# Beardie viv advice please??



## Johnf9 (Apr 5, 2008)

I'm wanting to get a beardie baby, i have a glass enclosure approx 2 1/2 wide by 1 1/2 feet deep by 1 1/2 high. It has a plastic hood on it with a uv bulb. I have a substrate and stuff sorted gonna use slate tiles rather than sand with it being a baby. My worry is heating?? Would this sort of thing be the way to go?? Ceramic Heat Lamp Bulb Holder Vivarium on eBay, also, Reptiles, Pet Supplies, Home Garden (end time 03-Apr-08 19:19:24 BST)

If so what wattage / type bulb would i need and also i take it a heat mat should be in there on the side wall turned on at all times?? Thanx.


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## elliottreed (Jan 9, 2008)

i personally have 2 60 watt bulbs with a hide on hot side
and i don't use a heat mat as they spend most of their time sitting on a rock above the heat mat and i found it was just warming the sand etc.

people will most likely disagree but that's how i heat my adults
x


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## Meko (Apr 29, 2007)

Johnf9 said:


> I'm wanting to get a beardie baby, i have a glass enclosure approx 2 1/2 wide by 1 1/2 feet deep by 1 1/2 high. It has a plastic hood on it with a uv bulb. I have a substrate and stuff sorted gonna use slate tiles rather than sand with it being a baby. My worry is heating?? Would this sort of thing be the way to go?? Ceramic Heat Lamp Bulb Holder Vivarium on eBay, also, Reptiles, Pet Supplies, Home Garden (end time 03-Apr-08 19:19:24 BST)
> 
> If so what wattage / type bulb would i need and also i take it a heat mat should be in there on the side wall turned on at all times?? Thanx.


 
cover 3 sides of the tank so they don't get stressed, you probably already know that but always useful to say it just in case.

With it being 18inches high make sure you've a branch that'll go high up so the beardie can get to within about 6 inches of the UV or it'll lose too much of the UV and the beardie won't benefit from it.

you can use ceramic and a lot of people do use them but as beardies are desert animals they recognise the sunlight. If you use a ceramic stick a low wattage bulb in there as well so they have the 'sun' light too.
Although, as the tank size isn't big enough for an adult you'll need to upgrade at some point. If you go for a ceramic you'd be better to get a 150 (or 200) watt so it can be used in the bigger viv as well. They're not cheap so there's no point going for a low wattage one and then buying a higher wattage one in a few months when its time to upgrade the viv. As you should always run a heat source off a stat, the stat will make sure the higher watage ceramic doesn't overheat the viv.

Heat mat.. personal choice. If you decide to use a heat mat it should be on the side wall and used on cold nights to make sure the viv temp doesn't drop below 65f. 
If you keep it on at all times then you're using 2 heat sources, 2 stats and 2 different devices using electricity to achieve the same result a ceramic or spotlamp on its own will.


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## lee1980 (Feb 11, 2008)

Meko said:


> With it being 18inches high make sure you've a branch that'll go high up so the beardie can get to within about 6 inches of the UV or it'll lose too much of the UV and the beardie won't benefit from it.
> Heat mat.. personal choice. If you decide to use a heat mat it should be on the side wall and used on cold nights to make sure the viv temp doesn't drop below 65f.
> If you keep it on at all times then you're using 2 heat sources, 2 stats and 2 different devices using electricity to achieve the same result a ceramic or spotlamp on its own will.


Hi mate,
Firstly i would like to say that a glass viv is not really suitable for a beardie as glass cant hold heat as much as wood but if you do decide to use that then make sure all the sides and back are covered as these little guys can stress easily.
Also these guys need UV rays (10.0 UVB STRIP LIGHT) to grow and keep healthy, you should aim to have all the climbing equipment and rocks and stuff at a minimum of 12 - 14 inches away NOT 6 inches.
I use a 100 watt white spot bulb for day time and a 100 watt red bulb for night time in my 4 foot viv which are always on a probed thermostat, 9 times out of 10 the red bulb never comes on at night as the temp never drops below 70f. (same as my iggy and tortoises)
Also, elliottreed is bang on the money there is NO NEED FOR A HEAT MAT.
Good luck with the beardie mate, lee


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## lee1980 (Feb 11, 2008)

Sorry, also wouldnt recomend a ceramic bulb


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## Meko (Apr 29, 2007)

lee1980 said:


> Also these guys need UV rays (10.0 UVB STRIP LIGHT) to grow and keep healthy, you should aim to have all the climbing equipment and rocks and stuff at a minimum of 12 - 14 inches away NOT 6 inches.


 
scuse me?? a minimum of 12 - 14 inches????


