Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Whats the deal with Reptariums, are they any good for their actual full time homes? They seem kinda flimsy. Does anyone have any experiance with them?

Reptariums are not good homes for Bearded Dragons. Screened cages will not have the proper temperatures and the screen would block too much UVB.

Reptariums are not good for bearded dragons for several reasons.

Dragons can loose toes on the screen, claws can get stuck, etc. Also it can cause nose rubs, if your dragon is prone to pushing against the sides of his cage trying to get out. Cricket will escape. They will chew through the vinyl screen. It is hard to heat these cages and giving the fact there is no way to get a UVB inside the cage to provide most effect UVB without risk of the dragon burning himself on the bulb (though florescent tube style bulbs don't produce as much heat as basking lights or Mercury vapor bulbs). Thus all you light fixtures have to be outside, in clamps, as I wouldn't recommend laying a hot bulb, even in a hood, over a plastic or vinyl screen.

I also find these cages are very dark and gloomy looking, as you can't get enough light into the cages (or at least every one I have seen set up in petstores look so dark, even with a strong light shinning into the cage).

Despite all the negative points for these cages as a full time home for bearded dragons, these cages do make great outdoor temporary cages. If you want to bring your dragon outside for natural sunlight, using one of these cages is good, as it protects your dragons from most predators, prevents him from disappearing into the grass the second you look away. But as I mentioned below in another thread, never leave your dragon unattended outside, not unless you built a stable, secure outdoor enclosure (which would be permanent, have wire mesh or something similar over the top to prevent birds getting at the dragons, etc.) Giving the cost of these cages though, a 3' long clear rubbermade container or sterlite container, works better...much cheaper, gives the dragon enough room to move about and it is easier to provide a shaded area (either hides, or using hte container lid to provide shade).
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PHLdyPayne

Thanks for the advice everyone, Ill continue to use my 40 breeder for now and start construction on a home made unit. Got some really great ideas from everyones pictures!

I keep both my dragons in them with no real problems. They are light weight which makes the great for cleaning. A gallon of milk weighs more than an empty reptarium. I have a 39gal and a 65gal. I use the 75watt basking bulb and set them ontop to the screen and NEVER had it burn. As for the UVB, you can always tie it to the inside top with rope or just set it on top. The screen's not going to block much if any actually amount of UV anything.
The basking spots are 120F in each cage. so it's plenty hot for them. As for nose burn(or whatever), if you use the nylon screen they won't get it. That's why alot of people use it for snakes. Snakes are the worst about it.
You can also put a portion of the tanks next to a window without heating the whole tank.

Now the only problem I've had was from a 160watt Mercery Vapor Bulb melting a small whole. But the surface temp of the bulb is over 250F(temp gun)
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1.0.0 Bearded Dragon (Rex- "normal" orange fire)
1.0.0 Bearded Dragon (Glutany- German Giant Mix)
0.1.0 Okeetee Corn (Okatee)
1.1.0 Spotted Python (Hotdog and Shoelace)