Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Does anyone use a Reptarium to house your bearded dragon? It's made of a mesh material. I was doing some searches and came across it. It is inexpensive and lightweight. You can also get a tray for the bottom to hold the sand. It sounds like it would make a great home for a beardie. I am worried about its ability to hold in the heat, though.

Does anyone use one of these?

I use a repitarium for days shows. We do alot of educational shows. They won't hold heat well and crickets can chew their way through the mesh. I would use this for vacations, etc.

Cindy

I was not aware that crickets could eat through the screen! Yikes!

This is the information I found about the Reptariums:
The REPTARIUM takes into consideration the basic needs in terms of air, hygiene and overall happiness of a captive reptile. Walls of the REPTARIUM are constructed of reinforced nylon. Nylon is also cricket proof, where fiberglass is not. The openness of our mesh allows the reptile to feel less like it is enclosed and allows full sensory perception of it's surroundings.

Is the material you were thinking of the same as in the description? Thanks for your quick response!

Yes, but I have heard people say that their crickets and/or lizards chewed their way out. I have house a BD it one for a week, but I wouldn't consider it permanent housing.

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Life is what happens when you are making other plans.......

I have ceramic heaters on them often when we have a show. Most if the shows are in the spring and fall and it can be cold.

Cindy

From what I know, they don't hold temps or humidity as well as glass tanks. But they are much better ventilated. For these reasons, they make excellent sunning cages during warm weather. Just put a basking log and a shady retreat in there, and you dont have to worry about the cage overheating like a glass or plastic sunning cage.

I used one for a single waterdragon. The zipper is a nightmare and it broke soon after I purchased it. Definately just for travel where you want something that can fold.

I kept beardies in them sucessfully for a few years. The only reason I stopped using them was because I needed to make something that would take up less space. I wasn't using live crickets so I can't give you anything about that issue. Maybe just feed in a large plastic bin. It is of course harder to heat then a closed cage, but I didn't find it to be terribly problematic. It will just take more wattage to acheive the proper temps. It is definetly a good option if you're looking for cheap cages. I found the zippers to be very high quality. The screens never ripped even if I didn't cut the nails of the beardie for weeks and the beardie was making me bleed. The only problem I had was when a light made contact with the screen. That promptly melted a hole into it.

I have 5 reptariums.....I use them for sunning cages for my hatchlings and I also house chameleons in them......they are safe with the heat lights as long as they have decent clearance from the bulb.....they do get holes in them fairly easily....I think they are a great short term solution provided you have a room that is 78-80 during the day and doesn't go below 70 or so at night. I do think, in the long run you'll be happier with a non-mesh regular sort of environment, but you could use it as a starter cage and save up for the kind of tank/cage you want and then use it as a sunning cage later on.