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## lee1980 (Feb 11, 2008)

Meko said:


> scuse me?? a minimum of 12 - 14 inches????


Hi mate,

yer thats about right, been keeping beardies and other reps for over 10 years and never had a problem
if you look at other peoples vivs in the picture gallery you will see how far some strip lights are away.
6 inches is totally wrong, sorry mate


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## HadesDragons (Jun 30, 2007)

Meko said:


> scuse me?? a minimum of 12 - 14 inches????


Personally I'd have said 12-14" was the *maximum* for a 10% tube without a reflector...

With the strength of tubes, as long as they can get further away from it than 6" if they want to, there shouldn't be any issue with having a perch 6" away from the tube, as Meko suggeted. Each to their own though... 

One thing to be aware of is that there has been a lot of talk recently about the ReptiGlo 10.0 tubes emmitting potentially harmful wavelengths of light. I don't know if this problem has been corrected yet, but if you do decide to use a ReptiGlo (as opposed to a ReptiSun or Arcadia), make sure it's above eye level. I'd also be careful that your beardies can't climb on top of the tube. They don't have the same lavel of UV shielding on their bellies as they do on their backs, and getting right on top of a UV tube could cause burns / DNA damage at a cellular level. 

Have a look at uvguide.co.uk for tests of various tubes, along with output maps for many of them. This will help you decide whether you feel 6" away would be safe or not, for whichever tube you decide to use.


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## Meko (Apr 29, 2007)

lee1980 said:


> Hi mate,
> 
> yer thats about right, been keeping beardies and other reps for over 10 years and never had a problem
> if you look at other peoples vivs in the picture gallery you will see how far some strip lights are away.
> 6 inches is totally wrong, sorry mate


6 inches may in some opinion my be too close but 12 - 14inches MINIMUM is too far. 12 - 14 inches maximum then yes but minimum would mean that 30 / 40 / 60 inches would be fine.


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## lee1980 (Feb 11, 2008)

Meko said:


> 6 inches may in some opinion my be too close but 12 - 14inches MINIMUM is too far. 12 - 14 inches maximum then yes but minimum would mean that 30 / 40 / 60 inches would be fine.


Hi mate,

As hadesdragons said, each to there own.
Well if you decided to put the uv strip light in a beardie viv 60 inches away. (which is a tall viv for a beardie)
If they had access through climbing branches and stuff personally i think that would be fine but would never do it like that.
I think i worded my thread wrong when i said minimum when i was ment put maximum. my appologies guys:blush:


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## Meko (Apr 29, 2007)

lol, so we were singing from the same hymn sheet.

That's what i meant with the 6inches... if they can get within 6 inches or further rather than it being 6inches off the bottom of the floor or corner to corner so they're always within 6 inches.
Being able to get within 6 inches if they're right at the top of their branch isn't 'too close' as they can get further away further down the branch but if the top of the branch is 12 inches away then 12 inches is the closest they'll get to it.

if that makes sense cos it didn't to me :crazy:


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## lee1980 (Feb 11, 2008)

:lol2:
I think were nearly there buddy.
I still think 6 inches is to close and it runs the risk of a baby dragon climbing or jumping on it but if we done everything the same it would make it boring.


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## Meko (Apr 29, 2007)

shall we settle on 8?


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## lee1980 (Feb 11, 2008)

Meko said:


> shall we settle on 8?


:lol2::lol2::lol2::no1:
Sounds like a plan


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## rick01 (Apr 3, 2008)

Why not go to the source of the information UV Guide UK - Ultraviolet Light for Reptiles - UVB reptile lighting on test I've been in correspondence with them off and on for a couple of years. All the info. is properly researched and tested where applicable.
Bottom line use 8" as a median, much more and you're wasting your money, less and your major risk is a baby jumping onto the light fixture.
You should also read the warnings about a number of lights out there at the moment. I've had 2 deaths on another forum directly related to these and our local vet has also experienced a number of problems related to them!


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