Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi

I have a Female sunblaze bearded dragon who is supposed to be red,yellow and orange but she is gray most of the time except when i take her out into the sun. Another thing is that she is smaller than my male in girth but she is older that him and longer. Is there anything that i could do to enhance her color and size?

Thanks

Paul

if not then thats your answer - they need UV. if you do have a bulb, what type and how old is it

fluorescent tubes (5.0 or 8.0) are only good for 6 months, and only if the dragon is within 10" from the bulb. MVB are much stronger, last 1 year and are good for greater distances.

also how much light in general is available? the brighter it is the more colourful they will be. if you can add an extra fluorescent bulb without affecting the temperature again you may see an improvement.
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Ross

0.2 Bearded Dragons (1 Yellow, 1 Chris Allen/Sandfire)

ok a couple questions. Are they housed together? if they are that is probably the reason your female is smaller. If they are housed together the female is probably stressed. Also, as the other guy stated UV lights are needed. Not only for color but it also stimulates hunger in dragons.

rjharper, question for you also. What is an MVB light? I have plenty of uv in my tank but i havent heard of MVB.

MVB is mercury vapour bulb - they are screw in style reflector spot bulbs that provide light, heat and UV in one. The more common ones are the Zoomed Powersun and the T-Rex Activeheat ranges.

They come in 100, 160 and 250W flavours, spot and flood, and the higher power ones can project UV as far as 6 feet. They are great for larger enclosures and pump out lots more UV than fluorescent tubes.

The downside is they are $40-50 each, and are very easy to blow if you knock them when they are on. They usually come with a one year warranty though.

Go to www.LLLreptile.com to check them out
www.LLLreptile.com

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Ross

0.2 Bearded Dragons (1 Yellow, 1 Chris Allen/Sandfire)

I use a Exo-terra Reptiglo 8.0 and a Exo Terra Sun Glo tight beam. I take them outside for a while and i have a log in the tank that is like 5" away from their body. Yes my female is with the male but i dont have enough money to get a larger tank for her at the moment but ill get 1 soon.

ahhh yes me so stupid i should have guessed mercury vapor. well now you know why your female is small. just save a few bucks and get a cage for her and she will be much happier.

I have a question. Are there any MVB that don't put out so much heat? I have a rack with 3 60gal tanks, and I don't want to overheat the room they are in.
Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Shannon