i recently built a new big aquarium to house 2 female beardies dimesions 50Lx28wx19h i have two light fixtures both housing 75 watt bulbs one is a uva heat and the other one is the red 75 (24 hrs)i have them both aimed to a raised stick decoration where the basking gets to about 115 degrees. however directly underneath the decoration it gets to 88 degrees (this is where the light is aimed) the cool side of the tank is probably 75 - 80 degrees. my question is do i need even more lights to make it warmer or on the cool side or is the basking area an alright heat source to coinhere for the cooler cool sides?
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new aquarium
small_town36
Jun 05, 2006 10:37 AM
Replies (2)
PHLdyPayne
Jun 05, 2006 09:33 PM
you have a UVA producing light only (besides the basking light?) You should have a bulb that produces both UVA and UVB (a bulb producing UVB will also produce UVA but not the other way around).
The basking area should be designed to give the dragons a choice of areas to go to bask. It is good to have a section of the basking spot hotter (say 115-120F) with areas slightly cooler (95-110F) this way the dragons can move about on the basking area to warmer or cooler basking temps as they need. The cool side of the tank is fine.
As you plan to house two dragons, it is best to have several basking spots with identical or close to identical basking temperature areas. Or a very large and wide basking spot, either wood, brick or rock or a combination of bricks, wood and rock. Each dragon should be able to on individual optimal basking areas, instead of competing for a single one.
Be aware that not all dragons get along and even groups who have been getting along up to now, can and do suddenly become hostile to one another. You will have to watch for such signs of fighting, over domination, etc. If one dragon seems to hide all the time, rarely eats, is always underneath the other dragon (ie stacking), starts loosing weight etc, then you deffinitely will need to house them separately.
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PHLdyPayne
small_town36
Jun 06, 2006 09:10 AM
yeah i i forgot to say the uvb and the basking area is a big stick fixture. I am pretty sure but not 100% they are both female but they have been housed together for awhile and get along really well. They are at the stage where they are growing rapidly and both eat like pigs mealworms and crickets dont last long with 3 bearded dragons and 1 chameleon.
