My Bearded Dragon is housed in our lounge in a 48 inch long glass vivarium with sliding front door. Half the Viv is shaded from natural light ( the end with the ceramic heater basking area ) whilst the other end catches direct sunlight )
Electrical & Heating Kit :
- Primary heat source is a 100 watt creamic bulb over the basking slate that is in the left hand end of the vivarium. This is controlled by a Habistat pulse proportional thermostat set at around 80 degrees Fahrenheit with the sensor set half way down the length of the vivarium.
- Other heat and general Viv lighting is via three low voltage halogen recessed spotlamp downlighters ( running from a 12 volt transformer ). Many people go for more traditional spot lamps in their Viv but the low voltage ones generate just as much, if not more, heat than standard incadescent bulbs, and have a much longer life before they burn out. These lamps are wired in parallel so that if one bulb blows then the other two still stay lit providing heating throughout the whole area. This set of lamps is controlled by an automatic time switch whih comes on at 8 in the morning and goes off at around 8.30 at night.
- A three foot long Reptisun 10 tube provides the necessary mix of correct UV levels that are essential to the health of Bearded Dragons. The UV lamp is controlled by a seperate timeswitch that comes on at 7 am and switches off at 8 in the evening, thereby giving the dragon a full 13 hours of UV.
- I have two 12" long low voltage moon light tubes, again on a seperate timer that come on for 1 hour before the main lights and then again for 1 hour after the main spot lamps turn off at night. this is partly for aesthetics but we have noticed that between 15 to 30 minutes after the moon lights come on in the evening the Beardie decides to settle down for the night. I hope that this combination of lighting is replicating, as near as I can manage, her natural lighting / heating regime that she would get back in her native Australia.
- At the basking end of the Viv we have an additional electronic thermometer that has audible high and low temperature alarms set.
- My Dad is also in the process of installing a small extractor fan with a reverse thermostat so that in the event of the Viv over heating in the summer we have some means of automatically cooling the air down to a comfortable temperature for the Beardie.
All the electrics are housed above the screen mesh in the top of the Viv and we have a wooden lid / cowling over all this that has sliding ventilation vents. And of course we also have the webcam but thats' mounted outside the Viv not in it.
This combination of lighting and heating gives the Viv a temperature range of 100 ( ish ) at the hot end down to 75 ( ish ) at the cooler end giving the Beardie a wide choice of temperature zones to choose from when she thermo regulates. We are going to monitor the temperature at the cooler end as our seasons heat up and may remove the bulb in the cool end to avoid it getting over warm when the sun shines.
Vivarium Furniture and Decor.
As a general flooring we are using wood chippings bought from a reputable reptile shop. I know there are many of you that will scream " gut impaction" but we are aassured that these are perfactly safe to use. The Beardie also has a a large slate basking stone set under the ceramic lamp that warms up nicely for her. She also has a large cork bark tunnel half way down the vivarium that stretches from the front to the back wall. This gives her something to climb over and on and provides a private sheltered area where she can hide away when she chooses. Oddly this has proven to be her most favourite spot in the whole vivarium and she spends lots of her time on there, hence why we set the web cam up there for her. She often adopts her basking position when on here although it is not directly under any of the lamps, but seems to be her favoured spot.
The Beardie also has a large water dish with a stepped area at one end so she can easily get out when she wants. Whilst she seems totally at a loss as to the whole concept of drinking from it, despite tasting it with her tongue lots of times, she does quite like to sit in there.
We have a couple of imitation plants in the vivarium. As well as looking nice they also help to provide her with somewhere to hide up when she wants a little private time. She also likes to climb on the artificial vine in their. Luckily its strong enough to hold her weight when she is locust hunting in the upper reaches.
