Reptile & Amphibian Forums

So, is this the items that I need for my baby bearded dragons tank:
20 gallon long tank
Reptile Carpet
Uvb tube
HeatLamp(75watt)
Water dish, Veggie Dish
Warm and Cool Hide
Basking Rock or Platform
Foliage(Fake)
Sticks
Crickets and Mealworms and Veggies>

Is that all I need, ive done alot of reading, you guys can tell me anything im missing ad help me out, Thanks!

anyone??

No mealworms. They have a chitin shell that beardies can't digest so they're a high impaction risk. No hides for babies as they might use them rather than bask. Get a couple digital thermometers with probes so you can accurately measure basking and ambient temps. Cage setup for babies is simple is better. Raised bashing spot under the basking light, water dish, greens dish, and feed crix 2-3 times a day.

Temps are the single most important factor in proper husbandry. Get a Temp Gun so that you can take instant and accurate surface temps, and adjust accordingly.
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robyn@proexotics.com

Pro Exotics Reptiles

I agree with BDlvr(smart herper)and I would ditch the hide if your planning to use one. Hides are okay for sub-adults and adults but not good for babies/juveniles. It's better for them to be in the open area of the enlcosure for full UV/UVB exposure. You can give them a hide once they have hit maturity or close to it. They'll probably love it too!

Second all suggestions on the temp gun. Indispensable tool. It's also good to have a fixed digital thermometer near the basking spot to monitor temps. Flucuating ambient temps in your home will affect your cage temps. It's nice to have that read-out on the bask site at all times. Buy different wattage bulbs too so you can adjust if need be.

One more thing,
It is important to make sure your BD is well nourished
meaning dusting those crickets with a mineral supplement
Miner-all has gotten the most positive feedback from pro breeders
so that's what i'd recomend. Also if you can get them, phoenix
worms are really good for beardies (lots of calcium) they're also less of a pain that crickets.

Oh and dont forget to gut-load your crickets (it means feed your crickets good food so the nutrition is passed to your BD). There is commercial cricket food or you can look up gut-load recipies online.

But definatly heed the previous posts on temp, especially the use of tempguns. Tempguns are the best way to know your exact temps in all areas that your BD uses.

ok, thank you all for responding, this is what I came up with:
20 gallon long tank
Reptile carpet
water/veggie dish
heat lamp(what size, my room is on average 65 to 70 degrees, so what size?)
crickets
uvb tube
elevated basking spot, rock stick etc.
possibly foliage
possible heat mat for night

Is that really all I need?

I forgot to add I will also get thermometers, hot , cool and basking areas, but what type?

You dont need a heat pad - beardies dont need belly heat, in fact it can burn them. If your room drops below 60 or so at night then you can use a ceramic heat emitter to keep the temps up above 60-65. ONLY use a CHE - never a red or black light bulb.

I would go with a 10inch heat lamp...as for bulb wattage, that depends...i would buy a box of 60watt bulbs, 75watt, and 100watt (they are REALLY cheap at walmart) and play around with them till you find the right combo.

Thermometers need to be the digital variety with a probe. You can buy these at the petstore, or walmart or home depot. They run 5-10$. Only digital thermometers are reliable.

You will also need a pure calcium carbonate supplement (no vitamins or d3 or phosphorous), and a multivitamin supplement with D3.

You will also need a tank to keep the crickets in for gutloading.
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1.1 Bearded Dragons
2.2 Leopard Geckos
1.0 Uromastyx (Mali)
1.1 Corn snakes
0.1 Mexican Black Kingsnake
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake
1.0 Rosy Boa
1.1 Green Anoles
1.1 House Geckos
0.0.2 Flying Geckos
0.0.1 Red Eye Tree Frog

Oh, and a couple other quick things...

Make sure the UVB is a Repti-sun 10.0 or similar...NEVER use compact or coil fluorescents, and never use ESU brand.

Also, keep in mind that a 20L tank is a great size tank to start a baby in - but once they really start growing it will need to be replaced in a hurry with a bigger tank. A full grown adult will need a 75gallon.
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1.1 Bearded Dragons
2.2 Leopard Geckos
1.0 Uromastyx (Mali)
1.1 Corn snakes
0.1 Mexican Black Kingsnake
1.0 Bairds Ratsnake
1.0 Rosy Boa
1.1 Green Anoles
1.1 House Geckos
0.0.2 Flying Geckos
0.0.1 Red Eye Tree Frog

you can get digital thermometers at Walmart for under $10 each, which work good. Temp guns..well, pro exotics has them though that'll mean ordering them online... Some auto supply stores may have temp guns too (these were used to monitor and check engine temps)

I would not bother with reptile carpet. Too much a pain to clean and keep disinfected...especially with baby dragons who poop often. Just use plain paper towel. Easier to clean etc. and well cheap. You can buy enough paper towel for your 20 gal tank to last a year at the cost of repti carpet. (well maybe not quite a year but at least left over paper towel can be used for other things and can still be used in the adult tank., the carpet will be useless in the adult tank as it'll be to small)

Fake plants are just for aesthetic appearance, so that is completely optional.

Below is a picture of part of my first dragon's baby cage (was a 35 gal long tanks, with paper towel). I mounted the log on a board for more stability and height... Very spartan cage but worked well as she grew and thrived in that cage.

The second picture is the adult cage (5'x2'x2') I had built for her.

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PHLdyPayne