Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi All,

I have kept many different reptiles over the years. I kept beardeds years ago that I did a little breeding with.

Anyhow, I recently adopted a 7 year old male bearded from a person I know in the saltwater aquarium club I belong to. Been kicking around getting another one and this one needed a home.

Anyhow, he appears to be fairly well cared for, little on the thin side but not too bad. He has been housed in a wood cage (unsealed) that was roughly 40" x 18" x 18" on beach sand.

I have never used sand with any of my reptiles for the impaction potential. What is the best natural looking substrate?

Next, I am going to building him a much nicer cage. Planning on it being roughly 48" x 24" x 24". Planning on using formaldahyde free melamine (will be searching the local big box stores - lowes, menards for this the next few days). Planning on it being a solid box with a glass front. All lighting will be inside (ceramic lamp sockets for the incadescents). Next I always used Reptisun 5.0 bulbs with my reptiles. This guy is kept with 2 incadescent bulbs - one for basking and one PC type "UV" bulb. I am planning on switching this to the standard flourescent style reptisun bulb unless this style of bulb works - have not kept lizards for around 8-10 years.

I see many cages with all the bulbs mounted inside the enclosure, this is not a concern at all for the lizards getting in contact with the bulb?

Thanks!
Scott

Some of my Melomine cages.

Very nice, I actually found this pics on the forum and was some of the ones that are going to inspire my design. What are the sizes of your cages?

Is your melamine formaldahyde free? I have not yet made it to Lowe's/Home Depot but was chatting with a builder friend of mine who was under the impression formaldahyde was removed from all building materials.

If I buy melamine and it does not say "formaldahyde free" should it be used as caging material?

I've never heard of any formaldehyde issues with melamine. Nor have I ever seen any marked as "free" or not, so I really can't answer the question. I bought all of my melamine from Home Depot.

The angle front cages picture has 6 cages (the outside columns) that are 4' long by 3.5' deep by 2' tall and 1 column that is 5' long by 3.5' deep by 2'tall.

The flat front cages are 4' by 2' by 2'.

Other than sand, soil/dirt mixes, there aren't any natural looking substrates. However, ceramic or slate tiles work good, as does plain paper towel, newsprint, butcher's paper, non stick shelf liner (could buy a pattern that looks natural...) plastic table cloth, linoleum, reptile carpet (not a fan of this, since they get grungy fast and are not easy to clean, unless you want to be washing these things every time the dragon poops), and probably a few other non particulate substrates.

For your UVB light, there are 8.0's and 10.0's available now in the long florescent tube style. For a 2' high cage, probably best to get the 8's or 10's, depending on whether the light is mounted to the ceiling or suspected by chains (if you use a shop light sort of light fixture for your UVB as I do).

There is little chance of the dragons reaching the hot bulbs, as long as your basking area are no closer than 8".
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PHLdyPayne

Thanks for the input. I will plan on getting a 10.0 then for "Alfred". I am planning on using 2 ceramic incadescent type lights in his tank (for basking) - located on on each end. Will do one a higher wattage then the other to aid in various temp locations. Then a flourescent fixture in the center in between them mounted to the ceiling of the cage.

Hey Yonkers -

Take a look at Robyn's site for some pictures of soil set-ups. A deep, diggable soil is truly the best substrate for bearded dragons.

You may want to consider using only one heat source at one end . So the dragons have the best chance to warm or cool as they please. If you put heat at both ends you might not get a proper cool side to the enclosure. Something to consider . . .

You only need one heat source, at one end of the cage. Otherwise, having both ends of the cage heated, makes it very difficult to ensure a cool end for a dragon to go to if they get too hot. Also the UVB light should run the length of the cage, not just be in the middle. You want your dragon to get as much exposure to UVB as possible, no matter where he is in the cage.

As his basking spot will be closer to not only the heat source but the UVB source due to being raised, he will get most of his UVB exposure during the times he is basking. But when he moves away from the basking area to run around etc. he should still be getting some UVB though it will be less as the distance will be greater (even if its 3-10 inches, with UVB bulbs in use today, most don't push UVB much past 20" other than Mercury vapor bulbs which do push it further (though they must be mounted much further away, no less than 18" which isn't really possible in a cage that is 2' or less in height (when mounted inside, the bulbs will be too close due to just the length of the bulb itself (probably about 4-5" long from tip of socket and end of bulb...means only 19-20" distance from floor of cage...and you do hae to add in thickness of the dragon..which puts them barely minimum distance. A basking spot etc, makes them too close).
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PHLdyPayne

I think a good soil is the best possible substrate period. Best natural looking substrate as well.
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robyn@proexotics.com

ShipYourReptiles.com
Pro Exotics Reptiles

Agreed!

After looking at it more and more, I am going to be utilizing a soil substrate in this setup for my male bearded. I think it will be aesthetically pleasing while still being very benificial to the lizard.

Thanks for all the input!