Reptile & Amphibian Forums

You posted that picture of your dragon cages a couple of times. Where do you get those stackable cages?

I make all my cages from my own designs.

Wow that wall of cages looks way awesome. I've built my cages myself but didn't consider ambient room temp with heat bulbs and just screen on top letting heat escape, makes my room hot. Will you show more pictures of those stackables. I wanna build pretty much the same thing but not as long. If you can show some hints and details that would be cool. If you don't have the time or don't want to bother whatever Thanks

I've designed a cage for my friend, and one thing I always take into consideration is ventilation. Good ventilation is as important as insulation IMO. Without good ventilation mold and dust particles build up in the cage and wreak havoc on your bearded immune system. Have you ever wonder why you feel kindda stuffy and uncomfortable sitting in a room for hours with no ventilation? It's because you are breathing in mold and fungus spores and dust particles into your lungs and your immune system is going crazy trying to rid your lungs of foreign objects. What I came up is I position a vent on top the two sides at the opposite end of each other. One is on the top side at the warmer end and the other on the top side where the cooler end is. This way the old warmer air rises and can flow out the warmer end slowly while the fresher cooler air flows in at the cooler end replacing the the air that flows out. It's kindda like how the Roman designed their buildings to keep it extremely cool even on a very hot day by allowing air flow. of course you don't want to make the vents too big.

Alright I didn't know good ventilation was that important.

I agree, ventilation is the most important thing in cage design.

I see too many cages that just have a couple vents put in randomly on the back. Without proper ventilation you won't be able to get proper temps. Too little ventilation and the the ambient on the hot side will be too hot. Too much ventilation and the ambient will be too cool.

So your design need to allow ventilation adjustments as the seasons change. More ventilation in the summer and less in the winter.

The 9 cage pictured have front ventilation since the sides are unavailable to put venting in. They work very well. I change the grids from small to large to increase venting fron winter to summer. The air comes in cool through the grids and exits through the slot opening above the doors. You can see the higher level cages have more venting than the lower level cages.

On some of my other cages I have adjustable heating vents built in to the sides. This works well in the winter but is still not enough venting in the summer. You can see the side venting in the picture of the 6 cages.

Yes, I forgot to mention about temperature control. Having vents allow you to adjust the temperature. Having good airflow allows you to do this.

Venting is certainly important and in many ways, how efficient venting is depends on each individual's setup and the room the cage will be in.

My apartment stays fairly warm...so I have all screen front doors, and some openings in the top of the cage (the openings on the roof of the cage are about 1-2" diameter...to allow for the power cord from the florescent figure to exit the cage). If my ambient room temperature was cooler...I would have used plexiglass doors and put vents in the side walls...to allow air flow and heat escape in the summer...
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PHLdyPayne

Forum Princess

Of course if you can adjust the air flow by adjusting the size of the vents, that's one way. That's what I did. We installed a type of vent that they use for the AC in a building that has the little handle that allows you to move the flaps, either closing the vent or opening it.

I think I'm going to install an electric ventalation fans to control air flow I saw some for reptile cages the other day they were just 3" fans. I'm going to have to come up with some mcgyver ideas thanks for the main must have tip

Those are a bit more than you would need for a bearded dragon cage. I can see them being far more useful in a more humid environment where air flow is really necessary to prevent mold or mildew and bacteria growth in the damper environment. Bearded dragon cages are more dry and humidity for dragons (40-60% is good range)is low enough just some screen covered holes (like 2-4" diameter holes, not little drill holes) is more than enough to ensure good ventilation.

For heat dispersal a vent ontop of the cage, or along the top of the back or sides...which can be closed would work fine.

For the warmer summer days I just switch out the wattage of the heat bulb to something lower...so the basking temps stay about the same and they don't end up getting too hot.
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PHLdyPayne

Forum Princess