Reptile & Amphibian Forums

this is what my soon to be dragon will be staying in.

housing:
50 gallon long terrarium artificial turf slate rocks for climbing and basking sticks for basking a hide spot or 2.

lighting/heating

Now this ismy question. I have uvb but what wattage bulb should i use to getmy tewmps to the right amount? the dimension of the cage is 48 inches long 13 inches high and 18inches deep. what wattage bulb will do good?

i would like the temps be 110 at the basing spot and 85 in the cool end.

feeding:
Ill feed him or her every day with crickets dusted once a week? or twice? then a salad would be mustard greens collard greens and romauin lettuce. what ever heor she prefers.

HOw is this set up tell me now what to fix before i set up. ok bye

You really seem to know your temps...which is really really important. Just know that at night the temps can be as low as 70. You never touched on sand or the surface that you were planning on keeping your lil guy on. Never use play sand, and if its a baby make sure to use carpet or papertowels. Take a look around on the forum and you will see how several people have their tanks set up. Good luck and *high fives* for doing your research before you buy one. Lots of people get one and then ask questions!

Kerri

sorry i ment to say i was going to keep him or heron artifical turf from the local lowes. Its going to be 6-9inches big so I dont think a looses substrate is good any ways, because they like tolick new things and impaction forns,ha im sure you alreadyno this i just like to soundsmart.thanks for your help but my question stil stands what type of wattage bulbe should i use 60 75 100 150? i dont know but i want the tewmps like i said befor

The bulb size depends on the temps in your house, no one can really answer that. You need to buy one and get a good thermometer and make sure the temps are correct.
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Also keep in mind that different manufacture's bulbs produce a significantly different ammount of heat. This is something i've been playing with quite a bit trying to adjust temps in my cage since summer temps in my house are drastically different than winter temps. I've tried a few different bulbs from Home Depot and it seems like those ones seem to be cooler compared to the same wattage ZooMed Basking bulbs. Also i've found that the ExoTerra ones are much cooler at the same wattage that the ZooMed ones are.

I have a 48x16x16 tank and i'm currently using a 75 watt ZooMed on side with large rock and a 100 watt ZooMed on the side with a short/flat rock that is about an inch higher than the substrate. This gives me two basking spots surface temps at 115 degrees on either side which is on the high side but my two dragons seem to prefer it when it's warmer. That set up gives me 80-85 degrees ambient temp through out most of the tank once the tank has warmed up. It is in a room that is 75 degrees currently now that it has cooled off here in Northern California, but in the summer months I was using a 50 and 75 watt respectively since I don't have AC and the room temp can jump up to 85-90 degrees. On the hotter days I would turn one of the lights off completely.

Since you have a tank that is 3 inches shorter, I would start off with two 50 watt bulbs and raise or lower the basking spot accordingly. This is just a suggested starting point though since so many factors can affect the temp of the enclosure including room temp, time of day, substrate, furniture, your beardie, full screen top or partial screen and glass, etc. It's not the easiest thing to get right but just make sure you get a good digi thermometer and you'll get it right, even if it takes some time and money invested in bulbs to get it right.

Like what everyone else has told you...it really depends on where in your house you have your lil guy and the surrounding temps outside of the tank. I've found that in the summer time when I had my AC on in the house I needed a stronger bulb...but now that its fall/winter, I need something a lil less strong. Also - it all depends if get a regular bulb, a daytime bulb (usually red) or a night bulb (usually blue). Go to your local pet store a purchase a couple. You will eventually find what works best for your enviroment. And remember that each beardie is different.....im sure that you will do great!