Oh thank you , I appreciate you saying that but I def still have a lot of learning to do myself and I am still new to beardies for sure
I’ve replied to your pm too but I’ll add some stuff here
I have been very lucky finding my feet in this amazing forum which there are many, many very experienced and knowledgeable members who help people like me starting up
I can definitely share what I have learnt from here though
I really recommend getting your setup done 2 weeks before he comes home. I adopted an older dragon and quickly set my enclosure up the same day and I regret that now. A new owner has a lot to learn about temps , distances , lighting , heating alone - without worrying about the beardie and the settling in, feeding , poop ( yes you will worry about this haha) as well as gettin to know your new buddy
My temps weren’t warm enough and I was manic trying to sort that and trying different things back and forwards to purchase items to try get it all right for about a week! I was lucky mine being older was a bit more resilient (although still needed the right lights and heat asap ) a baby beardie is even more sensitive and needs all those things right.
Luckily I was given too much wrong information before finding this site so it was just my uvb and getting basking temp up that I needed to fix ( and Not to down play the extreme stress that caused! I am merely meaning it could have been even worse with wrong substrate, wrong feeding advice etc )
My tips would be :
Set up first. Make sure you are getting the right temps For at least a week - prefer two, BEFORE bringing him home. Without the right temps your baby will not be able to correct his temperature correctly , he will don’t be able to digest his food correctly which can lead to many problems and he won’t be able to shed correctly.
Uvb: Arcadia 12% t5 - that’s the short answer and with his basking distance being 12” from tube to dragon when basking.
No night lights - no red bulbs , blue bulbs or anything else that sounds like a line from Dr Seuss. it disturbs their sleep which also can lead to other problems. If you tank drops below 65f at night then get a ceramic heat emitter - I use Arcadia 100w on mine on a thermostat to control when it comes on and off- ceramic heat emitters ( or CHE For short) only produce heat - no light- so won’t disturb sleep.
Basking : again I use Arcadia , wide flood 75w - but every viv will differ and it takes some playing around to get the right temp -this was the main problem I had and why it was so stressful not having it sorted BEFORE I got Marlow.
Temps : basking 105 is ideal -no higher than 110 at any point- any hotter can cause burns to your dragon , warm end 95f and cool end 80-85f
Make sure to provide a hide in the cool end and a hide in the warm end - these are needed so he has different options to take when he requires it ( areas of high uvb and heat ( when basking ) areas of no uvb and heat (in warm end cave) , areas of no uvb nor much heat ( cool end hide) and areas of low uvb and not much heat ( in cool end)
My set up is here - BUT ignore the t8 on top - I have a t5 Arcadia 12% on order but it’s just taking time (long story) and I will be replacing my t8 with the t5 mounted INSIDE under the mesh lid the second it arrives
Substrate : use nothing loose - no sand. It can cause impact ion ( I recommend reading up on impaction causes and signs so you know the dos and donts plus symptoms and signs) Tile I hear is great and wears down the nails too.
Paper towel works too
I use linoleum. It’s super easy to install ( just a ruler and a craft knife to cut it and just place it in ( don’t glue it in)
It’s super easy to clean mess up of too. Just make sure it’s the type that comes on a roll - not self adhesive as the glue isn’t safe. I use peices of slate as decor in his viv to help wear down the nails and give some traction like in this photo
