Enclosure Upgrade Help (Pictures included:))

Hi everyone! I got my bearded dragon, Arcturus Muffins, about 2 months ago and since them he has doubled in size! I don't have a scale to keep track of his weight but I've been measuring him. When I first got him, he was about 6-7 inches. Now, he's over 13!! Anyways, back to my main point.... I was wondering when my 20 gallon tank would be too small for him and when I should upgrade. Also, what are some tips on the kind of equipment I'll need? What combination of light fixtures would be best? (I already have an 18 inch Reptisun 10.0) What kind of decorations/basking spot items do you guys have that your beardies enjoy?
Here's a picture of day 1:
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Here's one month later:
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Here's 2 weeks ago:
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And here's a random picture of him hanging his butt off the side of his hammock (he does this a lot)
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Anyways, back to my main point again! I appreciate any tips on when to transfer him to his 40 gallon tank and tips on how to set it up to make it enjoyable for him. Also, what are your ideas on building a custom tank? Is it worth it? Thank you all!

I'm glad to see he's progressing so well! They certainly do grow up quickly when they're well cared for. A bigger tank is a great idea and he will need it. I would set him up with the largest tank you can. It's usually most cost effective to build your own. A common style is the Crossfire Enclosure outlined in this walkthrough https://beardies.dreamwidth.org/2145.html If you have space you could make it even bigger than that.

For lighting, I would use a halogen flood light in the screw fixture for basking. They are dimmable so having a lamp dimmer or dimming thermostat is really nice so you can fine tune the temperature. I would also set it up with a couple of digital thermometers (or a good programmable thermostat will come with them) so you can monitor the basking site and cool side temps. Something like this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0017N8W90/

For UVB I would definitely use a T5 with a good fixture. Something like this mounted about 12'' over the basking area will work really well https://www.amazon.com/Sunblaster-904296-NanoTech-Fixture-Reflector/dp/B00AKKUBDQ/ using this bulb https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-26061-Reptisun-Fluorescent/dp/B00AQU8HAO

CooperDragon":1ara7bfg said:

I'm glad to see he's progressing so well! They certainly do grow up quickly when they're well cared for. A bigger tank is a great idea and he will need it. I would set him up with the largest tank you can. It's usually most cost effective to build your own. A common style is the Crossfire Enclosure outlined in this walkthrough https://beardies.dreamwidth.org/2145.html If you have space you could make it even bigger than that.

For lighting, I would use a halogen flood light in the screw fixture for basking. They are dimmable so having a lamp dimmer or dimming thermostat is really nice so you can fine tune the temperature. I would also set it up with a couple of digital thermometers (or a good programmable thermostat will come with them) so you can monitor the basking site and cool side temps. Something like this https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0017N8W90/

For UVB I would definitely use a T5 with a good fixture. Something like this mounted about 12'' over the basking area will work really well https://www.amazon.com/Sunblaster-904296-NanoTech-Fixture-Reflector/dp/B00AKKUBDQ/ using this bulb https://www.amazon.com/Zoo-Med-26061-Reptisun-Fluorescent/dp/B00AQU8HAO

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Awesome, thanks CooperDragon! This information was everything I was looking for!