The 9 Best Timers For Bearded Dragons (Owners Guide)

Setting your bearded dragons tank up correctly is really important in order to ensure they are both happy and healthy.

Having your bearded dragon’s lights set to come on and off by automatic timers isn’t just something that saves you an extra job but it’s also an essential part of their housing requirements.

Picking a timer that has all the features you need for housing your bearded dragon can be tricky and often leaves owners frustrated and having to purchase multiple timers before they finally get one that’s fit for purpose.

We have put together this guide to save you time, money and endless hours of research by handpicking our very best timers for your bearded dragon.

We have selected 9 timers that are great for automating the lighting on your bearded dragon’s tank.

So what are the best timers for bearded dragons? The 9 best timers for bearded dragons are:

• Zilla Power Center Digital Timer
• BN-Link Heavy Duty Digital Timer (Dual Outlet)
• BN-Link 24 Hours Mechanical Timer
• Zoo Med Laboratories SZMLT10 Repti Day-Night Timer
• BN-Link Heavy Duty Digital Timer
• Zoo Med Laboratories SZMLT12 Repti Terrarium Controller
• GE 7-Day Programmable Digital Power Strip (8 Outlet)
• BN-Link 7 Day Digital Timer (8 Outlet)
• GE 24 Mechanical Timer (Dual Outlet)

 Read On to Discover…

In a Rush? There’s Our Top 3 Timers For Bearded Dragons…

If you are in a rush we have listed the 3 timers that we recommend the most for your bearded dragon below.

All 3 timers we have selected are for specific reasons and you can find out exactly why in the detailed reviews we have included for each of them.

But for now, if you are in a rush and just want to know the 3 best timers for bearded dragons, then here they are…

Are Timers Important For Bearded Dragons?

Before you invest in a timer for your bearded dragon’s lighting set up, you probably want to know if they are even necessary?

The answer to that question is, most definitely yes, having a timer to control the lights is not just important but it’s also essential.

So what do timers actually do? 

Timers allow you to set the desired time you want your bearded dragons UVB and basking lamp to come on each day as well as the time you want them to be turned off and the timer will do this for you automatically each day.

You can also set timers to turn on equipment such as ceramic heat emitters for you during the night if needed.

Having the lighting setup for your bearded dragon turning on and off automatically at a set time each day is vital for their circadian rhythm and ensures that your beardie is both waking and sleeping in a healthy routine.

Experts recommend a 12 hour cycle for bearded dragons so 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of night time to best mimic their natural environment.

If you were to try and turn the lights on and off each day yourself, then there would certainly be days when you were inconsistent at the times you switched the lights both on and off and this can have negative effects on your beardies health. 

Bearded dragons need UVB and basking lamps for many vital bodily functions and leaving this area of their health to chance isn’t advised.

Trying to do this manually would also leave you stuck in your home at these times each day 7 days per week to perform this task.

By adding a simple automatic timer you can rest assured that the lights are on for the desired length of time each day and with no effort on your part except the initial set up.

What Should I Look For In a Good Timer For My Bearded Dragon?

Now that you know how important timers are to the lighting set up of your beardies tank, let’s now cover what you should look for in a good automatic timer.

Here are 4 things you should look for in a good timer…

• Easy to set up
• Safe
• Has the required number of outlets 
• Quiet When Turned On

Firstly, the timer should be easy to set up. You certainly don’t want to be scratching your head and trying to figure out how to set up the timer for days on end so simplicity is a major plus.

Another thing that is essential when choosing a timer is opting for one that is safe.

As the timer will be controlling your lights on a day to day basis, it’s important that it doesn’t overheat and has a good safety rating. Ideally, you want to look for a timer that has built-in surge protection.

Choosing a timer that offers the desired number of outlets is also a priority. If you purchase a timer that has one outlet but you need to turn on lights or a heat emitter at night then you will then have to purchase another timer for this and the cost will then double.

This is why it’s best to know how many outlets you need before you purchase a timer.

