What is the Best UVB Bulb for Bearded Dragons? Top Bearded Dragon UVB Light for 2020
If you wish to ensure that your pet bearded dragon remains happy and leads a healthy life, then it is important that you provide the best quality lighting for your beloved pet. These animals come from the Australian desert region. This will give you an idea behind the need for you to install proper lights inside the habitat. Special quality lighting is required to replicate the natural sunlight that a bearded dragon normally receives when out in the wild.
It is true that setting up proper lighting inside a bearded dragon’s habitat can get pretty confusing, especially if you are a new owner of such an animal. You have to learn several things and do proper research in order to get the ideal setup to help your pet thrive. Starting from the need of a basking bulb to understanding the basic differences between UVA and UVB lights, the learning curve is surely quite lengthy.
Top 5 Bearded Dragon UVB Lights
Do Bearded Dragons Actually Require UVA Or UVB Lights?
As discussed above, bearded dragons originate from the desert region of Australia. When they are out in the wild, they depend a lot on the natural sunlight in order to remain healthy. Since natural sunlight has both the UVA and UVB rays, bearded dragons require both during captivity.
UVA rays get transmitted from any source of light, such as an ordinary light bulb. However, there are specially made UVB bulbs that emit UVB rays. This means that your pet gets an adequate dose of UVA rays from the basking light bulb. However, you will have to install the specially made UVB bulbs to ensure that your pet also receives UVB rays properly and sufficiently.
Difference between UVA and UVB Bulbs
As mentioned above, any light bulb will emit UVA rays. These are normally light with longer rays as compared to UVB rays. However, UVB bulbs are specially made that will emit the UVB rays, which are shorter than the UVA rays. This light ray is needed by your bearded dragon to produce vitamin D3 in its body and to absorb calcium.
How Many Hours Of UVB Rays Do Bearded Dragons Require?
During the warm months of summer and spring, it is essential to leave the UVB light bulbs on for around 10 hours to 12 hours. You need to turn it on sometimes in the mid-morning and turn it off in the mid-evening. However, for colder months of winter and fall, you may turn on the UVB bulb for around 8 hours to 10 hours. If you can adjust the time duration of the bulb turned on during the day, it will basically help regulate the different seasons for your beloved pet. This will also create a natural environment for the animal to live.
Is It Necessary To Provide UVB Light To Bearded Dragons At Night?
The answer to this question is a big “no”. However, it is necessary to ensure that the UVB bulb on left on long enough to provide the daily dose of UVB rays to your pet. When it is time to turn off the bulb, you should not think twice. Do not make the mistake of turning off the UVB bulb too soon after feeding your pet. This will simply give rise to digestion problems. it will be a good idea to feed your bearded dragon minimum an hour before you plan on turning off the bulb.
Benefits of A UVB Light Bulb for Your Bearded Dragon
In their natural habitat, bearded dragons are seen spending hours basking in the sun. The heat from the sun is needed to keep their bodies warm and comfortable since they are ectothermic animals. It simply means that animals that fall in this category require an external heat source to enjoy their optimum body temperature. The UVB rays help the pet to generate vitamin D from their food and also metabolize calcium.
If you observe your bearded dragon carefully, you will notice that it displays certain behavioral patterns, which either regulate their body temperature to a better and useful level or to compensate the low heat in the surrounding environment. In order to ensure that your pet leads a healthy life, it is necessary to provide proper lighting in the habitat.
It will be a good idea to have a temperature monitor installed inside the habitat so that you get a proper idea while regulating the temperature inside the enclosure. It will also tell you when it is time to turn on or turn off the various light bulbs.
A proper temperature monitor will also allow your pet to move around its enclosure freely. With the right sources of heat and light inside the habitat, your bearded dragon can easily stay away from some serious health complications such as Metabolic Bone Disease.
Best Bearded Dragon UVB Light List
Talking about UVB light bulbs, there are various types available for you in the market. Although all of these bulbs work the same way and provide the same types of UVB rays, there are still minor differences amongst them that helps to differentiate the best from the lot. Here, we have come up with a list of some of the best quality UVB light bulbs that you can install in your bearded dragon habitat.
① Zoo Med Desert UVB and Heat Reptile Lighting Kit
When you decide to turn your bearded dragon habitat into a desert for the comfort and convenience of the animal, this product will surely help you with your job. It comes with a Repti Basking Spot Lamp, ReptiSun Mini Compact Fluorescent, and a Mini Combo Deep Dome Lamp Fixture.
