bearded dragon lighting and heating ?? helpp!!

[BillReptiles]

hay guys

ive recently built a 4ft by 2ft by 2ft enclosure and went to buy lights from the pet shop. i got a infra red 100 wat bulb and a repti glo compact 10.0 uvb coil bulb. -.- now that ive read up on it, ive relised that the infra red keeps them up at night and the coil bulb isn't good for there eyes. :/ and the worst part of it is i have already installed it all lol

so this is where i need your help. i need something that produces heat at night and during the day as it gets way below 20 degrees at night. ive also got a thermostat, i know people don't like them but i'm usually at work during the day and cant monitor it 24 7. and the uvb/ uva bulb.
itd be good if i can get brands as well.

thanks

this is where the lights are at the moment

 

[ajandj]

l use a thermostat, l also use a moonlight globe for heat. The globe it's is a dark purple to look at (in the box) but it puts out next to no light. Great for night as it doesn't disturb you or your critters. I think on the box they say they are for snakes. I'll check the box in the morning and let you know. Also they say not to use them with a thermostat because it shortens the life of the globe but as these are reasonably cheap l didn't worry about it.

 

[Sofoula88]

Hey, I think I posted on your other thread? Anyway I don't know what u read but u kno there are always gonna be sites that tell you something that is perfectly fine is no good for some reason,jst saying,and Esp if your a new owner it can do your head in..ppl tell me I'm doing stuff wrong all the time but u kno wat idc because my beardies are healthy and happy,and you can def tell if there not.. Personally I think you should keep the lights,well the infra red one is crap tho, but if uve read other wise then that's up 2 u if u wanna change them coz of something u read. If you want something that emits heat at night only but no light get a black light or oz purple night light ( not sure what brand) but they emit heat with very little light, there is also the exo Terra moon light which is blue and also for night.. I think your asking for something that is strong enough for day and night and I cnt give u one light... I change my globes every night.. I have a basking and party globe for day and a single party globe for night (which I've been meaning to change coz the light keeps em up) I have tried many different basking globes and infra red.. With my set up tho I have 3 light holders.. So I'm not putting 100 watts on jst one,that way they have a hot basking area but can move around.. But if u dnt/cnt put an extra fitting in I suggest get a basking globe for day .. And something that emits low light for night like I said before and jst change em up inthe morning when u go to work and at night when u sleep.. There's really nothing u can leve in there all day and night that is adequate..you have to change it up. as for the uv idnt really see a prob with it,I actually heard to the contrary thy they were better so up 2 u on that one.. Btw def don't let it drop below 20 at night..get something and fix it coz that's not goodgood luck

Maybe you should get a uv tube..that's what I have,altho I wanna swap to the compact lol.. We should swap lol

 

[Sel]

Mine dont get heat at night. Sometimes ill stick in a ceramic heat bulb in winter, maybe use ceramic if you want it to stay on for night aswell...but beardies prefer i nice warm basking light to bask in.

 

[KaotikJezta]

As far as the UVB I wouldn't be worried about the eyes as much as the size of it, it is only getting to one half of the tank and is not near the basking spot. I would use a fluro tube for UV. Means putting a fluro fitting in but it would reach the whole length of the tank that way. They don't need heat at night either.

 

[user 16324]

the UVB will be fine i think but maybe change the infrared to a ceramic. typically last longer and provide no light at all. just a bit more of an outright cost at first.

 

[BillReptiles]

Hey, I think I posted on your other thread? Anyway I don't know what u read but u kno there are always gonna be sites that tell you something that is perfectly fine is no good for some reason,jst saying,and Esp if your a new owner it can do your head in..ppl tell me I'm doing stuff wrong all the time but u kno wat idc because my beardies are healthy and happy,and you can def tell if there not.. Personally I think you should keep the lights,well the infra red one is crap tho, but if uve read other wise then that's up 2 u if u wanna change them coz of something u read. If you want something that emits heat at night only but no light get a black light or oz purple night light ( not sure what brand) but they emit heat with very little light, there is also the exo Terra moon light which is blue and also for night.. I think your asking for something that is strong enough for day and night and I cnt give u one light... I change my globes every night.. I have a basking and party globe for day and a single party globe for night (which I've been meaning to change coz the light keeps em up) I have tried many different basking globes and infra red.. With my set up tho I have 3 light holders.. So I'm not putting 100 watts on jst one,that way they have a hot basking area but can move around.. But if u dnt/cnt put an extra fitting in I suggest get a basking globe for day .. And something that emits low light for night like I said before and jst change em up inthe morning when u go to work and at night when u sleep.. There's really nothing u can leve in there all day and night that is adequate..you have to change it up. as for the uv idnt really see a prob with it,I actually heard to the contrary thy they were better so up 2 u on that one.. Btw def don't let it drop below 20 at night..get something and fix it coz that's not goodgood luck

Maybe you should get a uv tube..that's what I have,altho I wanna swap to the compact lol.. We should swap lol

yerh you did Lol yes im a new owner and it doing my head in soooooo baddllyyy!!! haha somone says it good then its bad then its not good enough then its..... etc lmao what problems did you have with the infra red when you used it and why do you want to change your uvb tube to the bulb? what i was told is to leave the infra red light on 24 7 with the thermostat. and the uvb bulb on a timer similiar to the sun.
because its my first reptile id rather prevent problems and get whats best rather then "itll be ok". ive got a 32 inch reptile tube light fitting on one of my old tank that was givin to me with it , all it needs it the actual light. so i could install that.

