new set up?

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JIMMIA

Juvie Member
hi, I'm only new to bearded dragons, I got my very first little baby girl just the other day! so is this set up okay? please, or am I doing anything wrong? besides the heatstone is not in there yet; and is 7w heatstone okay for my little JIMMIA? :)

98861-6060728314.jpg
 

HippieLizards

Gray-bearded Member
Beardie name(s)
Daisy, Loki, Rocket, Phoenix, Mulder & Scully. Non beardie pets: Stan (Leo) Cayde (Hognose) Tillery (cat)
Hello,

Welcome to the wonderful world of dragons! You have a very pretty beardie there. :D

There is a few problems with the set-up..

Cage size... I'm assuming it's a 10-20 gal tank WAY TOO SMALL. Once the beardie is at six months to a year he should be in a 75 gallon enclosure and when he's a full adult size, the 120 gal tank IMO.

The lighting is useless, From the picture I can see a coil UVB (Throw it out and replace with a reptisun 10.0 HO Tube bulb), and a red bulb (Take it out and throw it in the garbage as they can be harmful).

There's a water dish in the enclosure, You don't need a water dish for beardies because they get a lot of water from their food and it is rare for them to drink from it. Plus babies can sleepwalk into water dishes at night and drown or get to a deadly cold temperature so if you keep the water dish make sure to never have it in during night time. But if you want you could spray the cage with water 2-3x a week.

The rest of the set-up looks okay. Where did you buy him from?

Here's some pics of my beardies current set-ups (Hopefully It'll give you some ideas):

View media item 60902 Cisco's tank,

View media item 60757 Daisy's tank,

View media item 61161 and Loki's current tank (I'll soon upgrade him to a 75 gal tank and add some more equipment to his enclosure).

View media item 60656 This Is Loki's Upgraded 4x2x2 Tank and he's Loving it. :)

-HippieLizards.
 

HippieLizards

Gray-bearded Member
Beardie name(s)
Daisy, Loki, Rocket, Phoenix, Mulder & Scully. Non beardie pets: Stan (Leo) Cayde (Hognose) Tillery (cat)
BTW, I took a closer look at the beardie and are you sure it's a beardie? It kinda looks like a rankins beardie but i'm not certain.. I'm also not sure of the care of rankins or whether it's different then central bearded dragon. View media item 61065
 
She looks gorgeous and very happy. I agree with HippeLizards that she could be a rankins dragon, but regardless the care is pretty much the same in terms of heating, lighting etc so it doesn't overly matter.

One thing just to add is you mentioned a heat stone. Is that like a heat rock that you plug in? If so I wouldn't use it. They are not reliable in keeping a consistent temperature and so can burn your little one. Dragons can't feel temperature on their bellies and so can get burnt from using heat mats and heat rocks. If your basking temperatures and air temperatures are good then she shouldn't need a heat mat.

You can get a ceramic bulb if it gets too cold at night just to keep it above 65 F, but you still want to make sure there is a drop in temperature from the day time to stimulate her sleep/wake cycle.

There is a good care sheet on here for which UVB bulbs are best. You definitely need a UVB, not a household bulb as you will run into serious health problems without one. Incorrect UVB is one of the main causes of metabolic bone disease which is definitely something you don't want your little one to get.

Here is the link for the care sheet:
https://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/newbies-guide-lighting-help/

Welcome to the wonderful world of beardies, they are great little characters and put a smile on your face every day. Ask as many questions on here as you need to. I practically lived on here the first week my little girl came home. :lol: There are some amazing resources and some very experienced owners with a huge amount of knowledge.
 

JessPets

Gray-bearded Member
I'm glad to see you getting along with your new scaly friend, though unfortuetly most of your supplies will need to be redone.

As stated before, your tank is too small, and needs to be upgraded to the biggest you can afford ASAP. Tanks that small aren't big enough to provide a thermal heat gradient, which is needed for bearded dragons.

You are going to need to replace ALL your lighting. First step, order these two things: https://www.amazon.com/ReptiSun-10-0-Reptile-Lighting-Fluorescent/dp/B00K2BN7HK/ref=pd_cp_199_3?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00K2BN7HK&pd_rd_r=b508ddaf-5aa9-11e8-af9e-0723348d9422&pd_rd_w=zpSM2&pd_rd_wg=jSIVW&pf_rd_i=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_p=80460301815383741&pf_rd_r=P39ME2ZY3PDE56GS2R4D&pf_rd_s=desktop-dp-sims&pf_rd_t=40701&psc=1&refRID=P39ME2ZY3PDE56GS2R4D

Yes, they are expensive, but are not optional. Unfortunately, you didn't chose a cheap pet.

If the 'heat stone' plugs in immediately unplug it. If you want to leave it in for aesthetics, fine, but as a heat rock it is dangerous. Water dishes are unnecessary, and will only raise the humidity in your enclosure. I don't know what you are using to take the temps, but you need either a IR temp gun or probe thermometers - anything that takes the ambient temps is worthless.

What are you using for food?
 

JIMMIA

Juvie Member
Original Poster
thank you I appreciate your feedback and all :) but the uvb and heat lamp heat rock etc is all what the pet shop suggested for me to use, I’m only new to it sorry :(and they suggested baby live crickets and some kinda worms in saw dust, again it’s all what they suggested and I thought put dish in there so she can sit in it as I told they sit in it not drink it sorry :| and remember I’m from Brisbane Australia so my climate humidity might be different to you as we are in winter at the moment :) sorry I’m stupid and slow at this :( I just miss my other loyal companion who died a year ago at my birthday “my dog” she was 10 human years and seen me threw my dark stages of life :’(
 
Sorry about the loss of your companion. We are all animal lovers here and know how hard it can be to loose something so special. With regards to the pet shop advice, I am afraid they are notoriously bad at giving advice. I have seen post after post of people just like you who did exactly what they were told to find that it's not the right thing. But you've come to the right place :)

Climate shouldn't matter too much, the temperatures and the UVB still need to be correct regardless. I'm from the UK myself so have to be particularly careful with UVB as I can't take my little one out as often as I'd like as it's just too cold for her to be in the "real" Sun, but there are people on this forum from all over the globe with very similar set-ups.

There are some brilliant resources on this website and searching through the forums can give you a lot of hints and tips as well. Also ask as many questions as you need to. The world of bearded dragons is amazing but can feel a bit daunting and overwhelming at first, but there are lots of people here who are ready to help. :D

https://www.beardeddragon.org/articles/index.php
 
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