Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Which is better to use for a dragon, A 100 watt UVB light or a ceramic heat emiter? The CHE light is either 75 or 100 watts, I don't remember which. Thanks in advance!

A CHE (ceramic Heat Emitter) supplier heat only no light of any kind. This is fine as supplemental heat. In addition to heat Dragons need UVA which can be a regular household bulb or blue colored Reptile bulbs and basking spot lamps. UVB is very important to Bearded Dragons as they cannot metabolize calcium without it. UVB bulbs are either flourescent or Mercury Vapor type. Flourescents are rated in %, meaning a 10.0% has more UVB than an 8% or 5%. The amount you need depends on the distance your dragon is from the bulb. 12" a 5% is fine, Up to 20" you need a 10%. I use the Zoo Med Reptisun 10.0% since my tanks are 17" tall. Mercury Vapor puts out more UVB than the flourescents. This makes them necessary for particularly tall enclosures. The downside of these is they get extremely hot, are expensive, and can be very fragile. They should never be closer then 2' from your dragon and must face straight down. Mercury Vapor Bulbs supply both UVA and UVB.

My UVB bulb is a Mercury Vapor bulb, I think it cost me 40 dollars. So since I am going to build my own cage, with alot of help from my Dad, how tall should the cage be to make it safe to use with the UVB light? Two feet? More? Thanks for your help!

Emily

The mercury vapor provides, UVA, UVB, and heat. I can't say how tall because there are many factors involved. You can't use a dimmer to regulate the heat output of a mercury vapor bulb. So you need to do some experimentation with how far the bulb would need to be away from the basking spot to get the proper temperature.

I have them, but don't use them in any of my enclosures. Maybe if someone on here is using one they can tell you the wattage and how far away it is from their basking spot and how large their enclosure is. Just keep in mind that MVB bulbs should be no closer than 2' and that they need to face straight down so the filament doesn't break.

heres the easiest and cheapest way to do this

build your cage....adults need a minimum of 4 feet long by 2 feet deep. my cages are 18-24 inches tall.

for heat bulbs, use a regular household white bulb. these are much cheaper than anything else and work just fine wattage depends on your cage height, room temps, and cage vents. experiment with different wattages till you get around 105-110 for adults or 110-115 for baby dragons. the other end, the cool end should be around 70-75.

then use a double fixture florescent the length of the cage. get one UVB 10.0% bulb and one non-uvb basic florescent bulb. this adds more light in your cage and believe it or not it helps. you can buy that bulb and fixture at home depot or lowes.
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Beach Beardies

2.4. bearded dragons
1.0. Turquoise x Sunburst Veiled Chameleon
1.1. Sugar Gliders
0.2. Felines *queen athena and missy*

thanks! I'll keep all of this in mind when I build the cage. All this info helps!

Emily

I don't believe in UVB flourescent tubes...i guess that i've had too many college courses in chemistry and physics. I would build a cage 2'x4'x2' and make sure that you have the door on the side and a wire mesh on top so that your MVB bulb won't get "banged up". THat way, you could lift the light higher if it is too hot. Be sure to have places in the cage so your dragon and escape the rays if they need to. Here are some pictures of cages i have built.

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a free range dragon is a happy dragon