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I'm Sarah and I just bought two baby beardies from Petco. I have named them Sobek and Set after ancient Egyptian gods. Sobek was the goddess of crocodiles and other reptilians. Set was the god of the dessert evil and the color red. From their size they're probably about 3 months old. I have them in a 40 gallon tank but im going to upgrade to probably a 90 gallon when they get bigger. I use a calcium sand substrate. I have basking spots but they lay on top of one another on the higher one. I have a uvb and basking lights. They have a food and water dishes. I have a small aloe plant as well. Im going to be getting them a cave to sleep in. I feed them crickets and a variety of vegetables. They absolutely love squash. Can I just say I love watching my beardies chase crickets? It's so cute. Sometimes they get a mouthful of sand though. Is that okay? Another thing how do I keep their terrarium warm at night? I cover the screen top with a black out curtain to try to keep the heat in but the temp drops to about 65°F. If there's anything I'm doing wrong or something else I should be doing please tell me. Thanks for reading!
 

CooperDragon

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Welcome to the forum! Those names sound very fitting, I like it =). If you'd like to share photos of them, you can upload photos here https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ and post them to your thread using the XIMG button when you reply.

I do have some suggestions that may be helpful. I'll also be happy to review your setup/lighting/etc to make sure everything is just right for your new buddies.

I advise getting them each their own setup. A 40g breeder tank for each of them is OK for now (space wise), but as they reach full size, they'll need much more space. I usually recommend at least 4'x2'x2' or larger if you can. With two dragons you can save a little space by getting stackable enclosures. Otherwise it's a good idea to keep them configured in a way so they can't see eachother easily. I suggest checking out Zen Habitats or looking into building your own enclosures as good options. When they lay on top of eachother like you've been seeing, that can mean a sign of dominance. This can eventually lead to aggressive behavior and dominating resources such as basking space and food. This is why it's best to give them each their own space so they can thrive.

I also advise getting rid of the sand. Calcium sand can clump up when it gets wet and if they ingest this, then it can get stuck in their digestive tract and cause some fairly serious problems. Sand is also tough to keep sanitized when poop and food get into it. This can lead to bad smells (the enclosure shouldn't have much noticeable smell) or eventually illness due to bacterial buildup. Using a solid substrate like non adhesive shelf liner or even butcher paper is a good way to go since it's easy to clean and sanitize (or replace). Ceramic tile can also be used, but that can be tough on their feet if they run around a lot. You can also look into bioactive setups. These take a lot more planning and investment up front, but can provide a healthy and fairly easy to maintain ecosystem for them in the long run.

It's great that they like squash. My guy loves squash too. Keep offering them plenty of veges along with their crickets. Black soldier fly larvae and silkworms are also a good thing to offer on rotation. This isn't an exhaustive list, but may give you some more ideas for what to offer them to eat. http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html The more variety you can provide, the better.

Cooler temps overnight are OK for them, to an extent. At 65 I probably wouldn't take any action. If the temps inside the tank drop much below that overnight, you can get a ceramic heat emitter or Arcadia heat projector bulb. This will produce heat without visible light so their sleep isn't disturbed. If you do use a heat bulb for them, make sure the temps stay cooler at night. 70-75 overnight is plenty. I usually only wind up using one of these in winter when the temps in my house drop into the 50s overnight.
 

Sarahm42006

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Thank you so much for the suggestions! I just checked out that Zen habitat thing and they are super cool. Im going to leave them in this tank until I save up enough for it though. I'm 15 and my job doesn't pay me enough to get one now. I'm definitely going to look into that some more.
 

CooperDragon

BD.org Sicko
Staff member
Moderator
If you find that the Zen habitats are out of price range, you can try building your own. If you look through the DIY section and Enclosures section of the site you'll find some really creative things people have done. Self built enclosures range from a simple box made from plywood with a sliding glass front door to repurposed furniture that has been transformed into an enclosure. Lots of good options available for a range of budgets.

If you find that they are starting to act aggressively or one is taking most of the food or basking time, you might try setting up a divider in the enclosure and provide a basking spot (both heat and UVB access) for each of them. A thick piece of cardboard should be enough to divide the enclosure temporarily until you can get more space set up for them.
 
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Clapton is acclimating okay I think. He's quick as lightning so I'm not sure how much I should bring him out of his house yet. He's not at all interested in his salad though. I wonder if I should change what I'm giving him. Least he's eating his crickets.

Things to do:
Buy calcium powder
Material to raise surface for basking spot
Scenery decals for back of tank

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