Bearded Dragons and UVB.
UVB is essential to your dragon for a couple of reason's,
Main reason being to synthesize vitamin D3, vitamin D3 is required to make use of the calcium within your dragon's diet.
Without the correct UVB your dragon is likley to develop the following symptom's and health issues:-
Lack of appetite, stunted growth and lethargy, Developing Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD) an illness caused through incorect or absence of UVB. MBD weakens your dragons bone's making them prone to fractures, dislocation in severe case's seizures and worse case death.
There are different types of UVB available on the market via internet and pet shop,
UVB strip light (tube) which is the most common in use and I would always recomend.
Mercury Vapour Bulb (MVB) I haven't used these myself, this bulb is a uv and heat lamp in one, personaly i wouldnt use these because they are not compatable with a dimmer stat, so in my opinion would create problems with your temperatures.
UV Compact/Coil Bulb again this is a bulb I wouldnt recomend as other peoples research has shown that they do not distribute the UV correctly and evenly. risking your dragon to the problems I mentioned earlier.
So after taking all of the different opinions into account and other people's research I have come to the conclusion that the best suitable UVB light is the UVB strip light (tube).
Some of the suitable strip lights are:-
Arcadia +D3 12% T5 or T8, T5 being the newer arcadia bulb which need's a T5 compatible starter unit
Repti Sun 10.0
Repti Glo 10.0
To ensure theise are used to there best and with out risk i would advise the watt of the bulb and starter unit to match in watt, also make sure the strip light covers atleast the minimum of two thirds of the viv. Please note aswell that UVB does need replacing within a certain period each manufactorer has a different period of time that the life of UVB last's, To maximise the UVB distribution they are best used with a reflector, if you are not uysing a reflector i would advise having the strip light on the back wall roughly 12 inches from the floor.
After using Repti Glo myself and changing to the Arcadia +D3 12% T8 i noticed a change in my bearded dragon's within hours, they was brighter in colour and seemed more alert within themselves.
After being asked several questions on what size UVB tube is required for a viv i have made a list of viv size with what uv and starter i would use myself.
4FT (48 inch) viv = 42 inch 38 watt strip light with a starter unit of 36/38 watt
3FT (36 inch) viv = 30 inch 30 watt strip light with a starter unit of 25/30 watt
2FT (24 inch) viv = 18 inch 15 watt strip light with a starter unit of 14/15 watt
Please note i have only included the 2FT viv as i know some people will buy baby dragon's with a small viv with the intention of upgrading to a bigger viv, I am in no way advising people to use a 2FT viv. Also the size of bulb and wattage provided are for the Arcadia +D3 12% T8
Main reason's behind making sure the starter unit and strip light watt match.
If your starter unit wattage is less than the wattage of the UVB strip light it will not produce sufficient power to put out the required UVB
If your starter unit has a higher wattage than your UVB strip light you are at risk of your UVB blowing creating a fire risk and putting your dragon at risk.
UVB is essential to your dragon for a couple of reason's,
Main reason being to synthesize vitamin D3, vitamin D3 is required to make use of the calcium within your dragon's diet.
Without the correct UVB your dragon is likley to develop the following symptom's and health issues:-
Lack of appetite, stunted growth and lethargy, Developing Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD) an illness caused through incorect or absence of UVB. MBD weakens your dragons bone's making them prone to fractures, dislocation in severe case's seizures and worse case death.
There are different types of UVB available on the market via internet and pet shop,
UVB strip light (tube) which is the most common in use and I would always recomend.
Mercury Vapour Bulb (MVB) I haven't used these myself, this bulb is a uv and heat lamp in one, personaly i wouldnt use these because they are not compatable with a dimmer stat, so in my opinion would create problems with your temperatures.
UV Compact/Coil Bulb again this is a bulb I wouldnt recomend as other peoples research has shown that they do not distribute the UV correctly and evenly. risking your dragon to the problems I mentioned earlier.
So after taking all of the different opinions into account and other people's research I have come to the conclusion that the best suitable UVB light is the UVB strip light (tube).
Some of the suitable strip lights are:-
Arcadia +D3 12% T5 or T8, T5 being the newer arcadia bulb which need's a T5 compatible starter unit
Repti Sun 10.0
Repti Glo 10.0
To ensure theise are used to there best and with out risk i would advise the watt of the bulb and starter unit to match in watt, also make sure the strip light covers atleast the minimum of two thirds of the viv. Please note aswell that UVB does need replacing within a certain period each manufactorer has a different period of time that the life of UVB last's, To maximise the UVB distribution they are best used with a reflector, if you are not uysing a reflector i would advise having the strip light on the back wall roughly 12 inches from the floor.
After using Repti Glo myself and changing to the Arcadia +D3 12% T8 i noticed a change in my bearded dragon's within hours, they was brighter in colour and seemed more alert within themselves.
After being asked several questions on what size UVB tube is required for a viv i have made a list of viv size with what uv and starter i would use myself.
4FT (48 inch) viv = 42 inch 38 watt strip light with a starter unit of 36/38 watt
3FT (36 inch) viv = 30 inch 30 watt strip light with a starter unit of 25/30 watt
2FT (24 inch) viv = 18 inch 15 watt strip light with a starter unit of 14/15 watt
Please note i have only included the 2FT viv as i know some people will buy baby dragon's with a small viv with the intention of upgrading to a bigger viv, I am in no way advising people to use a 2FT viv. Also the size of bulb and wattage provided are for the Arcadia +D3 12% T8
Main reason's behind making sure the starter unit and strip light watt match.
If your starter unit wattage is less than the wattage of the UVB strip light it will not produce sufficient power to put out the required UVB
If your starter unit has a higher wattage than your UVB strip light you are at risk of your UVB blowing creating a fire risk and putting your dragon at risk.