Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am thinking about getting a young dragon, I have what I think is a 30 gallon tank. Is that big enough? Or should I look for a bigger one?

Emily

if its a standard 30 or 30 long it will work for a little while, however i would recomend some thing bigger preferable wider, like a 30breeder for 40 breeder, you can hosue them in something like that pretty much for life atho personally i would go bigger 75 gal would be ideal, i have juvi in a 125 but thats just because it was laying around

I do agree i would go with something bigger, Although you will have to divide it till they are a bit older. Too much space can get them very stressed and they may have eating problems and so on. I always beleieve that it's easier to go bigger then resize as they grow, alot less costly! Good luck with your new addition!

if you get them as a baby, you could actually start with a 10 gallon for a very short time. if you want to skip buying a small cage and having to replace it in a couple months, then buy or build a big cage and section off part of it. baby dragons will get lost and not know where things are in a huge cage. best size cage for a adult is 4 feet long, 16 inches to 2 feet high and 2 feet deep. glass tanks are not reccommended, but used often. melamine cages are easy to make. check out the cage section of the forums
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Beach Beardies

2.4. bearded dragons
1.0. Turquoise x Sunburst Veiled Chameleon
1.1. Sugar Gliders
0.2. Felines *queen athena and missy*

Thanks! I'll look around and see if I can find something bigger. It's not a rectangle tank so I'll measure it and see how big it really is. Thanks again!

Emily

It really depends on how big the dragon will be when you get it. If it's very young, between 6"-13" a 30 gal tank will be ok. However, once your dragon is 14" or more, it will need to be in a larger cage. At this size, it is much simpler to move them into the adult size tank which should have a minimum floor space of 4'x2' and a height between 18"-24" give or take an inch.

Now, for the 30 gal tank you have, it may work or not for very long, depending on it's actual dimensions. If it is more tall than long, it may not work at all, unless lain on its side. I know some 30 gal tanks are much taller than they are long, in which case they provide very little floor space and thus won't be a good home for a bearded dragon for very long. A good mid sized tank for dragons between 8"-14" would be a 30-35Gal long, which is about 30-36"x 14"x17" (not completely sure on the dimensions anymore, don't have a 35 gal long tank with me anymore. I just remember when I bought one it was exactly 36" long, but not sure on the other dimensions).

A good rule of thumb is the tank should be at least twice as long as the total length of the dragon and as wide as the dragon's length or more. Height should always fall around 16-24" range. This ensures the dragon can get close enough to heat and UVB sources without being so closed they could touch the hot bulbs.

Also, don't worry about the actual gallons of a tank as there are so many different varieties and styles of glass tanks that one gallonage of one kind of tank may not be appropriate than another kind of tank. Breeders and 'long' tanks tend to fit the floor space requirements...just keep in mind for a single adult dragon, a floor space of 4'x2' (or a total floor space of 8 square feet or more) works well. Babies, well, the suggestion I made above is good to go by.
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PHLdyPayne