Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I recently acquired a 2yr old bearded dragon in apparently good shape. He has a good appetite good weight and good bone structure. I am using a 150watt ceramic heater fluorescent lighting for uv and heated rock(with thermostat). I am considering replacing the uv fluorescent with a uv basking heat lamp for daytime and using the ceramic heater for night heating which I will control with a timer and remove rock heater if possible. I will use a covered lid so the heat will stay contained. I now have a screen half covered with a towel. I would like to know when using these lights what is a good distance and should I use a 100w or 160w and should i use a 10in or 8 1/2in lamp. I have 2 8 1/2'sthat will look great with my plan. I am doing this to remove fixtures from inside the tank which will make it safer for the lizard and it will also add to the overall look and appeal to the tank since I have it in my living room(my wife hates the towel look so do I)

Unless your normal room temperature is really cool, realy don't need all that heat to keep your dragon's cage warm enough and the basking spot hot enough. Ambient temperatures for the cage should be around 80F during the day and can drop as low as 65F at night. Basking temps for adult dragons should range around 95-105F.

Mercury vapour bulbs do put out intense UVB rays and the minimum distance they should be mounted over the basking area is about 18". Mounting them closer to the dragon's basking spot can cause eye problems in the dragon from the glare and intense UVB they put out (may not be the UVB but deffinitely something from these kinds of lights can cause eye problems in bearded dragons).

Though it's good to have a thermastate on the heat rock to control the heat it puts out, I personally feel they don't benefit the dragon at all. Bearded dragons and other diurnal (active in daytime) lizards really don't rely on belly heat to warm up. Their bodies are designed to measure temps/light intensity through a special organ on the top of their heads (Jacob's organ I think it's called). Thus, they can't determine if the surface they are lying on is too hot for them and things like heat rocks if they do over heat, can cook dragons from the inside out or cause severe burns on the belly.

Light intensity is more important for bearded dragons, so a basking light is more benefical for them as a basking heat source, as they instinctively go towards the brightest areas to warm up and bask. Ceramic heat emmitters don't emmit any light energy, just heat energy, so dragons won't know to get closer to them to gain proper basking temps.
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PHLdyPayne