The dual ceramic sockets can easily support light bulbs up to a maximum of 100 watts each. It is ideally suited for basking and small terrarium desert reptiles. With the help of the unique double reflector design, 35% more heat and UVA light is focused on your pet as compared to ordinary spot lamps. The best part is that it is designed to last almost 2000 hours. Pros Cons
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② Exo Terra Desert UVB 150 Reptile Lamp
With the help of this product you can easily ensure that your pet reptile gets the proper levels of UVB light. It is designed to produce a pretty high UVB output, which is somewhat similar to natural desert environments. The best part is that you can also use this product in screened habitats or terrariums that are densely covered to ensure proper penetration of UVB rays.
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③ Zoo Med T8 ReptiSun 10.0 UVB Fluorescent Lamp
This UVB lamp is designed in such a way that it throws the UVB rays up to a distance of 20 inches or 51 cm from the surface of the lamp. This is highly effective in preventing metabolic bone disease in bearded dragons. This makes it ideally suited for large sized habitats, where more than 12% UVB penetration is important. You may also use this lamp above screen covers, which can easily filter out up to a maximum of 50% of the UVB rays.
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④ MyComfyPets UVB Light and UVA 2-in-1 Reptile Bulb
This UVB lamp has been designed to give you 10000 hours of uninterrupted service. It is basically a 100 watt lamp that makes it one of the best to help your bearded dragon bask in the beneficial UVA and UVB light. It comes with self-ballasted mercury vapor bulb that automatically self-regulates and does not produce the harmful UVC rays.
The beneficial lamp helps to boost the digestion and appetite of the animal and also helps in the absorption of calcium through the production of vitamin D3. It is suitable for most of the reptiles such as lizards, bearded dragons, and turtles as it helps to prevent metabolic bone disease.
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⑤ Exo Terra Tropical UVB 100 Reptile Lamp
If you wish to ensure that your beloved bearded dragon has the right level of UVB rays to remain happy and healthy, then this product will be a great choice for you. This UVB lamp produces optimum level of UVB rays, which is somewhat similar to the shady environments of a rain forest and various other tropical places where there is less UV exposure and direct sunlight.
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Conclusion & What is the Best UVB Light for Bearded Dragons
By now you must have gained some knowledge about the importance of UVB rays for a bearded dragon and how it can help your pet remain healthy and happy for the rest of its life. It also helps them avoid metabolic bone disease, which is a serious health complication for bearded dragons. This list above will surely help you when it comes to choosing the best source of UVB rays for your pet.
Out of all the UVB lamps discussed above, the best of the lost was the Zoo Med Desert UVB Lighting Kit (CHECK BEST PRICE HERE). The kit contains ReptiSun Mini Compact Fluorescent, Repti Basking Spot Lamp, and a Mini Combo Deep Dome Lamp Fixture. Each of the sockets can support up to a maximum of 100 watts each.
It is designed to work for 2000 hours at a stretch and the unique double reflector design helps to focus almost 35% more UVA light and heat. You also get a dual on/off switch with the kit for your added convenience.
Some Good Lighting Options for Bearded Dragons
When it comes to lighting options for your bearded dragon’s habitat, there are multiple choices for you. Here are some of the widely used options by bearded dragon owners.
- Fluorescent Tube Bulbs: These are probably one of the most commonly used light bulbs in the market for bearded dragons. Although these bulbs are inexpensive, these are also energy efficient and produce the proper wavelengths of both UVA and UVB rays to help the animals in several ways possible. Using any fluorescent bulb will not be good enough. You have to choose those that are especially designed for reptiles.
- Compact Fluorescent Bulbs: These are comparatively new in the world of reptiles. These types of bulbs are almost similar to the squiggly bulbs that are widely used at homes. However, the bulbs that are designed for reptiles come with higher UV output and intensity as compared to the normal ones that are used at homes.
- Mercury Vapor Bulbs: If you are a serious bearded dragon breeder owner, the mercury vapor bulbs are the best options for you. These are designed to produce excellent quality UV radiation along with proper heat. If you use this bulb, there will not be any need to use any other bulb with it. These are quite efficient at supplying UVA and UVB rays.
