Lighting and Heating

Lighting and heating are very important to your dragon. Your dragon's health and well-being depend on good lighting and enough heat.

Natural Sunlight Outdoors
This is the best for your dragon, even if you can only provide a small amount it helps. Your dragon needs UVB rays to process its food. I use 40 gallon plastic tubs which can be purchased at your local discount store for about $10 each. They are high enough your dragon can't climb out so you don't have to get a cover for it. Unless you have other animals around that may wish your dragon for dinner. I place a single layer of paper towels on the bottom of the tub. Try to position the tub so there is a shaded area for your dragon to cool as well as a sunny area for basking, If you don't have a safe place like that, then use the lid the tub comes with, place it sideways over 1/4 -1/2 of the tub to create shade. I personally take all of my dragons outside 3 to 4 times a week to bask in their tubs on my back deck. (photo provided). I place them out from either 10am to 1pm or from 3 pm until 6 or 7pm. I try to avoid the hottest part of the day as I have found they get very restless during that time and seem to enjoy mornings and late afternoons better, relaxing and basking in the sun. I always mist the dragons with water while they are basking; about once an hour to help them stay hydrated in the heat. You'll find they will often open their mouths and flick out their tongues to drink during misting.

Enclosure Lighting and Heating
Your dragon has to have UVB rays to produce vitamin D-3. You'll also need to use supplements containing D-3 and that is covered in the Supplements and Diet section. However, nothing fully replaces your dragon being able to naturally produce what it needs.

There are two ways to light and heat your dragon's home. I use both ways depending on the home and what the dragon responds to best. I tried a lot of different things to begin with until I found what works best for me and my dragons. I suggest you research to find what you are satisfied with.

Mercury Vapor Bulbs
These provide both UVB light and heat all in one bulb. They seem expensive, but if you consider you're purchasing one bulb and one fixture instead of two of each, the price is comparable. I tried several different Mercury Vapor Bulbs and have found the best to be 160 watt Mega Ray bulbs. They last longer; losing their power slower than others. A supplier for the bulbs is listed on the website Supplier Page. You'll need one 10" silver dome fixture with a ceramic socket. They are found at any home improvement store for about $12.

Florescent tube bulbs and heat bulbs or emitters Florescent bulbs produce just UVB light and not heat, so using these means you'll also have to have a heat source. The florescent bulb should run the full length of your enclosure; the heat source needs to be at one end or the other. Your dragon needs a basking spot as well as an area to cool down. I use Repti-Sun 10.0 for florescent bulbs and Med-Zoo 100 or 150 watt bulbs for heat. The cheapest places to find the bulbs and fixtures are listed on the website Supplier Page. You'll need to change these bulbs every six months as they lose their strength over time and become useless to your dragon.

You'll need a gauge to help you keep the enclosure temperatures regulated. Young dragons need a slightly higher temperature in their basking spot than adults. Young dragons need the temperature in the basking area to be 110-120 degrees and adults need 105-110 degrees. The other end for their cool area needs to be 80-85 degrees. Dragons need to be able to get close to the UVB light, between 6 - 12", the ways to achieve this are explained in the Cage Accessories section. Be sure there is always screening between the light or heat source and your dragon. This ensures your dragon will not get burned by the light or heat source, Dragons don't process sensation like humans, so if most of their body is comfortable and one spot is being burned they are not aware of this. So it is your job to protect them from harm. Be sure you have enough basking spots for each dragon if more than one is housed in the enclosure. Otherwise someone may get left out and not receive what they need.

If your enclosure's basking spot is not hot enough with the heat bulb, you may need to add another heat source. Heat emitters work well. Also Zoo-Med makes heat pads that can be placed under or on the sides of your enclosure if it's glass. There are also heat rocks. A lot of people now advise not to use them, as they have been known to burn dragons. They did at times when they were first introduced and then the company improved them. I used them for a while and had no problems, but I checked the rocks often. My problem with them was the fact my dragons got lazy, they would not move up to the UVB light or play. They just laid on the rocks all day and I felt that was not good for them.

Putting your lights on timers is the best. I started by turning mine on and off every day and night, but sometimes life gets busy and you miss the time you scheduled. Your dragon needs a routine. So for the price of a timer (about $10) it makes your life easier and your dragon's life happier. I change my lighting times with the seasons to keep the dragons routine in sync with the natural passing of the year. I keep my lights set to come on at 7am each morning. In the summer my lights are set to go off at 9 pm this gives the dragon 14 hours of light and coincides with the sunrise and sunset. As fall comes around October I begin to slowly move the off time back as the days get shorter. I chose the time every two weeks so the dragons have time to adjust to each change. I'll go from 9pm to 8pm then two weeks later go from 8pm to 7pm and so on until I get to 5pm. This reverses the daylight and dark hours just as it does naturally between summer and winter. Come November they'll have 10 hours of daylight and 14 hours of dark. This will also help your dragon brumate which is an important cycle for your dragon, especially if you plan to breed. Brumation is covered in its own section, so read that for more information on the subject. In February I start to reverse the lighting back towards summer time. As you do, your dragon will begin to be more active as they would in their natural habitat.

I can't express strongly enough how important lighting and heat are to your dragon. Your dragon can't function properly and be healthy without the proper heat and light. So if you have any questions please ask.




Blaze taking in the morning sun, mouth gaping to release heat