TANK SIZE

hello,
If getting a baby beardie (not sure on age, about 5 inches) can I use a 20 gallon terrarium for now?
I WILL be getting a larger tank when it grows. Just for now can a small one do?

Hi there,

Yes a 20g will do for a bit as long as your temps and lighting are proper

-Brandon

As stated above, a 20 Gallon will work....for now.

Very soon, once he/she reaches roughly 10-12 inches in length, you will want to upgrade the enclosure to a 40 Gallon Breeder (36x18x16). Once he/she reaches 15-16 inches, you will want to upgrade to a 120 Gallon (48x24x24). Good rule of thumb is:

Length of Enclosure: 3x or more the length of the dragon
Depth of Enclosure: 1x or more the length of the dragon
Height of Enclosure: Not sure if there is a rule of thumb lol

JohnVLillywhite":3fg197td said:

As stated above, a 20 Gallon will work....for now.

Very soon, once he/she reaches roughly 10-12 inches in length, you will want to upgrade the enclosure to a 40 Gallon Breeder (36x18x16). Once he/she reaches 15-16 inches, you will want to upgrade to a 120 Gallon (48x24x24). Good rule of thumb is:

Length of Enclosure: 3x or more the length of the dragon
Depth of Enclosure: 1x or more the length of the dragon
Height of Enclosure: Not sure if there is a rule of thumb lol Well, beardies do enjoy some climbing space, and they do still need to have some distance from their lights to prevent overexposure and/or burns, so probably around 16-24 inches in height for a tank would be good.

Click to expand...

Very good post might I say, this would be a nice thing to add as a sticky to the enclosures forum and to have on hand when getting a new Beardie or trying to upgrade tanks.

Another good thing to keep in mind is how active is your Beardie normally? My oldest female Beardie Daisy is rather lazy and slowgoing with things, and prefers to just sit around and watch things, she seems perfectly happy in her 50 gallon right now. same thing with Mulder, my disabled Rescue male. And Phoenix is still small enough to be happy in her 40 gallon. Ultimately I'm still working towards finding bigger tanks for them, but in the meantime they're content.

But Loki, my biggest male however is exceedingly hyper and active, and to him, it seems his 120 isn't enough for him. Also the same with Rocket, my smaller and younger dragon, He's shown himself to be too big and hyper for his 40 gallon, and I'm most likely picking up another 120 gallon for him tomorrow night.

So the dragon's personality and activity also plays in hand. But I still would say personally Bigger is better for tanks.

I had Blaze in a 20gL for about 2-3 weeks I had a Zen Habitat on order when I brought him home - he went from the 20gL to the 120 gallon --- lots of space for him - the few weeks he didnt even go on the other half of the tank hung out in the middle where his UBV and basking log --- if you put him in the 20g you can will haft to use smaller lighting till you get the big tank - I did not have a screen on the 20gL I used a T 8 and had it sitting width wise across the tank and a 75 watt basking bulb clamped on to the end --- so when I got the 120 tank I had already ordered the UVB and had some of the bigger domes as well --- I pretty much was ready for the bigger tank --- so w/ that in mind you can start getting stuff ready after you get him and when its time to move him you will be ready ---
Karrie