Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I will be getting a baby (sandfire or reds are pretty cute after all the pictures I've seen here)

I have a 40 gal tank, Calci-sand (blue), split screen lid, strip light with Reptisun 5.0 flor bulb, dome fixture with 60 watt ceramic heat emmitter (should it be inside or outside?), two thermometers (one strip, one dial type although after reading the last post, I may look into exchanging it for a probe), T-rex Dragon dust, spray bottle and bowl for food. I also have to order The Bearded Dragon Manuel on line since I haven't been able to find it anywhere. I'm waiting on getting the pellets until I find what kind the breeder uses. And since I haven't looked for a breeder yet... (decided to go private and not through the pet store)

I am going to use the rocks and branches from my fishtank. I also have a terra cotta pot in there that would work well as a cool cave. I have alot of grapevines in my backyard but would be worried about bugs since I don't know how to possibly cure it.

We will be setting up and checking temps before aquiring our baby. I'm starting to get nervous. So, hopefully I'm not reasking a question repeatedly answered Am I ready or do I need anything else?

Tuesday is my son's birthday and my buying him everything will be his surprise.

Thanks all

Depending on how old your bearded dragon is, I'd say no to the calci-sand. Also, bearded dragons respond to light, so the ceramic heat emitter isn't needed. It'd be much better to just use an incandescent light. As far as inside or outside the tank, that depends on how warm the basking light is.

Also, it's great to have all the decorations, but it's also a pain. I had all the stuff, driftwood and all, but I took it out and settled for concrete blocks for now. It's hard for your bearded dragons to hung when all the crickets are hiding in the crevices, and everything else. When they're young, simple is definitely better.

Here's a side note. I don't have a beardie (yet), but on the uromastyx mailing list, we were just discussing concrete. While concrete ingredients are harmless, apparently there's a lot of concrete with impurities like lead. Keeping an animal on it for a long time lets the impurities absorb into the system causing illness at the very least. There was a story of a Mali that died from this poisoning.

Just thought I'd throw that out there, since it made me completely rethink my cage setup.
-----
Torey
1.0 Uromastyx Geyri (Arthur)
0.1 Anolis Carolinensis (Leeloo)
1.0 Betta Splendens (Mr. Miagi)
1.1 Felis Domesticus (Roscolux and Jenny)

I also forgot to add, make sure you bowl isn't deep at all, more like a dish. It's hard to get younger dragons to eat greens, and even harder for them to try it. I tired something yesterday, bought some of the TRex Dust along with the can o crickets and mixed them in. Handfed them one first, and some of my dragons go directly for it.

I'd definitely go private. Try the following people.

Lisa (BeginnersBasic)
Joel Roberts
Chris Allen
Brandon (dragonsbynature)
Falias

I believe they all have dragons posted in the classifieds. All have very beautiful dragons and spend alot of time making sure people are taking proper care of their dragons.

congrats for getting a check before you get the dragon
save the calci sand for when the dragon is an adult if you must have it, but better yet, return it. the only problem with the ceramic heat element is that beardies are attacted to light...plus 60 watts mgiht be too low. you could just put a regular incandescent bulb right next to it (clear household bulbs do the trick) and that way youll get a warm enough spot plus light to let the beardie know where it is i would definetely trade the dial thermometer for something with a probe...theyre not very expensive at walmart and such. i had just a strip on the glass under the basking spot for awhile...now ive got a probe, and thank goodness! there really is no substitute for the sensor on the basking spot. but definetely good thinking to have multiple thermometers so you can easily measure ambient temps as well.

so although it looks like i just typed a book, youre on the right path. just a few little things you might wanna change, but nothing too bad. your beardie should be very happy in his nice new home
-----
proud mama to:
1.0.0 ball python (mr snake),0.0.1 albino florida kingsnake (CK),1.0.0 leopard gecko (sebastian),0.1.0 colombian rainbow boa (luce),1.1.0 bearded dragon (kaipo and dulce), 1.1.0 colombian redtailed boas (adam and eve)

I agree about the calci-sand. The pet stores sell it for the $$, certainly not the health of the dragon. In fact I wouldn't put any dragon on that stuff. What happens is, if the dragon misses it's prey, or the prey has sand stuck to it, it builds up in their tummy and causes a blockage. It is NOT digestable, as the package claims. Some dragons just plain eat it because it does have calcium in it.

If you get a baby dragon, it should be on paper towel, butcher's paper, newspaper or reptile carpet.

If you are going to have alot of branches etc. in your tank, it'd be best to feed the dragon in another container. Crickets will hide in the furnishings, come out at night and literally chew on your dragon. It's one of the worst newbie mistakes. Dragons owners have awakened to carcasses of their babies.

You'll have to tell us how your son reacted to the surprise..
-----
TheClassyLizard

Sounds good, with the exceptions that the others have already pointed out.

And you'll need a spotlight/floodlight on the basking site, rather than that ceramic heat emitter.

We use these:
Zoo-Med spotlight

The 75 watt ones actually produce more heat at the basking site than the 100 watt "Day-Glo" bulbs do.

Also, do you have a timer, and possibly a power strip to plug everything in to?

D.A.

This is a temporary set-up, until I get the enclosure I have planned built.

Yes, we have her in front of a window that gets sun, but somebody is here all day to monitor temps. ( Wouldn't do this if she was left alone for any length of time during the day. )

The curtains are usually kept at least partially open, but were closed here to take the picture. Also, we have a ventilation fan for the tank if things get too warm.

So far, the temperature has not gotten out of hand, even on the brightest days.

Not recommending you set yours up this way, but thought you might like to see another example of how a tank can be set up.

D.A.