# can i turn all the lights off in bearded dragon viv at night?



## polexprincess

this may seem like a stupid question but the women i got him off says turn his lights on in a morning and off at night, but dont i leave the u.v blue light on over night or have i been reading something stupid??

and if not can some one please put me right i dont want to be a bad owner 

thanks xx


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## pacorivan

if u have a habbi sat dont u turn the heat down of a nite anyway ,that make the lights dim an sum times go off depending on temp .
i ent kept reptiles 4 long time !!!!!!!


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## Ophexis

Everything goes off at night. 
A slight temperature drop simulates natural conditions in that when the sun goes down in their natural habitat, it cools down, turning off the lights helps sleep patterns as their body responds appropriately when its environment is dark (this is important as they are diurnal), and 24-7 UV could cause UV sickness as they essentially 'overdose' on it.


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## Paul P

Bearded dragons are diurnal, both spot lights and uv should be off at night, imagine how stressed you would become if you had to sleep with your light on all night!!


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## imginy

Every thing goes off at night and on in the morning.

Beardies can't sleep very well if it isn't pitch black


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## PhillyDee

Is it actually a UV light? Beardies need a 10% minimum UV light, usually a strip light. They are not cheap and need replacing minimum once per year (for the arcadia).

And yes, Beardies need sleep too! Turn them all off.
Best off getting a timer so you don't forget. Plus, they like routine. They even get ready for bed.


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## arnie23

as long as your temps do go below 75F then you should be ok but if you live in a cold area then you may want to invest in a ceramic

as said before if the uv light is left on it can cause uv sickness

also if your house is cold you could use a red bulb and dim it right down : victory:


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## polexprincess

aww great guys, thanks alot ,ill go switch em all off then lol

and no its not an acctual u.v light lol but i dont know the proper name :/ its just blue and on the cool side lol xx


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## SteveCourty

you do have a uv bulb though dont you


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## polexprincess

yes


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## Night Crawler

Just a quick one about lights and heat. If the basking spot is heated with a red heat lamp, this can be left on 24/7. Just have it on a dimming stat and turn it down 5-10 degrees at lights out. Anything thats not red gets turned off at night. Basically, most, if not all, reps can't see red light.
So you can have a red light on all the time and watch your reps at night without disturbing them. I suggest red LEDs or cold cathodes for extra night time viewing.


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## jools

Night Crawler said:


> Just a quick one about lights and heat. If the basking spot is heated with a red heat lamp, this can be left on 24/7. Just have it on a dimming stat and turn it down 5-10 degrees at lights out. Anything thats not red gets turned off at night. Basically, most, if not all, reps can't see red light.
> So you can have a red light on all the time and watch your reps at night without disturbing them. I suggest red LEDs or cold cathodes for extra night time viewing.


It is my understanding that it is a myth that reptiles can't see a visible red light. They may not see it in the same way that we do but they can still detect it. It is *infra-red* that is invisible to them (and us). Although a red light will not disturb them as much as white light I still would not use it all night. If you need to provide any heat at night (if your house goes below about 60*F) then a ceramic or a heat mat (which actually gives out infra red) attached to the side of the viv is much better IMO.


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## Alon93

Night Crawler said:


> Just a quick one about lights and heat. If the basking spot is heated with a red heat lamp, this can be left on 24/7. Just have it on a dimming stat and turn it down 5-10 degrees at lights out. Anything thats not red gets turned off at night. Basically, most, if not all, reps can't see red light.
> So you can have a red light on all the time and watch your reps at night without disturbing them. I suggest red LEDs or cold cathodes for extra night time viewing.


The basking lamp should always be a bright white light source, a white yellowish color is also fine.

And many reptiles can see red light.


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## Night Crawler

I actually did a test on reps and red light. From what I could tell, they dont react to it at all. Ok, i cant say the same for all reps, but when shining a red lamp and red LED directly at a tokay, leo, crestie or beardie at night in the dark, there was no change in pupil dialation at all.


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## Welsh dragon

But wouldn't that mean that their eyes were open for you to do that meaning that they were not sleeping which they would have been if there were no lights on.


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## Remerezz

imginy said:


> Every thing goes off at night and on in the morning.
> 
> Beardies can't sleep very well if it isn't pitch black


My male beardie (Sebastian) can sleep where ever he drops - if Seb is sleepy, Seb will sleep :lol2:

Pandora (My female beardie) on the other hand is a VERY light sleeper! 

D


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## D22009

did you do any research ?


