Reptile & Amphibian Forums

ok, now i have swapped out the rabbit pellets and am using filtered play sand from home depot. I tried using paper towels but that just wasn't happening. Plus my guys like to dig around and such . I have my two -couple month old bearded dragons seperated (because one was growing a lot faster than the other) into two containers. One is a 60 gallon and the other 50 gallon. Their setups are almost identical. I am posting pictures of one of them for reference.

Though their feeding bowl is not in the tank for the picture below, I feed them mustard, collard and turnup greens in the morning. They get dusted, gut loaded crickets (as many as they can eat) at about 5pm when i get home from work and then i let em snack again at about 8 pm. UVB lights out around 10 pm-11 pm. Heat lamp on 24/7.

Any feedback on if this sounds/looks like a good setup or feeding patterns?

-ps, i also ordered that bearded dragons book that Daschiu's website recomended so maybe i can stop pestering you all with questions soon

Thanks all!

Everything looks good for the setup, but I would get a trimmer so the lights come on and off at the same time everyday. Also do not leave the heat lamp on 24/7 that will shut off with the uvb I have my younger dragons on 14 hours of light not 100% sure what they are suppose to have but its around there.
Also you didn’t post the temps 84-90 at most on cool side and 105-115 at this are then as adults 100-110 some people was say even lower or higher..
Other than that great setup.

looks good. although i would go to walmart and buy some adhesive shelf liner and cover the back and sides. dragons get stressed seeing their reflection. also the white background makes their colors better too. raise the basking temps to 110-115 for them at this age and lower them to around 105-110 as adults. cool sides in the 80s. make sure to clean the sand as soon as you see poop in it. more you keep on top of it the better it will look and safer for your dragon.

good job
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Beach Beardies

2.2. bearded dragons
1.1. Sugar Gliders
0.2. Felines *queen athena and missy*

There always seems to be some confusion about temps. here. There are 3 daytime temps. to consider.

Basking Spot. The basking spot temp is a surface temp. It's like the temperature of the road on a hot sunny day when you burn your feet walking on it. This temp should be about 105 for adults and sub adults. For babies and juveniles it should be a little warmer about 110. This is best measured with a temp. gun or by buying a digital thermometer with a separate probe and attaching the probe to the basking spot. Analog dial type thermometers are very inaccurate.

Hot side is an air temp. or ambient temp. This should be about 90. I regulate mine at 91 but the hot side has a range of about 87 - 91. Later in the day mine tend to choose the cooler hot side spots.

Cool side is also air temp. or ambient temp. This really should be a low as you can get it in the summer. In the winter I shoot for 75 on the cool side.

At night anything above 65 is really fine. I spoil my dragons so I heat to 70 at night in the winter. I would never heat them at night above 70 when possible as warmer temps. keep their metabolism up and will dehydrate them.

You need to try different bulbs to get your temps right. A Rheostat (dimmer switch) is also helpful. I always use spot bulbs to get the basking temps. hot enough with out the hot side ambient being too hot. The lights should be on no more than 14 hours a day. At night it should be completely dark if possible. Heat and UVB come on together and go off together just like the sun in the wild.

Feeding. You are doing both your live meals at night. Ideally, you need to do one in the morning and then one in the afternoon /evening and a well misted salad all day in between. Offer them water (especially the smaller one) with an eyedropper at least once a day.

If you're feeding crickets, I'd just put them in before you go to work and leave them there if you don't have time to collect them in the morning.

I think the best book out there is "Your Bearded Bragons Life" by Liz Palika. Unfortunately, it's out of print but last I looked you can still get used ones at Amazon.

Don't leave the heat lamp on 24/7, it should go off at the same time as the UVB light. Dragons, like us, need a definite day/night cycle to be healthy. Having the lights on all the time will stress your dragons. For babies, the lights should be on about 12-14 hours. This works for adults too, except when brumating, then it should drop down to 8-10 hours daylight, but brumating isn't necessary but some adult dragons will do it anyway.

I also suggest knocking out the third feeding late at night. Though babies do well on being fed 2-3 times a day, having the first meal early morning then too others within a couple hours, isn't the best way to do it. As I understand working/school etc makes it difficult to get a middle of the day feeding, it would be better to have just two feedings when you are working/school but on days off you can give the extra feeding at noon instead of 8pm at night. Just have two feedings on the days you work. Or, if you known somebody reliable have them come in and do the afternoon feeding. If they hate bugs, have them give the greens then, and feed bugs morning and evening instead.

I also suggest getting an accurate thermostat. Those dial ones are not the greatest. A digital thermometer with probe, is the best way to go, or a temp gun (though the probe thermostat is still needed to get air temperatures). As the probe can be lain directly on the basking spot, or dangled half way in the air to take measurements, it works good. The main unit can also be put into the cool end of the tank..to measure two temps at once (just switch between 'indoor' (unit) and 'outdoor' (the probe) Just don't leave it in the tank..it will eventually get trampled to death buy the dragon and the probe may be eaten...it does look like a black bug LOL Though I am quite sure if the dragon bites it, he will spit it out. Mine did that when she tried it..because I found little holes on the probe one day..which is either from teeth or her scales..as she used to sleep on it all the time.

I suggest finding much wider branches to use as basking areas...and it doesn't have to be all squished into the corner. The basking area can stretch to a third or one half of the tank. A angled wide basking space works best as it gives a much more comfortable basking area and the angle will ensure various 'hot spots' for your dragon to choose from. IF you can get your hands on one, a nice wide piece of driftwood works great.

And one final comment...it is always better to clean up after your dragon before taking a picture Unless you wanted us to see the nice healthy looking poop

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PHLdyPayne

Thanks guys. I will see what i can do.