1 Week Away Enclosure crunch time

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Tokay

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So I've been preparing for a bit now my enclosure for my future bearded dragon. I'm grabbing one from the local expo here on the 12th.

I've read/watched/listened to just about every piece of information and care sheet or video known in existence it feels like.

Yet I'm still find myself with some questions and looking for information from what I consider to be one of the best sources a forum!

So I'm going to give you a run down of what I've started with then changed to and what future plans I have before the 12th.

Quick stats
Enclosure 36x18x18
WarmT 104 ColdT 78/80
Lighting Zoo Med 30" T8 fixture w/24" reptisun 10.0 mounted inside
Heat 150watt fixture 80 watt Halogen Flood

PS: Question at bottom regarding tile *no I'm not using the reptile carpet it's to protect the glass

Originally I had planned on using this 29 gallon. Which fell pretty short of my expectations. Mainly because of space and also having to mess with the lights and lid seemed to be a huge pain.
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I'm using real rock from the allegheny mountains currently there's about 35 pound of rock in the enclosure. At this point I had set out to find slate or tile for the bottom. Realizing I was running out of room, it was either lose some rocks or get a bigger enclosure. So I got a bigger enclosure.

I went with a 40 gallon front opening enclosure. This "essentials" kit did actually come with a few useful things such as the 150 watt fixtures the hide and the corner bowls some of it will definitely be put to use!
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I also realized after this just how much the hide that was included actually matched my real red rock so I went out and got more from the same cliffside and switched it out to get a nicer theme going. I still need a branch and background but for the most part pretty close to finishing.
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I just picked up the tile this morning and can't be happier. HOWEVER I'm unsure of how I should be putting this in the tank which is where my questions come in. I though about just laying it directly on the glass or possibly using furniture pads underneath the tile. Id be curious to hear what everyone else uses to put their tile in.
108748-4057536093.jpg
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
Ok the UVB is running the whole length of the tank? We dont recommend the whole length as they need to be able to escape the UVB w out hiding from it - he needs to be able to sit in his tank w/ constantly under the UVB -- next you can use a blue thick shop paper towel under the tile -- leave the tile loose so you can take it out for cleaning - the paper towel will catch the runny urate and any extra water that goes in between - some people use the shelf liner under the tile -- you want to use that digital probe to get a basking temp of where the dragon sits for basking -- your T 8 needs to be 6-8 inches from basking decor piece directly underneath it --- no plastic cover over the bulb if there is one - probably not if its a real long fixture - its usually the 18 " that have them -- other wise every thing sounds good and it looks nice
Karrie
 

Tokay

New member
Original Poster
KarrieRee":1pxraxry said:
Ok the UVB is running the whole length of the tank? We dont recommend the whole length as they need to be able to escape the UVB w out hiding from it - he needs to be able to sit in his tank w/ constantly under the UVB -- next you can use a blue thick shop paper towel under the tile -- leave the tile loose so you can take it out for cleaning - the paper towel will catch the runny urate and any extra water that goes in between - some people use the shelf liner under the tile -- you want to use that digital probe to get a basking temp of where the dragon sits for basking -- your T 8 needs to be 6-8 inches from basking decor piece directly underneath it --- no plastic cover over the bulb if there is one - probably not if its a real long fixture - its usually the 18 " that have them -- other wise every thing sounds good and it looks nice
Karrie

Thanks for the info. I'll definently be going the route of using the blue shop towel underneath. The digital probe is just to measure the ambient I have an IR probe I use to measure the basking spot.

The t8 fixture is 30 " long. The actual bulb is 24 inches. So with the enclosure being 36" that means the UVB covers 2/3rds of the tank. Not sure it that's how it should be or not. No plastic coverings and for the uvb basking when I pickup or find the branch I wanna use I'll run it the length of the enclosure in the back and aim for 6" under the uvb.

Thanks again for the info
 

Tokay

New member
Original Poster
Finished my stand and got it inside today for the tank.

108748-8640315956.jpg

Trying to figure out how to go about cutting the slate tile. I'm thinking maybe use a specific blade for my angle grinder or multitool.
 

KarrieRee

BD.org Sicko
Beardie name(s)
Hiccup he is 6 and Blaze is 4
You need a blade for tile or tile cutter--- other blades will cut jagged edges - you dont want that
Karrie
 
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