3" High Minimum for Enclosures?

[ComicBookMama]

I was just following a conversation on the Zen Habitats fan page on Facebook... TL/DR: owner was upset because she has a 4x2x4 for her beardie, and was told it wasn't the right size (not enough room to run around in vs. vertical space). Most of the comments were telling her that she's just fine, as long as she has the right UV and basking spot temps. One, however, shot my eyebrows up... a person saying that the husbandry specs are shifting away from 4x2x2 to 3 foot high enclosures, because beardies are "an arboreal species."

::glances accusingly at Figment, who rarely climbs anything in his hab, but scales bookshelves happily during walkabout time::

Is this correct information? Should we be encouraging people to go for even BIGGER beardie habs than we already do? My initial thought was that if we start telling people that their 40BRs are too small and that they need a 4x3x3 or something similar, we'll NEVER get those beardies out of their smaller enclosures because suddenly, the "proper" size requirements are too much for the average owner to manage... particularly if they have multiple beardies.

If 4x2x2 isn't big enough anymore... what's the current thoughts about proper beardie hab size?

 

[KarrieRee]

Do not listen to those people on those boards---- most do not know what they are talking about --- we need to stick w/ the 4x2x2's --- I dont know about you but Hiccup and Blaze are perfectly happy w/ their tanks

 

[CooperDragon]

4x2x2 is a good standard, but I think of it as a minimum for an adult. Generally it's best to go with as large of an enclosure as you have space for. The extra space allows for creation of different basking zones to choose from and also, as you mentioned, you can provide climbing areas for them. Some dragons like to climb more than others. Young dragons tend to like climbing more than older ones, but that's a generalization. A lot of that comes down to working with the individual personality of your dragon. 4x2x2 works well for a LOT of dragons, I'm just saying that if you can provide more space, go for it.

I have an old 36x18x18 exo terra and I can create a good gradient and it is enough for my dragon to move around in. During his seasonal highs however, he is so energetic that he won't stand to be locked up in it for long. I've compensated by setting up basking lights around the house and letting him free roam. That is another good option, but won't work for everyone (esp those with other pets in the house).

 

[kingofnobbys]

My understanding is the that the min height of the enclosures for any reptile has more to do with the following aspects
1) the height of the basking globe
2) the basking globe's wattage and type of irradiance dispersion ( some are focused into a tight cone of light & heat = spots , some are very wide cones of light and heat = floods, some throw light and heat more or less uniformly in all directions )
3) fitting height
4) distance to the sweet spot ( ideal basking temperature for the reptile )
5) height of the basking spot

illustrated very nicely by Arcadia's old lighting guideline chart

Clarifying

In general for most commonly used MVBs , MHBs , Incandescent Floods and Halogen Floods used as basking globes the tank height minimum works out to be 18" to 24" .
There is no reason why a bearded dragon can't be housed in a taller tank , so long as it can climb to a position off the ground there it can obtain the following requirements

radiant heat at BASKING SPOT IS NOT MORE THAN 40 degC
UVA ~ 1000 microW / sq.cm
UVB = 160 to 200 microW / sq.cm

and the coolzone of the tank is no cooler than ~ 28 degC.

ALL this assumes a SOLID LID on the tank with all fittings UNDER THE LID , as is the usual situation here in AU ( where screen topped tanks are NOT favoured by keepers ).

Regarding tank footprint .
Here in AU , wild life licencing requires the following standard for an adult bearded dragon
tank width no less than 1.5x TTL
tank length no less than 2x TTL
keep in mind a fully grown central or eastern bearded dragon can attain a TTL up to 26".

My Puff was 25" TTL.

Note TTL = tip of tail to snout length.

Practically , the tank height where people have multiple bearded dragons ( especially so for those who have breeding programs ) but have limited floor space , limited wall space , where tanks are usually stacked , then the restriction in height has to do with how tall the keeper is and how many tanks can be practically stacked ( usually 2 or 3 if tanks are 24" tall ).