(Don’t worry, we have got you covered and we will share which timer is best for you depending on your needs)

Something that’s often overlooked is the fact that the timer shouldn’t be really noisy when in action. 

Some timers are really loud and if you have a tank in the same room as you sleep then this can be a huge problem.

Again, as you read through our reviews, we will point out which of our picks are best if you need a silent option.

Let’s now take a look at our top 3 recommended automatic timers for bearded dragon lighting setups…

The Top 3 Best Timers For Bearded Dragons (Reviewed)

Even though we have listed our 9 favourite timers in this guide, we have handpicked the 3 best timers and written a full review on each of them so you can make the right decision before you decide which one is best for you.

We have included our ‘top pick’, ‘runner up’ and ‘ best budget buy’. All 3 of these timers have different benefits and will suit the individual needs of different owners.

Feel free to take a look at each review and see which of these 3 timers best suits the needs of both you and your beardie.

1. Zilla Power Center Digital Timer (Top Pick)

Who Is This Timer For?

This timer is for owners that want to control both their bearded dragon’s daytime and nighttime lights through one convenient device while. You will also have the luxury of having 4 extra outlets free to use on other devices. 

Why Is This Timer Our Top Pick?

Our top pick is the ‘Zilla Power Center’ digital timer. This timer offers everything you need to successfully automate the lighting on your bearded dragon’s tank setup.

This timer offers 8 outlets, 4 of them are constant outlets and the other 4 are timed outlets.

What sets this timer apart from the competition is the fact that 2 of the timed outlets are for your daytime lights such as UVB and basking lamp and the other 2 timed outlets are for night time light or heat emitters.

This means that the timer will automatically turn off the day time lights and turn on the night time light or heat emitter all in one device.

If you don’t need to use any of the night time outlets then you can simply run the 2-day time outlets and you also have the other 4 outlets that are on constantly.

This gives you all the options you need and you really should need any other outlets or timers to run your bearded dragon’s lighting setup.

The timer is set up using the digital display, which for the most part is easy to use.

One thing that needs to be noted is that digital displays are more difficult to set up and automate initially until you get the hang of their program settings when compared to the ease of a mechanical timer.

Mechanical timers are extremely easy to set up but they also come with downsides, such as they are loud and you can often hear a ticking sound when the timer is on.

The digital display of the Zilla Power Center, on the other hand, is quiet and as long as you have the initial patience to set up the digital program we feel it’s a much better option.

A great feature with this timer is that it is fitted with a battery so if you have a power outage the timer will continue to work form the internal battery and ensure your beardies habitable will still be supplied with heat and light.

Lastly, the Zilla Power Center has safety in mind as it comes built-in with surge protectors so you can rest assured that your appliances are safe.

All in all, this is our top pick and we feel this timer offers everything you need to automate for beardies lighting set up and more.

You can get all you need to form this one device without having multiple wires and timers for different lights.

The Zilla Digital Power Center (Pros & Cons)

Pros:

• 2x Daytime outlets
• 2x Nighttime outlets
• 4x Constant outlets
• Maintains day time lights and night time lights in once device
• Internal battery in case of power outage
• Surge protection
• Digital display 
• Quiet

Cons:

• Digital displays can take a while to set up at first

Check out this video that shares the setup and features of the Zilla Power Center…

2. BN-Link Heavy Duty Digital Timer (Runner up)

Who Is This Timer For?

This timer is for anyone who wants to control their bearded dragons daytime and nighttime lights independently through one small device and doesn’t require any of the additional outlets offered in our top pick.

Why Is This Timer Our Runner Up?

Our runner up out of the 9 timers we have chosen is the BN-Link Heavy Duty Digital Timer with dual outlets.

This option is much smaller than our number 1 pick and may suit owners that don’t require so many outlets.

The dual outlets on this timer can be set up to both turn on and turn off at separate times of the day.

For example, you can set outlet 1 to turn on at 7am and turn off at 7pm and you can set outlet 2 to turn on at 6.45pm and turn off at 7.5am (if you wanted to)

This means that you could connect your UVB and basking lamp to outlet 1 and if you needed your ceramic heat emitter to come at night then you can set this in outlet 2.

