Lighting/heating

[zak.payne]

Hey guys,

I am new to the forum and fairly new to bearded dragons themselves. I have own a leopard gecko in the past but have decided to take a new route with things. My first question is regarding the UVB lighting that is needed for beardies to have healthy bones. I have read articles on articles that using a UVB fluorescent bulb will do the trick. However, I have also heard that Mercury Vapor Bulbs can both be used for the UVA and UVB requirements.

Any information is better than nothing!

 

[mommisgurl]

Hello!
I have a bearded dragon myself,little Reptar. The best thing to use for uvb is a Reptisun 10.0,tube,not bulb or coil. Those have been know to cause eye problems,as well as not putting out enough UVB. You need to put that inside of your tank,depending on how big of a tank you start out with.Using a hood with mesh can block out 50% of the rays..Not good! There's 18' and 24'. Go to walmart and get an under-the-counter wall fixture(used for lighting inside bathroom cabinets) for $8.00. It's by Light of America in the lighting section. Then,go get 3 command strips,and stick one on either side,and then the middle.
Done! Stick it in the upermost part of the tank to one side,and you have the perfect uvb set up that will result in a healthy,strong bearded dragon

 

[mommisgurl]

Woops,forgot to mention the MVB's lmao
Reguarding those. Yes,they are all in one bulbs that do heat and uvb all in one. But with those,you have to be careful. They cannot sit directly on the tank,as they can roast a little one :/ Having too much uvb is also as bad as not having enough. With Solar Glows and Powersun's,you have to have a lamp stand to attach it to above the basking area,which means you have to measure out the distance perfectly,monitoring temps and uvb. Though it can be easier having just that one bulb for everything,it can be a hassle trying to figure out the perfect distance.
I can post pictures of how my tank looks like so you can get an idea,if you'd like
I got all this info from the forums on beardeddragon.org. It's an amazing site,and you'll learn all the ins and outs of caring for one of these creatures