Reptile & Amphibian Forums

The tank demensions are-36"x36"x60"

Ok,for the bulbs, I check this is what I have:
1- ESU Reptile super UV daylight
1- 90w Philips flood light
1- 60w night glo bulb
* Will these lights be good enough or should I trade the Philips bulb for a reptile UV heat and basking light from a pet store?

Someone was telling me on another website that you shouldn't house more then one beardie together even if they are both females. I've heard 2 females is perfect everywhere else. I house males seperately but females I thought you could house together if they enclosure was big enough.

I'm almost positive that the UVB light is one of the ones that are harming animals. The light is producing the wrong amounts of UVB causing the issues. I would replace with a reptiSUN 10.0 or reptiGLO 8.0 tube light fixutre. THe red light isn't needed at all. THe bearded dragons can see the night light and it disturbs the sleeping. If your house gets down below 60 degrees at night then a cermaic heater is best.

Ok so I do have the repti tube light, is my Philips 90w going to need to be replaced for a basking light?

If i were you, I would take all the lights back and buy a mercury vapor bulb. You would probably have to buy the 160w one though if your cage is 36" tall. The mercury vapor bulb produces heat, UVA, and UVB so its the all-in-one bulb. Anyways thats just what i use and it works perfectly. Plus the tube uv lights usually only put out good uv for 6 months, the mercury vapors put out good uv for a year. Anyways that's just my thoughts on it.
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coheed196
1.1 raptor leos (gordo, sunshine)
0.1 beardie (scarlet)
1.1 veiled chameleon (e-yore, trixie)
1.1 panther chameleon (apollo, polly)
0.1 jackon's chameleon
0.1 albino burmese (peaches)
1.0 pit bull (ajax)

I'm not a mercury vapor believer. Some are. I would get the reptisun standard fluorescent bulb. The proper UVB value depends on distance. A 10.0 is for 12" - 20", a 5.0 is good to 12". Ideally you don't want anything between the UVB bulb and the dragon. The advantage with mercury vapor bulbs is that they push UVB up to 3' for very tall enclosures. I have the Zoo Med MV in 100 and 160 watt and am very disappointed in them. They don't put out near enough heat to be used as a basking bulb. The other advantage of a fluorescent tube is that the UVB is spread over a much larger area of the cage.

As far as the basking bulb you're going to have to use trial and error on that one. There are too many variables for people to give an educated recommendation here. You need to get a basking spot (surface temp.) of about 105 and a background (air) temp. on the hot side in the mid 80's.

CHeap heat bulb (not UV) go to lowes or home depot and just buy a 150 watt reg incandescent bulb. or buy a flood light that is 100 watt. This is what I use. Most importantly make sure you have a DIGITAL THERMOMETER.. you can even get them a t petco. put in the heat bulb and move it closer/further depending on the temp (temp. the basking spot and the cooler side.. make sure you leave the dig. thermometer there long enough so that it warms up and stabalizes) that way you'll know exactly how close or far to keep the bulb. Pet stores sell special lizard "basking" bulbs or "heat " bulbs for about $12 but you can get a reg. 150 watt that does the same job for $3!! Just b/c those store have pictures of lizards on it doesn't mean you have to use it!

Kristen
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4.2 Bearded dragons (Lee,Stumpy,Blackie,Spazz,Lynn,Charlotte)
1 Egyptian Uromastyx (Niles)
(Papa Kunja and Uri have recently passed..we love you)

Thank you for your advice!

The length and width of that cage is perfect the height is too much. Bearded dragon cages should not be more than 24". If you already have the cage, then I suggest using the Mercury vapor bulbs...as they push UVB much further the Tube style UVB bulbs (don't use the compact florescent tube style bulbs, they are extremely harsh on dragon's eyes...can actually damage their eyes if I recall correctly). The night glow bulb, i wouldn't even bother with at all. If you need supplementary heat at night, use a ceramic heat emitter. Keep in mind that dragon's do need a night time temperature drop as well as having all lights off. (14 day/10 night is good...)

For night time temps, it is fine if the temperature drops as low as 65F..as long as it doesn't go below 60F. Should be no more than low 70sF as well, so you do need that night time drop. So standard house temperatures are fine for night time.

For day basking temps...you need them to be in the range of 95-115F. Its best to have an angled wide basking area or multiple layers so you have several different temperatures your dragon can use to bask in, instead of just a single one. Also if you are going to try and house two dragons in that cage, then you definitely need more than one basking area so your dragons are not forced to 'stack' or compete for basking space.

There is no way to know your 90W basking bulb is going to be hot enough. It all depends on your ambient house temperatures and what sort of tank you are actually using. Glass is very poor for retaining heat, and a screen or open top, allows heat to escape quickly. Wood with a mostly solid top, or completely solid top, holds heat much better. Screen doors or side vents work best for allowing ventilation without loosing heat.

Personally, for a cage the size you have and giving the height...a 90W is not going to work at all to get the temps you need. I would try a 125 or 150W MVB and additional basking bulbs..as needed. If you are able to reduce the height of the cage, or plan to build higher levels (using ramps and wide secure basking area) you can get away with a lower wattage bulb but remember the ambient temps need to be in the mid 80's low 90's F as well..though the cool end can be in the upper 70's to low 80'sF

My suggestion is to buy a track light fixture so you can have 2-3 of the smaller flood light bulbs...so you can heat several basking areas at once...run it the width of the cage about one foot from the side wall...Most track lights you can angle the fixtures (or at least some do come in a design that allows this) this way you can adjust where the bulbs are pointing to gain a bit of control. Build or use a large wide angled or tiered basking area with plenty of room for both dragons to bask in the same temperature range at the same time, with other areas they can move to if they want to go hotter or colder. (I find dragons will bask at higher temps in the morning when they wake up and right after eating, then move to a lower basking temp once their cores reach optimal temps..then they go run around and do whatever dragons like to do when they are at an ideal temperature)
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PHLdyPayne

It's really a hit or miss thing. I have never had 2 females happy together for any length of time without a male present. The male keeps the females from squabbling. One of my vets has 2 males and 3 females housed together with no problems. I have a bunch of M/F pairs. The bottom line is that you just can't count on anything. I have 16 dragons and 16 enclosures available if need be. Currently I am only using 12.

I have a very low tolerance for dragons abusing each other. They are my pets and if there are issues I separate them. Many have no choice and keep them together even if one dragon is injured or stressed.

Thats funny, usually for my dragons, the males are the ones causing the problems, they are so aggressive in their breeding attempts that I cannot keep them together.

Along with that, I have a group of 5 girls that I have kept together for quite a long time without problems.

Phil

I had a male and a female live together for years and they got along good, my male was very well behaved, they never had a problem. I miss those 2 but I had to give them away when i moved and I can't get them back.