Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok ive posted many a post recently. i want a bearded dragon ect. the cage is an issue. i just need help with the cage etc. somone explain to me there cage! please! like what kind of cage they need etc! PLEASE!

One adult Dragon needs a minimum of a 4' by 2' Cage. The height is not as important as the floor space I mentioned. Screen or mesh cages are not desirable for Bearded Dragons. I use Glass Terrariums made by:

http://www.glasscages.com/?sAction=ViewCat&lCatID=3

Many use Vision Cages that are available from lllreptile.com and other web suppliers. You can also check out:

http://www.customcages.com/

Or you could build your own if you're handy.

Hope this is what you are looking for.

I found the cage the most difficult aspect of starting out with beardies. It can be overwhelming when you read about basking temps, cool spots, dimensions, etc. I looked around one of the other forums here- the housing/terrarium one, and got some great ideas.
For the actual cage itself I ended up getting a used aquarium from a pet store rather cheaply. It's 4ftx2ftx2ft I believe. For the top I made two screen lids, but eventually replaced one with an aquarium hood for the uv bulb.
Much of the interior stuff I collected from the outdoors and just made sure to clean and sanitize it all really well.
The first pic is from when Kleio was just a little bitty thing It's best to keep it simple, especially for the little ones. (I know many people recommend not starting them out in the huge tank, but it was all I had and she did ok with it. I fed her in a seperate container until she got good at catching her food)
The second pic was from a little while ago, when she was about 7-8 inches long. Now that she's almost 12inches, all of the lights are on the outside of the tank so she can't jump on them and burn herself accidentally.
My setup is relatively plain and simple- some people have really amazing ones. Check out the photo gallery too, for some good ideas.
Hope that helps....

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0.2 cats (Pandora & Journey)
0.1 bearded dragon (Kleio)
0.0.1 green tree frog (Squishy)
0.0.3 fishes (namoli, Asana, Adagio)

well, the minimum size for an adult bearded dragon cage has been posted many times so I won't repeat what everybody has already told you. Other than that, the cage should have a basking light to warm one end in the mid 80's F with a basking spot ranging between 95-115F (higher for younger dragons). A UVB bulb that covers a good two thirds of the length of the tank is a must. A safe substrate such as washed children's play sand or better yet, paper towel, newsprint, non stick shelf liner etc. can be used instead.

A large wide basking spot which offers a choice in basking temps for your dragon to bask in (driftwood, bricks/rocks piled securely, or clued together securely, or other items can be used for the basking spot), a hide near the warm end and one in the cooler end is also good to have but not necessary. Dragon's don't always use them, sometimes they just sleep where they are when teh lights go out. Someplace they can go to cool if is necessary, whether it's just one end of the tank that stays between 70-80F all day is good.

Most other basic care requirements can be foudn by reading past posts on this forums, and any of the care sheets located on countless websites about bearded dragons, various books are also available which are very great reference guides as well.
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PHLdyPayne

ok i know all my posts are getting annoying, an dim sorry for that. i jus twant to make sure i get things right. im only 13 years old and tis rather hard for me 2 make mone yto buy a cage of the right side. i have a 20 gallon long tank and an ol hexagon tank thats 22 inches tall, 22 inches wide, and 22 inches long. could that work?

i curently have 1 red iguana, 1 green iguana, 1 black mexican king snake, 2 kenyan sand boas, 1 leapord gecko. ( and i also have an emporor scorpion thats housed in a 5 gallon tank )
in the past i have owned many box turtles, fire belly frogs, green tree frogs, leapord geckos,king snakes, fire skinks.

my 2 iguanas are sharing a large cage thats 5 feet tall, 30 inches wide and, 30 inches long, my kenyan sand boas are each in there own 10 gallon tank, my black mexican king snake is in a 20 gallon long, my leapord gecko is in a 10 gallon tank.

i dont know what all the measurements mean like the 4x2x2 or w/e it is. im only in 7th grade =P lol. al lthis imformation is really helpfull tho.

sinceraly your friend,
The Sickness

Well I could tell you the exact area of a hexagon but you'd have to tell me the length of one of the sides. I assume that 22 x 22 is at the widest part.

Well, here's my guestimate. A 4 foot by 2 foot tank has floor area of 1,152 square inches. The hexigon you describe has a floor area of only about 386 square inches. So it is only about 1/3 the floor area that is needed for an adult dragon.

Also rectangles are preferred since your dragon needs a warm end and a cool end. Very hard to do on a round or hexigon tank unless it is very large.

Your green iguanas will need a bigger cage eventually, and should be housed separately. Iguanas are not easy to sex before they reach maturity and the cage you have both in is barely big enough for a single adult green iguana.

The size for a bearded dragon cage is pretty simple. It should be four feet long by two feet wide. The height can vary, anywhere between 18 inches to 24 inches is good.

Your parents can help you building the dragon's cage or finding a cage of the right size already made. By far the cheapest way to get an adult cage for a bearded dragon is to make one. You can use 1/4" thick indoor floor plywood (or floor inlay I believe it is called). Just screw this onto a frame of boards that are 2" wide by 2" thick cut to the length required. Seal the wood with either urethane clear varnish (need to do this in a well ventilated area, like outside if the temperatures are good). Just make sure you give a few days after the final coat of urethane to completely dry and air out. The fumes can be harmful to you and anything put in the cage, should it not be completely dry and cured. Front doors can be made with either plexi glass or aluminum screening. If using plexi-glass, make sure you include vents either along the top of the cage or sides, for ventilation and air flow. Vents can simply be a screen covered hole cut into the end or top pieces.

