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Lighting/temp question

jennyk523

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
17
Ok im a newer beardie mom. So be easy on me because I am so confused and theirs no reptile stores near me so ive been using google a lot... which i found had a lot of misonformation on it. I have a 6 month old male beardie named "rj the 4th"(my 5 year olds pet and he named him after himself lol) we have had him since he was 2 months old. He was great in a 20 gallon tank. Ate his veggies and crickets great. We soon had to move him because of how fast he was growing. So he got moved to a 55 gallon tank ( see pic) the local petstore told me to buy zoomed repti basking light 150w and that should sufice. So i did since i didnt no what i was doing. Had 1 light on hot side. I had noticed the last month my beardie slowed down and acted like he was going to brumate. But i never heard them this young brumating.Didnt want to eat. Hasnt touched crickets in 3 months. He lives on greens and mealworms because thats all he will eat. I finally took a stand and friday night ordered a heat gun. Got it yday measured his temps ... hot side is only 88 degrees and cool was 72. I met a nice lady who is also a beardie owner when i went back to pet store (petsupplies plus)yday to get a higher watt bulb. We were talking and i showed her setup and she asked where uvb bulb was.. im like idk what your talking about. She explained i needed uvb bulb so i bought reptisun 10 while i was there. Told me if i have basking light i dont need a day bulb. My question in with the 2 lights i have temp is still at 88 degrees. Should i go back and get a day heat bulb too? I heard u can use a refular house bulb but at this point i dont know what to believe. I just know my beardie temps arent right and i feel like a slumlord for not knowing what i know now. So any tips or tricks would be greatly appreciated because he is the coolest pet we ever had and i want to keep him alive for a long time. So please help.
 

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JumpinJellyfish

Juvenile Dragon
Messages
319
Is the actual basking surface 88*, or is that the warm side air temp? Its not terrible for air temp, but the basking surface should be 100-105. You absolutely needed the UVB light, and should see some improvement in activity after a couple of days with it. Are you dusting the bugs with calcium? (And vitamin 2x/week)? There are lots of feeder options if you can order online - many kinds of worms, dubia or other roaches (depending on where you live), crickets of course. Nice that he's eating greens, too.
 

jennyk523

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
17
Ok so the outside air temp was 88. When i put the gun inside its reading 97.4. The uvb is definitely helping him cuz he pooped today. Hes more active today still not eating though. Veggies are force fed to him. Im going to find dubia roaches if i can just order a few from someone and see if he will even eat those either. Dont want to order a bunch and him not eat them either. He gets reptical 2x a week on his worms . Hes growing and has no deformities so hoping with new light . They dont sell anything but crickets and mealworms near me so thank goodness he will eat the worms right now.
 

jennyk523

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
17
Thank u so much kaylyn. Im not sure what the difference between a coil and tube are?The one i got looks like the new fancy lightbulbs u get for ur house and fits in the big black dome. Box says t5 150watt.His temps were better last night. Basking spot read 106.7 and i have the uvb pointed at the basking spot as well.
As for dusting bugs vet told me 2x a week because of his digestion of the mealworms. She wasnt sure why he wont eat crickets. She even had me bring him in hungry and they tried to get him to eat crickets and couldnt believe he would not touch them even in there tank. Poop was clean of parasites thank goodness. The salads he wont touch even first thing in a.m. i have to physically force feed him the greens. Vet says i have the pickiest beardie she has seen in a long time lol. I put 5 worms in there before i left for work to see if he would eat them. He will not eat outside of his tank so that another issue i have. So question.. normally since he was luttle i put the worms on the coolside of his tank. Should i be feeding him on the hot side or the middle of tank? I planned to order the bfsl bugs on friday when i get paid to try them out. Do u keep them in your fridge?or r they left at room temp? Again i appreciate your knowledge as i feel so bad for my luttle guy that i had this all wrong
 

jennyk523

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
17
I added some pics for you kaylyn. I also moved his wood around sp he could get within 6 inches of his basking light. I do have another dome light but didnt no if i should put it on there too.
reptisun 10 ? is it a coil or a tube I looked at the pic and didnt see it --- your little guy needs a tube UVB NO coil!!! You need a 24" fixture w/ a Retpisun 10 either a T 8 or a T 5 bulb --- the T 8 needs to be inside the tank approx 6-8 inches from his basking spot -- the T 5 can sit on top of screen but it too needs to be 6-8 inches from basking spot the the T 8 is not as strong as the T 5 --- the T 8 needs to be changed out every 6 months and the T 5 once a year ---- but you definitely need this along w/ your basking temps 105-110-- if you haft to move your decor around to get the basking temps there ---- the advice JumpinJellyfish gave is good too so I would do that ---- bugs should be dusted 5 x per week w/ calcium D3 and the vitamins 2 x per week --- you can order BSFL from here
https://symtonbsf.com/-- they are a good staple feeders and dont need to be dusted --- you can get dubiaroaches from here if you cant find them in your local pet stores www.dubiaroaches.com or here www.abdragons.com or here https://www.rainbowmealworms.net/
PLEASE NO MORE Mealworms --- he wont be able to digest them as he is too young and the temps have not been proper for digestion anyway!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The exoskeleton on meal worms are too hard on babies stomachs!! Feed him BSFL or crickets or dubias for staple feeders --- you can give medium super worms like 3 or butter worms or wax worms but only like 3 on top of his salad which should be fed first thing in the morning -- here is a website for nutrition
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html---- you can use as many BSFL that you want on top of that salad as well ---- the movement will get him to the food bowl and please use a bowl the worms cannot get out of --- let him eat from that bowl for like 30 minutes or so then add your staple feeder --- but he wont eat w/ out proper UVB that is a must -- he cannot digest his food or absorb calcium of which he needs ---- but w/ out proper temps in the tank and that UVB he isnt gonna eat --- please ask if you have more questions -- I am here to help
 

jennyk523

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
17
Do u think i should add a day bulb for now? To get the temp higher. I cant buy the tube til friday when i get paid.
 

jennyk523

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
17
so the 76 was outside the tank. The 97 was pointing at the wood in his tank under the basking light and uvb light. I do currently have uvb. Its in big dome on top where as the basking lights inside his tank. And the cool side is reading 72. He still doesnt want to eat. Just got over a week long shed (he normally eats very minimal during this time anyways) wish we had a reptile shop close enough to get him something different to eat but unfortunately we dont. We only have pet supplies plus and they have worms or crickets. Force fed him crickets 2 days ago may have to go get some more since we have a really bad winterstorm about to hit cleveland tonight. First pic is him under the light. Is he to close to it? Second is a view from bottom of basking light and uvb. Didnt no if they were to close together or not.
 

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jennyk523

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
17
This coil i have in there i just got last weekend. The poor little guy had no uvb up until last weekend of the 4 months we had him. Because nobody told me i needed one until i talked to abbeardie lady last weekend.
Yes friday i will go get tube at 24 inches and t5 or t8 depending on what the store has and let you know. His tree gives him ancouple different spots to bask on that arent right infront of the light.
Yes i plan to find someone to sell me a couple feeders to try. I dont want to order 100 and him not eat them either. Been talking with a few people on instagram that are willing to sell me 5-10 out of their colony to try for him and if he eats them then i will definitely order a lot lol. Do u habe IG? Maybe friday when i get these lights i can videochat u and u can tell me if. I have them in an ok spot. I do appreciate u and all ur help. So thank u
 

jennyk523

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
17
I meant for roaches sorry i called them feeders lol. Its cuz i was just reading a staple food feeder guide for beardies thats why i called it feeders.
 
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