General enclosure questions

hello hello,

When I decided we were getting a dragon I was determined to give him a nice big living space but I found that everything worth buying was crazy expensive so I built one. Did all my research and wound up with a 46x19x23 melamine enclosure with vents on the side and back, glass sliding doors and a hole in the top for the lamp. (I'm pretty proud of the finished product actually). Obviously this set up was way too big for a baby so he's currently in a rubbermaid tub. ok heres my questions:

1) When will he be big enough to be moved out of the tub and given access to the whole enclosure? (right now he's about 8 inches from tip of nose to tip of tail and yes, I know he may not be a he...)
2) I have been using felt for a cage liner I just wanted to see if anyone has any solid reasons for why I should NOT be doing this. (I like it cuz its similar to the reptile carpet you get at the stores only thinner and it costs about a fraction of what the reptile carpet costs, plus I can cut it to fit his space perfectly AND until he finishes his treatment for coccidia I can throw the liners away without throwing money away)
3) I was all set to have a strip light in addition to the one I currently have but the guy at the pet store talked me out of it (I figured he wouldn't talk me OUT of spending money at his store if there wasn't a good reason) but I dunno, I sometimes feel like I make a bad call skipping that one. any thoughts?
ok heres a picture of the enclosure:

Some people will say you should start with a smaller enclosure and some would use whatever enclosure they plan on keeping them in. For me, I see no reason not to have him in his forever home. He will have to deal with relocation stress again and in the wild they have a vast area of space when they are young. At this point I would wait till the parasites are all cleared up as he may end up with some stress again from relocation.
As for substrate, as long as the material is not a danger to snagging nails it should be ok but it could harbor bacteria. I would recommend the non adhesive vinyl shelf liner. They are very easy to clean and look nice and can be cut to size.
I'm not sure what you are looking for a strip light for, uvb? What are you using for uvb right now?

I would never take advice from him again. He is very wrong! You need at the very least a 2ft reptisun 10.0 t5 HO in addition to the basking bulb. Those coil type UVB lights are very detrimental to your dragons health.
As for substrate I use tile, much easier to clean and doesn't harbour bacteria like others.

thanks for the help guys! I am currently using a 100W zoomed Powersun bulb. it seems to be keeping the enclosure plenty warm- I measure basking area and far corner weekly to make sure temps are right and he moves around the cage periodically so I'm not worried about that. Im mostly concerned with keeping his space bright enough.

ok additional question: I purchased a striplight hood- zoomed T5 HO high output with a 5.0 UVB bulb. I'll be installing it when we move him to the big cage. It appears to be intended for placing on top of a cage, like set down on a wire top or something but this is not an option for me. I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to install it - maybe attach it to the back or top on the inside but I'm not sure how to go about it. Ive considered attempting to drill holes in the hood to screw it into the melamine board or even use command strips?

has anybody used command strips inside their enclosures for anythings? my main concern is the heat inside the space causing the strips to become less sticky and having the light come crashing down on him.

thoughts?

thank you =) Lauren

Benjaminsgrandma":1ukqjqwl said:

has anybody used command strips inside their enclosures for anythings? my main concern is the heat inside the space causing the strips to become less sticky and having the light come crashing down on him.

thoughts?

thank you =) Lauren

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Hey Lauren,

I would stay away from the command strips. I'm not sure how you are going to mount a hood to your melamine enclosure... I had a melamine enclosure years ago and used a simple 4ft florescent bulb holder (something you would use for a desk or something) and had a 4ft uvb tube. It simply screwed to the top of the enclosure. I wouldn't chance it with command strips, that may kill your little guy

If you got the type of hood that isn't really wasn't designed to screw into anything and meant to lay on top you can use metal strips from a hardware store. The type I used are for holding dryer vent hoses to the wall. You just cut them to the size you need and use the existing holes to screw into the ceiling. It is harder to deal with than other types but it can be done.

The other important thing I want to point out is that you say you got a 5.0 uvb. These put out less uv and are meant for tropical species, not desert like bearded dragons. You need a 10.0 and would need to be positioned 10-12 inches of the basking area.

You can add a ceramic light socket to the ceiling and use daylight type of led bulbs for additional lighting as well or get another strip light for daylight fluorescent bulbs.

Thank you guys! This is all very helpful insight (=

Zoo Med sells a formed fitting clamp just for their fixtures. I ordered them from the Zoo Med website. They work really well.

Oh perfect!!thank you!

Nice job. Just wanted to mention that it's best to have the long tube uvb mounted toward the middle of the tank for best coverage rather than on a back wall or near the wall . Also, he will be getting extra uvb from the Powersun bulb since it's a mercury vapor. It looks like you already have been housing him in the plastic tub inside of the enclosure ? Just be sure it doesn't get too hot in there. He may be fine either way , but it'll be easier to clean up after him if he's in the tub if you're dealing with parasites.

The benefit of having them in a smaller enclosure when they're babies is to lessen relocation stress + be sure they can find everything easily . Being born in captivity is much different than being born in the wild. In captivity they are raised in these plastic tubs and are at home in them and it's an easy transition with less stress than going in to a very large, heavily decorated tank where they might feel a bit lost + stressed. But they can do fine in a large place right off the bat too if the cage decor is kept to a minimum.