerMo]

There I have the basking and heat on the outside and the UVB on the inside with a basking plat form under the UVB and a log under the basking.

 

[GroomerMo]

Now I only have one beardie kinda makes me sad but I know it was the best thing to do.

 

[Pat B]

What happened? Must have missed something!

 

[GroomerMo]

I had two houses together and one was doing a lot better than the other so for the better health of the little one I had to rehome him.

 

[GroomerMo]

This is my baby beardie

 

[Germ]

I am not sure how many times this has to be repeated, the heat and UVB must cover the basking spot. Your UVB still is much too far away .................. 8-10" at the very most for that brand bulb from the basking spot. One heat lamp of the right wattage or type is all that is needed ... leaving room for the UVB fixture ... Can't tell from the photo, have you removed the plastic cover from the fixture?

 

[Spikeleebd]

i have that same fixture in the picture i can never get it to stay glued on

 

[Pat B]

Nice looking beardie!