Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am going to get a bearded dragon this weekend (at the Fort Wayne Reptile show hopefully), I am going to construct a cage that is 4x2x2 from melamine (with sealed seams at the bottom), a basking bulb, a 24" flourescent UVB bulb. I am thinking about making the front out of glass, but i guess it depends on what is cheaper. I will put a few vent holes at the top to allow air circulation, and a lock to keep the glass doors shut. Ive been looking around on the internet at cages, and most if not all of them have branches of some sort. Should I get one to let him/her bask? I heard that UVB only goes about 18" so i guess it would be advised. Should I get two basking bulbs for that big a tank? I'm pretty new at bearded dragons so any help would be wonderful!

Thanks,
Quintin

From my experience beardies LOVE basking branches, and as you said it gets them closer to the beneficial uv. Get either a thermometer with a probe or a laser thermometer to get correct temps in the hot spot. You do not need 2 basking lamps, if 1 is not enough get a stronger one (ex. 55volt- to a - 100volt). Other than that it sounds like you got it right.

My BD loves to bask in brances. I also have a, I forget the name, but its made of tree bark, kinda in a U shape- like a hollow half log. He likes to lay under it. Don't forget that Bearded dragons need veggies, so a bowl of some kind would be good. Mine also loves to soak, so a water dish deep enough for it to climb all the way in is good. It helps with shed. I have a large tank, so I use a under tank heat pad at one end as well. What kind of substrate are you using. Take into consideration that it must be digestable. A humidity gauge is good too. I can't think of anything else right now

if you make the front out of glass versus plexiglass, you may have a harder time cutting the glass to size...which is why i use plexiglass.

but, if you have a glass cutter then glass may be cheaper.

I cut plexiglass with a circular saw with a special blade for cutting plywood and put the blade on the saw backwards...that way it won't chip the plexiglass.
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a free range dragon is a happy dragon

Some sort of raised area for basking should be provided. Wide branches are fine, as are bricks, flat rocks (as long as they h ave been stablized so no chance to fall over or for the dragon to dig under) or other structures that can withstand heat. For a 4'x2'x2' tank, a 75-125 Watt flood light type bulb should be fine. The actual range will very on your house temperature and distance from the light to the basking spot. I used a 125 Watt bulb for my 5'x2'x2' tank, but it was mounted in a ceramic fixture attached to the underside of the tank top. I had a large wide piece of driftwood with one end curved upwards. At the top of that projection, the basking temp was about 120F, lower down on the driftwood the basking temp varied from about 115-100F. I could have u sed just a 100Watt bulb to get lower temps but I found my dragon just used the lower part of the driftwood. She would always be at the hottest point right after eating and first t hing in the morning.

The important part is to have areas of various temperatures under and near the b asking spot so your dragon can thermoregulate naturally. Hence wide basking branches are much better. I personally feel alot of people have very narrow branches for basking spots. THough the dragons are able to hang on quite well, I feel a wide basking spot is more comfortable for your dragon and gives him more room to move around on it.
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PHLdyPayne