Reptile & Amphibian Forums

hey
will a screen cage such as a reptararium work for a beardie adult and juvinele? Becuz it serves as a good sunning cage and very easy to clean. I know that it doesnt hold heat as well but that is something anyone could solve. Plus they wont keep in the humidity and are good for ventilation. oh yeah by the way I never got my bearded dragon well not yet at elast. I have to wait till i move. But yesterday while visiting my new home for the first time i got to go to a petshop that my friend told me about. I walk in head straight to the reptiles and I see 2 hatchling beardies drowning in an aquatic reptile habitat. I freaked out and went to tell my dad to come and talk to the manager he told me to get in the car and we took off. Well later I told my mom to call them and talk to the owner. She did and the lady was nice about it she told us that there was a kid going in there taking the little hatchlings and putting them in different cages. They solved the problem...he can't come back. Anyways so I got to go back and check on them. They were in a nice warm DRY terrarium looking happy as ever. I got there right when they opened and I asked them man if I could handle one. So for the first time i handled a beardie and i found them to be sooo docile. He just walked around on my hand checking things out. i think i impressed my dad cuz he asked about em later. Anyways thnx hope you enjoyed the little story.
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Tito

i have had experience with repataruims as both sunning cages and temporary enclosures...they are great sunning cages for the beardies and if you have the right wattage on your lamps and you room temp is up..you shouldn't have a problem with the heat.. i had to use my beardies sunning cage as a temp cage when my youngest water dragon suzie when she got ill and had to be quarinted...it is a little harder with animals that require 80% humidity (had to wrap a shower curtain liner and a sheet around the cage)..but overall they are an inexpensive alternative to glass tanks.

p.s how did that kid in he petstore get into the cages.?!

alissa

I would personally go with a tank unless you live in a hot climate all year long and your house is warm.

crickets I hear chew their way out of reptariums, i have one for sunning and that all I use it for.

Great work making those baby beardies safer!
Good luck getting one, they are the best!
Sue
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Life is what happens when you are making other plans.......

The screen cage may be alright for awhile if your room temperature doesn't drop below 70F during the night. I would drap a cloth or someting to cover the back of the screen cage to give the babies more security. Seeing through all sides may stress it. I have black construction paper on the back of my 35 gal tank (not that this prevents the beardie from seeing his own reflection or trying to climb onto the reflection of his basking log instead of the real thing right behind him.

Glad to hear the two baby beardies are alright. I have a feeling that kid belonged to one of the workers. Hopefully they make sure the kid doesn't mess around with the lizards anymore. He could have killed those dragons if nobody noticed in time.

can I just feed the beardie in a seperate container. I would prolly have to let it adjust to feeding in the cage then let it eat in a container inside the aquarium and then just let him eat outside the cage. That way i can keep track of what he eats and stuff.

Yes you can do that as well. I know many here feed their dragons in a smaller tank. I would also recommend not putting in a particle substrate (ie sand) in a screen cage though...too likely to find half the sand all over the floor around the cage. Reptile carpet or the equivant you can get at any home hardware type store for a fraction of the cost, vinyl, tile etc would be a better choice for a screen cage.