Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Hi folks this is my first post, so if this is a repeated question i'm sorry but i haven't found anything while searching these forums tht have satisfied me.

I've got a few questions so i'll just list them and if any of you can help me i would greatly appreciate it. First I'll give a little background info.

Off of some bad advise form what i assumed was a knowledgable pet store person(i now know i should be damned for listening to them) that a green basilisk would be a good little critter for me. I told him i was looking for something that was very handlable and very friendly. I told him i had iguanas in the past when i was younger and i liked them. He told me that the basilisks was a much friendlier lizard that takes much better to handling than an iguana. HA, well after only a couple of hours on this forum I found this was obviously wrong. On top of the fact that he failed to tell me of the huge( for the space i have) housing conditions for adults. So i stupidly bought the little lady after purchasing all the inerds and lighting for my 20 gal long tank(another fact he failed to tell me that it needed a tall aquarium grrr). Well the point from all of this is that i have a bunch of stuff bought for that basilisk that i'm wonderring if they will work out with a beardie.

To the point:
I have a synthetic climbing tree, elephant shaped thingy (plastic or something like it). Will this work for the basking spot of the bearded dragon? it's fairly smooth being some sort of plastic, do Beardies need more natural driftwood/grapevine type stuff?

I have a waterfall which i can't use now and of course i can't return threw away the box DOH!

I have two lamps, one with 150W bulb during the day and a night time lamp, both providing UVB i'm 99% sure. Will these still be okay for the beardie? Do I need a seperate spot lamp or is the 150W over the tree thingy mentioned earlier ok, the temp around that spot was reaching 98-99 i didn't measure the surface (to do so would i jsut place the therm on the surface, i know dumb question, or is the ambient temp new it ok?)Temps on the cool sied were at around 78 during the day and only went to about 73 during the night, it's pretty cold here during the winters.

also the big question i've had that i haven't found a suitable answer for yet, should i still use the heating pad? is it necessary, will it even work with my chosen substrate of washed filtered play sand? it covers almost half of the cage? Or do i need to put in a heat rock, or both, or neither and just the spot lamp if i need one? It's cold here during the winters as i stated before and my room is not very warm, temp in house never exceeds 65.

Also i have a bunch of silk plants, should i leave them out? i notice most of these setups are without any, but i've heard some like it in there, is it just a personal decision affecting the beardie in no way? For the initial few months i know that i need very little in the cage so this is more of a adult concern.

I'm sure i have more questions but i'll cut it short, thanks for taking the tie to read this, and thanks in advance for any replies

Bearded dragons aren't very good climbers, so they need rough surfaces like thick branches to climb on and bask.

Incandescent bulbs cannot produce UVB, and there are no night time bulbs that produce UVB. UVB bulbs are either flourescent or mercury vapor. Mercury vapor bulbs look like large normal bulbs but cost 40-60 dollars, so you would know if you had one. If you spent 10 bucks on a basking light it is UVA only.

Dragons need a basking spot to have temps of 105-115 degrees.

Babies can be started in a 20 gallon tank, but adults need a larger cage, 2x2x4 feet.

Heat rocks are dangerous. Playsand is good for adults, but not recommended for babies.

Dragons eat vegetation, so they will try to eat silk plants, they are not a good idea.
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A mans got to do what a mans got to do. A woman has to do what he can't.

Mom to:

1 little boy born 7/19/04
2 male RES, born 1999
1 ribbon snake, age unknown
3 FBT, ages unknown
1 female bearded dragon, born 5/2002
1 male lab mix, born 5/24/03
1 female calico cat, born 6/7/04

____

sig file edited 1/29/05 [phw]

Hey
A 20 gallon long will be fine for a baby up to about 1 year of age, then move up to a 40 gal. I use play sand for my dragon (he is only 4 mos, 10 inches), and have used it since I bought him. If you are worried about ingestion you can always feed in a seperate container, and keep it well hydrated to help pass any ingested sand. Nix the silk plants and the waterfall, they either wont get used or will get eaten. Grapevine and driftwood are good substrates, and you won't need a heating pad if you have the right lighting. I use a 100 watt bulb in one corner of the tank, and 60 watt in the opposite, and a neon coil 10.0 (38$) uvb lamp in the middle. I hope this helps, maybe I can post a pic of my set up later...
Rachel

rachel i'd like to see ur setup

Thanks for the info folks i really appreciate it. One other question i have then is, is the 150Wbulb i have too big should i go to a 100 watt? And do most people have multiple bulbs for the day, outside of the uvb bulb? So a total of three? Do you have nightglow lamps/bulbs for the beardies, or are they just a visual thing for the owner? And can anyone recommend a good spot for seeing pics of setups for the beardies/ and or other lizards? know of anything dedicated to it? I know most the setups i have seen have been pretty similar but doesn't hurt to browse.

I was also wondering about the use of blacklight night bulbs, combined with dayglow (or whatever you call blacklight responsive colors) items in the tank, colored sand, or maybe the background has somethign in it? Sounds cool but it also seems like maybe that glowing would be a distraction to the beardies. Someone told me they don't see certain colors like blue or red?

Thanks again folks.

Oh forgot one question, about that artificial tree thingy i have. As i mentioned before its plastic and fairly smooth, is there any way of roughing it up so that it can be used by the beardie? Is there any way of attaching sand or something to it?

I just like the way it looks, but if this can't be done, then lesson learned i geuss.

Thanks

sorry the picture is so crappy, but you get the gist