Reptile & Amphibian Forums

My husband and i just recently got a bearded dragon. It is about 8 inches long and we have the enclosure all set but no book or website tells us how many hours to use for each light. We have a UVB light, a basking light and a black night light. I understand how they are all important but how often should i use these on it? Please help?

I have read that about 10-12 hours is needed by young breadies, having a timer set for this is helpfull for keeping a steady time

I'll qualify this by saying that I'm by no means an expert on bearded dragons, but from reading several sources, this is what I can come up with.
The basking light and the UVB should be on the same side of the cage and on during the day which for your beardie should be about 12-14 hours. The idea is to get a basking spot that is around 100-115 degrees depending on which source you like. You also want to make sure the cool side of the cage is around 85 so your lizard has enough variation to control his/her own temperature. Most of the sources I've read have said that you don't really need a night bulb unless your house gets into the 60's at night. In this case, you'd just use the night bulb the other 10-12 hours in the day. Like I said, this is what I'm doing with my pair, but I can't qualify myself as an expert.
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1.1 Red Bloods (Cartman and Bebe)
0.1 Boa Constrictor (Victoria)
0.1 Albino Burm (Butters)
0.0.1 Desert King (Miles)

the above poster (awsome) has it right. Lights, both UVB and basking light, on for about 12-14 hours, no heat at night unless room temps drop below 65F. The basking spot should be measured with a digital thermometer, placed directly on teh basking log/branch/brick etc to get an accurate ideal of the temps. Having several basking areas (either with a wide sloped basking spot, or just several different locations) with varying temps between 95-115F is best, this way the dragon can choose what temp he/she wants to be in. A large piece of driftwood or several bricks or rocks (slate tile is good as they can be layered and glued together nicely, or proped against bricks or rocks etc) to provide different heights beneath the basking light are best. Also try to get the UVB tube (if a florescent style UVB light) no more than 12" above the basking spot, to make the most of the UVB rays it provides. Mercury Vapor bulb UVB lights need to be at least 18" above the basking spot,a s these lights put out alot more UVB rays and their brightness can cause problems with bearded dragon eyes.
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PHLdyPayne