Again, digital displays do take more effort to set up than mechanical/analogue timers but they are silent and mechanical timers can be loud.

If you have your beardies tank in the same room as you are sleeping then we would recommend using a digital timer for sure as the ticking sound from a mechanical timer would make it very hard to get to sleep at night if it’s on.

The BN-Link digital timer with dual outlets is a really solid alternative to our top pick and one that we highly recommend.

BN-Link Heavy Duty Digital Timer Dual Outlet (Pros & Cons)

Pros:

• Dual outlets
• Independent time settings for each outlet
• Can control both daytime & nighttime lights at the same time 
• Small & compact
• Quiet
• Digital

Cons:

• Digital display can take time to set up correctly
• Instructions not the easiest to understand for this model (check out our Youtube video that explains the set up better)

If you want to see what the digital display is like to set up and how the timer works then check out this video that walks you through all you need to know…

3. BN-Link 24 Hours Mechanical Timer (Best Budget Buy)

Who Is This Timer For?

This timer is for owners that only need to control their bearded dragons daytime light or nighttime lights but not both as this timer only has the ability to control one set of lights.

Why Is This Timer Our Best Budget Buy?

Our third choice of timer to automate your bearded dragon’s lighting set up is the BN-Link mechanical timer.

This option is our budget pick and offers a good quality timer that gets the job done and at a low price.

It’s important to remember that once you go for a budget option there will usually be fewer features and functionality in the product.

With this being said, not all owners will need the features and functionality that our first 2 recommendations offer.

Basically, if you only need 1 outlet (day time lights only) and you are fine with the added noise that mechanical timers bring then this option could be ideal for you.

This timer only has a single outlet but If you don’t need any ceramic heat emitters etc at night for your beardie then a single outlet can be all you need as you can run the UVB and basking lamp from that single outlet.

If on the other hand, you need a heat emitter then this might not be the option for you and one of our other 2 picks will suit you better.

This is because if you need to also have a heat emitter that’s timed then you will need to purchase another of these units and then the cost will obviously double.

If you struggle to set up digital programs such as the ones on timers then this BN-Link mechanical timer will be much more up your street.

Mechanical timers can be set up with ease in a matter of minutes and little instruction is needed.

We must point out again that mechanical timers are loud and this one is no exception. You can expect a buzz and a ticking sound as the timer ticks down.

If your beardies tank is situated in a room with other noise such as a TV then the sound from the timer might not be as apparent and therefore not a problem.

On the other hand, if you have the timer in the same room as you sleep then we don’t recommend you choose this or any other mechanical timer as you will certainly notice the noise they make.

Instead, we recommend that you choose a digital timer and will be silent and allow you to get a good night’s sleep.

Overall the BN-Link is a really good budget timer for the right person and can allow you to automate your beardies light for a fraction of the cost.

BK-Link 24 Hour Mechanical Timer (Pros & Cons)

Pros:

• Easy to set up
• Great budget option
• Controls daytime lights
• Small & compact

Cons:

• Can’t control daytime & nighttime lights from the same device
• Can Have Loud Ticking Sound

If you want to learn how to set up the Bk-Link mechanical timer and see its features in action then take a look at this video…

6 More Great Timers We Recommend For Your Bearded Dragon

The 3 timers we have reviewed above offer you all you need to automate your beardies lighting and we have spent a lot of time putting a diverse selection together that covers the needs of different owners.

However, if you feel that the 3 timers that we handpicked just aren’t what you are looking for then here are 6 more great timers that will run your UVB and basking lamps just fine.

Summary

Timers are essential to ensure your bearded dragon’s lighting setup is consistent and keeps them in a healthy sleeping routine.

Choosing the right timer will largely depend on your specific needs as an owner and if you need an extra outlet for heat at nighttime.

We have spent a long time putting together what we feel are the best options so you can rest assured that you can confidently automate your beardie’s lighting with one of our recommendations.

We hope you have got great value from the content and the reviews we have put together.

Related Posts