This makes for a light weight cage that is attractive and easy to clean. The inside floor still needs to be covered with some form of substrate, be it washed children's play sand, paper towel, etc and all the inside cracks between pieces should be sealed with a silicon based caulking. You can find this in the bathroom section of any hardware store, either in a tube that requires a 'caulking gun' or a squeeze tube.

Below is a cage I had made by a family friend a few years back for my first bearded dragon. The dimensions are 5 feet long by 2 feet wide by 2 feet high. It is easy to lift though the length made it awkward for one person to lift, so it's a two person job to move it around. It probably weighed about 40 pounds total.

The cost to make this cage in Canadian funds, was about $150 including all the light fixtures and the 4 foot long UVB bulb as well as the cost of a 40 oz bottle of whiskey which the person who built it for me would let me 'pay' him for his time and work Thus, if you have a family member or friend who likes to work in wood and do small projects, ask them to build you the cage for you.

Many other people here build their cages out of malamine (or particle board with a vinyl coating, basically what typical shelves are made out of). This material is good for cages as well. It is heavier, much heavier, but has a nice finished look once the cage is put together. You don't have to worry about sealing or painting it, just add the trim on the cut edges when finished. The trim can be bought in rolls from hardware stores as well. As particle board is thick enough to take screws, no need to build a frame as in the cage design above. But it will require help to move around due to the weight a big cage would be. Not sure how much a cage that is 4 foot by 2 feet by 2 feet in dimensions would be but most likely well over 75 pounds.

Particle board is also more expensive than plywood floor inlay, but the preperation time is much less as you don't need to paint it or seal it before hand.

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PHLdyPayne

thanks for all the help guys! its helepd alot. jus tfor fun and to give ideas for whe n ibuild my cage anyone feel like showing me pictures of your beardies cage setup please? ^.^

Sinceraly your friend,
The Sickness

can i keep a single adult beardie in a 55 gallon long tank? cuz my friend has a 55 gallon long tank he can give 2 me free

You really should measure it. Gallons size is not always the same. I think it's about 4 ft long x 1 foot wide x 22 inches high as I remember. If this is correct, then it's only 1/2 the size needed.

I've attached a picture of 3 of my enclosures. It's a 5 x 2 in the center and 4 x 2's on each side.

only half the size needed? how would that be if the 50 gallon tank os about 4 feet or a little more long and a foot wide and 18- 30 inch tall? ^.^ ( lol )

sinceraly your young friend,
The Sickness

my own personal pets
1 green iguana- whip
1 red iguana- cinder
1 green anole-corey ( i caught him in my yard lol )
1 normal kenyan sand boa- sage
1 black and grey kenyan sand boa morph- ebony
1 leapord gecko
1 black mexican kingsnake- krauser
1 emporer scorpion

deseaced personal pets =(
5 fire belly frogs
3 leapord geckos
2 green tree frogs
2 king snakes
1 box turtle
1 fire skink
( they didnt die recently its over long peroids of time )

family pets
3 cats- tiger, lucky, scamper
4 dogs ( 1 german shepord * outside dog * 2 pitt bulls * one of the 2 is an outside dog * 1 corey/basid mutt* ) general lee, buddy, jinx, copper

Forget about the tall. The tank needs to have a minimum floor space of 4 feet long by 2 feet wide. That is 8 square feet. (4 x 2 = 8) If the tank you are talking about is only 4 feet long by 1 foot wide it is only 1/2 the size or 4 square feet. (4 x 1 = 4)

The difficult part with telling if a tank is big enough by how much gallons of fluid it can hold, is these tanks can be all sorts of dimensions and there isn't really a rock solid standard to go by. Different aquarium companies have different sizes and what is a 55 gal long by one company may be completely different when compared to another. Hence why it will be necessary for you or your friend to measure the length and width of that 55 gal tank to see if it fits the minimum requirements for your dragon.

Doing a bit of a search online, this is what I found to be the typical size of a 55 gallon tank: 48" x 13" x 21". (length x width x height)

Personally I think this tank is too narrow, though it could do with a smaller adult dragon (depending on bloodlines, some bearded dragons don't get much bigger than 16-18" though even then I feel the tank should be as wide as the dragon is long at least).
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PHLdyPayne

thanks a ton for your help PHLdyPayne and everyone else!
and i got he mesururments on my friends tank he can give me.its 4 feet long, 2 feet wide, and i THINK it was 24 inches high. it may have been 18 inches high. would that be good for one adult bearded dragon? ( sorry im such a burdon with this whole long thread =( i dont mean to be i jus twant to make sure ido everything right etc ) also. can aquarium gravel be used as a substrate for a beardies cage?

I wouldn't recommend it. Especially for a baby or juvenile.

ah ok. is there anything simulor the the aquarium gravel i can use? ( btw is that size tank of for 1 bearded dragon adult? )

Yes, a 4 foot long by 2 foot wide enclosure is the minimum size for 1 adult dragon. Newspaper, Paper Towels, Non-Adhesive Shelf Liner, or Reptile Carpert should be used for baby dragons until they are at least 12" long. Then Childrens Play Sand is acceptable. Not Silica Sand or Calci-Sand from a pet store. I get my sand from Toys R Us.