Me and my main beardie Blake!

Hi all! Glad to be here! First things first, I name all my four legged friends human names! Just makes me smile... Haha! (Got a dog named Steve as well) I chose the name Blake because I do not yet no the sex, and out of all the unisex names I could think of, they seemed like a Blake.


Blake is a juvenile beardie and I am purchasing a little under a 50 gallon tank tomorrow to start building up for Blake. I have a question for everyone though; where is everyone getting their awesome setups? The areas I have been looking are pretty lame and I want to spoil the **** out of blake.

* I got Blake a white basking light now *

Any suggestions appriciated! I am a new reptile owner, saving one from a coworker who was going to fail them. I am a newbie, and no expert, but I know what he was doing was wrong and he was giving jp and going to just release it into the wild.


Thank you all!

* I upgrsded my thermostats too *

Welcome to the site!

Well I'm sure glad Blake wasnt released out into the wild!

-Brandon

Welcome!

For fun tank stuff I look beyond things labeled for bearded dragons or lizard. Stuff labeled for turtles, birds, and ferrets can also work for a dragon. Now that my dragon is near full grown I find the stuff labeled for lizards can be too small. Think ahead to when your Blake gets to be 18, 20, or more inches long and will benefit from bigger things to climb on and bigger hides to be comfy inside, there are more variety of snake hides that I find online than lizard hides.

Since you are upgrading things do you have UVB tube and a heat bulb? Did coworker use proper lighting? Different types of enclosures can require different solutions to setting up the lights inside or outside the top of the enclosure. I got my enclosure secondhand from Craig's List. It can take some luck but getting things second hand and doing cleaning is a valid option. I'd really recommend a tank with front doors so you can hang lights inside the tank, more up front costs but long term ease of care is nice

Awww...little baby. I'm glad it wasn't released into the wild that's a horrible thought.

Okay! Busy day for me! I have updated his habitat to a 50 gallon tank. I have a 100w heat lamp & a reptisun 10.0 uvb lamp. I got some awesome looking "wooden" tiles that look amazing. I hid the sides of his tank so he wouldn't get stressed. And got 100 dubia roaches. All photos are below! Anything you'd suggest?

Temp on basking log measuring 104. Temp on cold side is 78.
*I am using a heating gun to keep temps*

Thank you all!!!!

Hi DorgEndo,

The previous owner was using a thrive 13w UVB bulb and a 50w red heater lamp. I upgraded the heating lamp immidiately, because he was keeping it on 24/7.

I love your message, because I literally did all that today after reading 1000 posts and watching what seemed like 100 videos.

I think this is a good setup for now, but I would love opinions and suggestions! Thanks again!

I have a question for you where did you get the 50 gallon tank ? And it looks like you have doors that open from the front? Upgrading the lighting is going to make a world of difference in health for him -- the 10.0 bulb is it the T 8 or the T5? the tank looks good --- you can put a piece of soft clothing or some fleece in his hide w/ your smell on it for him to get used to you ---
here is a website for nutrition for you
http://www.beautifuldragons.com/Nutrition.html
here is a website for BSFL -- they are a good staple feeder as well as the roaches -- and they dont need to be dusted ---https://symtonbsf.com/ I use these to put on top of the salad to get him to salad bowl - I also add 1-3 small or medium super worms 1-3 on top to entice him to food bowl-- I feed vegies first then bugs after 30-45 minutes later -- I add them to the salad bowl so he is getting vegies as well --
Karrie

I have a question for you where did you get the 50 gallon tank? And it looks like you have doors that open from the front?

I got it from a local reptile shop. It is an exoterra 50gal. It does have doors that open from the front which is an amazing feature. It has made the world of difference.

Is it the T 8 or the T5?

It is a T8

Thank you so much for all the tips! I want to do the best I can for the little guy, so all knowledge helps!

You could also go DIY for your beardie if you have the inclination and wherewithal (read, "are crazy enough"). I turned a built-in bookshelf/cabinet we were no longer using into this monstrosity. With a little effort, some plexiglass, and quite a bit of cursing, you too could spoil your beardie to the point of silliness (which *is* the point after all) :lol: