Providing the proper lighting for bearded dragons is essential to their well being. These lizard require certain types of lights, heating and UVB to maintain health and growth.
The light that is provided should give off certain types of UVB rays for your beardie. This helps them to product an important vitamin, vitamin D3 so they can efferently absorb calcium. Lack of this vitamin can cause calcium deficiency leading to bone loss. This is especially true for baby bearded dragons, as these little guys need a lot of calcium for their bones.
The UVB is a special bulb you get at your local pet store and should extend the entire length of the enclosure. This type of lighting for bearded dragons will help them grow faster, eat more, and be more active.
The other type of light your bearded dragon needs is a spot light that will product heat for them. These lizards come from the desert area and are used very hot exposure. This should be a direct spot light focused on one end of the enclosure and you should provide your beardie with a basking perch to climb on.
Your beardie can lay under this light for hours during the day, this is totally normal. A bearded dragon can control their own body temperate by moving from the hot end of their enclosure to the cool end. So make sure this spot light is only directed at one end and not in the center.
When setting up the beardie tank there are some other things you need to make sure of. Make sure that the top of your tank is a screen with holes evenly spaced and not too small. If the holes are too small it will block the UVB rays.
The temperature the tank needs to be at should be around 90 to 100 degrees during the day and not ever get lower than 70 degrees.
You need to provide lighting for the bearded dragon at least 14 hours a day, if you find this difficult to do, set up a timer so your beardie will get 14 hours of lighting and 10 hours of darkness.
Another way you can provide the proper UVB lighting is to take your bearded dragon outside to get natural sunlight. If you do this, make sure you are also providing him/her with somewhere to hide to cool themselves down.
Putting your tank next to a window will not provide the proper UVB lighting, the window will block out the rays. So it is not a good idea to keep your bearded dragon close to a window.
Follow these tips for the lighting of your bearded dragon and you will have a happy and healthy beardie for years to come. Lighting is very important to the health of your lizard so make sure you do it right.
You can find almost all UVB bulbs and other spot lamps at your local pet stores, the first time you purchase them, they can be expensive. Keep this in mind when setting up your lighting for bearded dragon.