Larger terrarium/vivarium

Hello!

I currently have a 40 gallon breeder tank for my 5 month old beardie. I understand 40 gallons is technically enough to house him for his entire life but I'd like to get something larger to make him more comfortable. When perusing the internet I can't seem to find any retailers that sell anything larger than 36x18x18.

Are my only options to custom build one or have one built for me?

Thanks.

Yeah once you get bigger than approx 40g breeder you need to move to a custom build or build your own. If you have tools available there are some good walkthroughs for building a 4x2x2' tank. Otherwise there are some places around the country that will custom build for you. I'd try to find someplace close by as shipping for something that large will be quite expensive.

If you're unable to do either of those, you could leave the top off if you have no other animals in the house. That will let you suspend the lights above the tank and buy some climbing room. You can also set up portable basking lights in the house to allow for extra time outside of the tank. They learn pretty quickly to return to the light to warm up while roaming around. Important to set up a safe area for them with no small bits on the ground to ingest, no places they can get into where you can't fetch them, etc. I do that in addition to my 36x18x18 tank and it works well enough.

If you want to stay with a glass tank with a screen top, aquariums larger than 40g are available. We were able to purchase a 125g aquarium for our beardie without having to have it custom made (we got it from a local dealer that sells fish tanks, and they had to special order it and deliver it, because a glass tank that size is pretty heavy, so it takes at least a couple of strong guys to lift it and move it), but it is just a little too tall for me to reach the beardie if he's on the bottom in the back corners. (Fortunately, my husband is a little taller and has longer arms than me.) There are lots of options for suitable enclosures, but the 40g tank will be too small for him once he grows to his full size, so it's good that you're thinking about getting him something larger.