Mine dont get heat at night. Sometimes ill stick in a ceramic heat bulb in winter, maybe use ceramic if you want it to stay on for night aswell...but beardies prefer i nice warm basking light to bask in.

in summer i should be fine without the heat on at night but during winter its freezing.

what i was thinking is getting a 100 watt ceramic heat emitter to the thermostat, putting the uvb tube in on a timer and just getting a normal house light to light the cage up during the day. what do you think ?

thanks heaps for the reply's guys. you's have helped me so much

or what might be a better idea. the hot side ill get a 100 watt repti sun or sun glo ? basking light, and the uvb tube at the back repti glo, and on the cool side a ceramic heat emitter at like 60 watt (if this is too low then what will be good) for night time only just to keep it warm enough. ?? hows that sound ?

sorry guys but i cant stop thinking about it and im regretting it so much buying the infra red and compact coil bulb. although they may be good but many people have had problems and i dont want to go through any.

 

[Sel]

That sounds better. Basking light and UV during the day ... ceramic heat emitter for night, 60 watt should be ok for night these are expensive though.

 

[BillReptiles]

thanks if i put the heat emitter on the cool side would it matter ? just during the night

 

[ajandj]

You still want to have a cool and and a warm end. I have about at 12 - 14 degree difference that way if beardie wants to cool off he can

 

[BillReptiles]

yerh i know what your saying but like the hot and cold side will be opposite during the night. like during the day the basking light will be on the right side and the left will be cool and during the night ill have the basking light off with the ceramic emitter on the left side. this way all i have to do is buy bulbs instead of changing the light fittings ive already got .. would this work ?
sorry if i just confused u haha

 

[Sofoula88]

I get what ur saying.. Um well I didn't like the infra red coz even though they look cooler than the crappy party globes I use,there basically the same thing,and I actually like the light projection of the party globe to the infra red better..it's all weird with the infra red lol.. So with the party globes I get the nice red colour without the weirdness,also when my tank gets too humid as I spray them quite often (so they can drink water) I've had problems with the infra red bulbs breaking from the condensation and moisture build up in the tank ,even when I've opened the glass doors,never had a problem with party globes,and as I dnt have cages..you can imagine the heart attack you get having a light shatter with your beardies sitting under it,once the globe was defective and shattered after an hr and another time from the water I think,either way I was not happy and have never purchased anything but party globes since..also party globe $2.50 ..other globes $15+.. So yeh these are all things to take into consideration, I have also tried different basking lights and have pretty much stuck to the same globe nearly 2 years..it works and srsly most of the **** ppl tell u to buy isn't as good as what they say anyway,esp if ur hearing it from a petshop..like sel said they jst want you to spend money and srsly dnt even kno what there tlkn bout half the time, I went into my local aquarium and there was a couple asking questions about beardies and stuff and what's best and the guy didn't even kno and then was giving them ******** info on the most expensvive stuff..so I stepped in and basically told em he was full of it lol.. So like I said everyone will tell u something different,try not to stress and as long as ur doing the basics and you know ur info..ull be fine.. Trust me I was exactly like that too,and still things stress me out today.. Lol.. As for the uv,there's nothing wrong with the tube and I think you should get it coz yeh it's too small the one you have,there's not enough of an area for them to get enough uv with that little one (unless u put some branches or a basking platform then u should be fine,that is your cool side right?.. I wanna get the compact coz basically I'm building a big platorm thing right under the uv for them to get close and get as much as they need and basically I unlike you dnt really need to extend as far as it is.. So yeh.. Also I think your on the right track with the globes now, except for the ceramic emmiter..I have heard bad things about them and would personally like some kind of light in there..even though ull put a cage around,to me the idea of having something that emits no light and u cnt really tell when it's hot or not..jst reminds me of those old Electric stove top burners u cook on lol..but again that's me,also like it's Been said ur looking at about $60 for them,and yes they will last you longer but if ur cheap like me,and u dnt have that kinda money Up front..go for a night light, oz purple ones are good,my friend has one and it emits tiny light so dosent disturb em bit u can still kinda see what's going on in the tank.keep the baskin light in an uv on both in the morning all day,then jst take out tje basking and put in your night light in or..if u go for the ceramic maybe u could buy a 100 basking and 60ceramic and then all ud need to do is take out the basking..either way it's pretty easy.. This is an old pic of my tank ,as you can see pretty similar to yours (except now instead of a telstra phone box they have a proper hide that I made for them lol http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz121/sofoula88/a013d31a.jpg And this is what I mean by the weird infra red'ness .. I feel like I need to wear 3d glasses lol http://i820.photobucket.com/albums/zz121/sofoula88/8146148c.jpg

 

[bluey87]

ive got a phillips red flood light running in my beardies enclosure it runs on a thermostat, at night i turn the temps down but the light still doesnt keep my guys up they normally go off to bed round 7-8pm, and i run a fluro uvb tube that goes off at 6pm and goes on when i get up at 6.30am

 

[Sofoula88]

@bluey87 basically same as you except I have a party globe as well as my basking globe..everyone is tlkn bout these flood lights and ive never seen em,do u have a pic?

 

[BillReptiles]

well the only reason i wanted to change the infra red is because i heard it keeps them up at night. the pet shop guy i bought them off told me keep the infra red on 24 7, he told me that hes been breeding them for over 10 years and was showing me photos. i i thought why would the pet shop guy give me the wrong globes if the ones im gonna buy now are more or the same price? thats why im so confused lol
ive got a big branch goin in there about 6 or 8 inches away from the uvb light. ( those fotos are old ) nice tank sofoula.

well what i relised now is that if i get a sun glo basking light then ill have to change the thermostat to a dimming one lol this is such a headache :/

thanks bluey87 ive heard quite a bit of ppl using the flood light but never really looked it up. :/ lol

 

[bluey87]

View attachment 214462in summer ill turn it off at night

 

[JasonL]

You should not heat Bearded Dragons 24/7, bake them for 8 hours a day max.