Are any of these vivarium sizes suitable for adult beardie?

[sct]

Hi there,

I'm thinking of getting a bearded dragon later this year and have read a lot about peoples recommendations for vivarium sizes but a lot of people have very different opinions.

The current space I have for a vivarium is either:
55" x 15" x 15"
or
48" x 18" x 18"
or
36" x 18 x 18"

Will any of these be suitable to house a single adult bearded dragon for it's whole life? (I will not be co-habiting, and the dragon will have interaction and exercise outside of it's enclosure every day). If so, which of the above are suitable?

Thanks for your help!

sct

 

[keschete]

My two adult dragons each have their own 48 long x 18 wide x 16 tall and those are their permanent homes. They need about 18 inches to turn around comfortable and 48 inches is plenty of length.

That said, my dragons are out of their viv's every day for a period of time to run around loose.

 

[Shabutie]

Well a 40 breeder is reccomended as minimum and the dimensions of that are 36X18X16. So the answer would be any of those is perfect

 

[sct]

Thank you very much for your responses.

I'd really like to go for the 36"x18"x18" but was worried this would be too small for the dragon to live in its whole life. On a lot of UK sites they state that 48" x 24" x 24" (4' x 2' x 2') is the minimum for a single beardie, which is huge by comparison! It seems anyone who says otherwise is treated as though they should be burnt at the stake!

If I went for the larger 48" x 18" vivarium, would 15" in height be enough to fit a basking bulb and UV strip safely? Or would I need 18" in height also?

 

[Shabutie]

That's fine. I use 13" high tanks so I can just put a small basking site. Just be sure to keep the beardie about 8" from the UVB