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## GallimoreNUFC

PhillyDee said:


> Is it actually a UV light? Beardies need a 10% minimum UV light, usually a strip light. They are not cheap and need replacing minimum once per year (for the arcadia).
> 
> And yes, Beardies need sleep too! Turn them all off.
> Best off getting a timer so you don't forget. Plus, they like routine. *They even get ready for bed*.


 i actually find that funny, before i got my beardie i never knew. but each night at 9 i can hear him digging in the sand and making a bed, ready for lights out at.9.05 haha


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## dickvansheepcake

Night Crawler said:


> Just a quick one about lights and heat. If the basking spot is heated with a red heat lamp, this can be left on 24/7. Just have it on a dimming stat and turn it down 5-10 degrees at lights out. Anything thats not red gets turned off at night. Basically, most, if not all, reps can't see red light.
> So you can have a red light on all the time and watch your reps at night without disturbing them. I suggest red LEDs or cold cathodes for extra night time viewing.


Beardies sleep at night anyway so what's the point in 'night viewing' anyway? And yes, most reps can see red light.


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## Night Crawler

Welsh dragon said:


> But wouldn't that mean that their eyes were open for you to do that meaning that they were not sleeping which they would have been if there were no lights on.


Yes, that is true. But only for a few mins until they go to sleep, or if you turn the lights off early.



> Beardies sleep at night anyway so what's the point in 'night viewing' anyway? And yes, most reps can see red light.


Yea, beardies sleep at night, but some other reps are nocturnal. So you would want to see them at night.

I did have some info on this to back it up, but cant remember where I found it. All I can remember is, We see red to slightly into UV. And reps see from about yellow, into UV.
If you dont beleive me, give it a go. Wait until it gets dark and shine a red light in the viv and watch their pupils. There will be no change. The pupils will stay wide open.


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## bazza5938

I've tried a red bulb with our beardie, both it going on when the other lights go out, and turning it on myself a little bit after, the beardie stays active when left on, or wakes up again if it's turned on later ... going to try dimming levels on it to see if it helps, just to provide some heat, and to be make some nice atmospheric light in the evening (or make the flat look like a brothel from outside!)


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## connor 1213

it is best to keep them on for only 12 hours a day so yes turn them all off at night : victory:


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## GallimoreNUFC

bazza5938 said:


> I've tried a red bulb with our beardie, both it going on when the other lights go out, and turning it on myself a little bit after, the beardie stays active when left on, or wakes up again if it's turned on later ... going to try dimming levels on it to see if it helps, just to provide some heat, and to be make some nice atmospheric light in the evening (or make the flat look like a brothel from outside!)


If your beardie wakes up with your red light on i think you would be off with a different night light. I use blue led strips and they do not affect my beard at all. Have a look at my recent threads you will find pics. Makes the viv look great at night


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## bazza5938

GallimoreNUFC said:


> If your beardie wakes up with your red light on i think you would be off with a different night light. I use blue led strips and they do not affect my beard at all. Have a look at my recent threads you will find pics. Makes the viv look great at night


tried a blue bulb too and same thing happened, yeah, I'm pondering going the LED route as I know the intensity of the light would be lower, and less heat, so hopefully, wouldn't disturb it (still too young to be sure on sex ...)


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## NightGecko

To simplify it for the OP these are the options available to you when it comes to heating and lighting a bearded dragon;

*White spotlight for heat and UV striplight on 12-14 hours during the day and completely off at night.*

This works fine if your house is kept warm at night, above 20c, which almost all bedrooms will do. The living room could get colder so check the temperatures.

*White spotlight and UV striplight on as above plus a heat mat or ceramic for night time temps.*

Only really necessary if you live in a very cold house or want to be over safe when it comes to temps (which is fine). Have the mat or ceramic on a pulse proportional thermostat and set it to your minimum night time temp (around 20c). The heater will be off during the day since your day time bulbs will easily surpass this preset minimum temperature, and will come on as and when needed at night to make sure the viv does not cool down below your minimum. 



I'm not a fan of any sort of 'red night glow' bulbs and the such... they mess with an animals day/night cycle and reptiles CAN see red light.

: victory:


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## T1000

GallimoreNUFC said:


> ...I use blue led strips and they do not affect my beard at all. Have a look at my recent threads you will find pics. Makes the viv look great at night


 Hi I'm nwe to forums, how can i see your recent threads? I'd love to see the blue.. Thanks


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## rum&coke

I just turn all the lights off at night. But if it was too cold and I needed heat at night I would rather use a red bulb than a heat mat as beardies don't do well at detecting heat from below so there is a chance they will sit on the mat and over heat and not move.


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## Atomicide

Not sure if this counts as a decent test, however after following the debate about red lights, I tried one of my own today. I took a red laser pointer, and pointed it to an area on the side of my beardies tank. (A point where he would see it but not get near to it, so there was no risk of it shining in his eyes).

He saw it with no problems at all, and watched it move around in the tank with great intrest, probably assuming it was food. So he definately had no issues seeing it at all.


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## Simon M

Lights off at night. Just ensure the temp doesnt drop too low at night. If so then use a ceramic heat bulb at night.

We are lucky temperatures are fine, power off at night:flrt:


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