Taking care of your bearded dragon is quite important, and one of the most essential factors is making sure they have the perfect environment to thrive in.
This means providing them with the right heat source, especially if you have a 40-gallon tank.
How many watts should the heat bulb be?
How should you mount the heat bulb so it stays secure?
What color bulb should you use, and what temperature should the tank be once you have the bulb set up?
Does your beardie need heat at night?
With so many questions swirling around your head, we know it can be tricky to figure out the ideal wattage for a heat bulb, but we’ve got you covered.
In this guide, we will walk you through everything you need to know to create a warm, cozy, and healthy home for your scaly friend!
Table of Contents
What Watt Heat Bulb Do You Need For A Bearded Dragon In A 40 Gal Tank?
The best UVB bulb for 40 gallon tank is a white 100-watt basking bulb that is perfect for keeping your bearded dragon warm and its environment within the appropriate temperature range during the day. In addition, a ceramic heat emitter should be used at night if the temperature in their enclosure falls below 70° degrees Fahrenheit (21° C).
Note: 100 watts is an approximation and a general recommendation.
The exact wattage will depend on how you mount the lamp, how far away it is from the tank floor and your home’s average temperature.
For 40-gallon enclosures, you may potentially even use a 60 or 70-watt bulb if your house is relatively warm and the pen isn’t very tall, but generally, 100 watts is a fair estimate.
You’ll be able to adjust the way you have mounted the bulb and move it further away or closer to the tank, so don’t worry if, at first, the temperature is off by a few degrees in either direction.
Focus on maintaining the appropriate temperature in the tank.
For bearded dragons, the ideal temperature for their basking area is around 90 to 95° degrees Fahrenheit (35° C), while the tank’s cool side temps should be about 80 to 85° degrees Fahrenheit (29° C).
White basking bulbs are best for bearded dragons because they emit a concentrated amount of heat and light in one spot while also giving off enough extra heat to warm the rest of the tank.
You will also need a dome or hood to plug into an electrical outlet and hold the bulb.
Make sure your dome is suitable for the wattage your bulb puts out.
If your dome is only designed to handle up to a 60-watt bulb, you don’t want to put a 100-watt bulb in it and create a fire hazard.
What Color Bulb Should You Use?
For daytime basking spot lamps, white light is always the best color to go with primarily because whiter light best imitates the natural sunlight beardies are used to in their natural habitats.
Whenever you add anything to your bearded dragon habitat, whether it is decorative or serves an actual purpose, you should choose the least intrusive and most natural-looking option.
Avoid using red or blue bulbs, even for nighttime purposes, as the colored lighting will upset your bearded dragon’s sleep cycles and hurt their eyes.
You probably won’t even need much or any nighttime heating anyway, but colorful bulbs will not help if you do.
What Do we recommend?
Our recommendation for the best UVB light for bearded dragon 40 gallon tank is a Reptisun 10.0 T5 bulb. It is a fluorescent bulb that produces 10% UVB, which is the ideal amount for bearded dragons. It should be placed over the basking area of the tank and should be replaced every 6-12 months.
Do Bearded Dragons Need Nighttime Heating?
Generally, your beardie won’t need any night heating.
A temperature of around 70° degrees Fahrenheit (21° C) at night is perfect for these desert-dwelling lizards, and the temperature in most people’s homes is already kept at approximately 65 to 70° degrees Fahrenheit (21° C).
However, if you find the ambient room temperature in your home dips lower than 65° degrees Fahrenheit (18° C) at times, purchase a ceramic heat emitter to provide a small amount of gentle heat for your lizard at night.
You will want to avoid a heat bulb for nighttime heating as the excess lighting at night will upset your lizard’s daily sleep schedule.
A ceramic heat emitter is excellent for keeping your beardie warm at night because it gives off a tiny bit of heat without producing bright lighting, which is characteristic of most basking bulbs.
A ceramic heating element such as this one by Fluker’s is perfect for giving off the small amounts of heat your lizard needs at night.
You will need a separate hood for your ceramic heating element if you opt for one, so you might want to purchase two of the hoods we mentioned in the previous section.
As with basking bulbs, be sure the hood is designed to handle the wattage of the heat of the bulb or heat emitter you plan on putting inside it.
You might have noticed heat rocks and heat pads available at your local pet shop or online.
Still, most experienced reptile enthusiasts and veterinarians recommend you avoid them because they often cause burns due to uneven heating.
The best supplemental heat source for nighttime is a ceramic heat emitter.
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How Should You Set Up The Heat Bulb For A Bearded Dragon?
For most basking bulbs, it is OK to screw it into a hood and place the hood directly on top of the tank’s screen.
Most 40-gallon bearded dragon enclosures have a durable screen lid explicitly designed for bearded dragon owners to put the bulb up against the screen.
However, if you don’t like this option or if you don’t have a screen-type enclosure, hang it above the tank with a mounted hook.
Many reptile owners prefer this kind of setup as it looks great, and you won’t have to bother with the lamp every time you open the enclosure.
Finding the perfect distance to mount the lamp at first is somewhat tricky, but you will be able to easily adjust it until you find what works best for you.
A third option would be to mount the lamp inside the enclosure, but this is tricky and even impossible for some 40-gallon pens as they aren’t tall enough to mount a heat bulb and its hood inside safely.
Final Thoughts
For a 40-gallon bearded dragon enclosure, basking bulb wattage could vary from 70 to as much as 150 watts, depending on how you mount the bulb and its hood.
Generally, a white 100-watt basking bulb works great for daytime light in most tanks.
No lighting is needed for nighttime, though some setups use ceramic heat emitters to keep the tank from dipping below the threshold at night if you need to.
Always maintain the proper temperature within the appropriate range at all times to keep your beloved beardie healthy and their body temperature nice and warm.
