buying a bd next week.

[Cybergimp]

hey, buying myself a bearded dragon for christmas methinks, had a few lizards and a snakes as a kid but havent had anything in years i read a good few of the threads and caresheets but just a few questions...

first off is there a list of everything i need to set up a decent enclosure so i can check everything i need out when i head to the pet shop near me.. judging from here many pet shops dont give great advice sometimes..

secondly my house here in ireland is freezing at the moment winter and all and i dont have much in the way of heating.. during the night when the heat lamp would be turned off would a heat mat in the tank be enough to keep it at a decent temperature, or would something more be needed?

ive read up on here about substrates and such... i would like to use playsand or tiles if not.. how bad is it to use sand ive read mixed thoughts i know how bad calcisand is so ill stay away from that anyway. also the tank im thinking of buying is quite high so id like to use the sand to raise the ground a bit.

any help is appreciated

 

[Catalyst]

You'll need an enclosure (obviously ). An adult dragon needs a tank with at least 6-8 square feet of floor space and at least 18 inches in depth. If you're looking at an aquarium type tank, this works out to a 75g (4 ft long x 18 inches wide) or larger.

Heat lamp and fixture - you can use a regular lightbulb or halogen flood light for your heat bulb. They cost less than the pet store basking bulbs and do the exact same job. Really all you need for heat is a bulb that puts off bright clear/white light (not red) and enough heat to get your temps to the right area (100-110*F basking, 80*F cool side).

UVB bulb and fixture - you mentioned you're in ireland so I'm not sure which would be the good UVB bulbs over there. If you ask in the enclosure forum hopefully someone will be able to tell you. I know that there the best choices are the reptisun 10.0 for a flourescent tube UVB (reptiglo 8.0 and reptisun 5.0 are decent as well), and then the Megarays (see http://www.reptileuv.com) and the T-Rex Active Heat Flood bulbs for MVBs (mercury vapor bulbs). Either of these are good options for UVB exposure, it depends on how much you want to spend and the design of your set up. Avoid compact bulbs (look like energy saver bulbs) as these have a variety of issues with them, and any ESU or R-Zilla bulbs as these are junk.

Substrate - with a baby, something solid like paper towels, nonadhesive shelf liner, or slate tiles that they can't swallow is best since they like to lick everything and their digestive system is small and prone to impaction. As they get older/larger it becomes safer to put them on washed and sifted playsand if you so desire.

You'll need something to keep all the live bugs in that you'll be going through. A growing dragons eats about 50 crickets a day, and it usually works out best if you buy the crickets in bulk to save yourself a bit of money. Crickets can be kept in a big plastic tub with smooth sides, or in a 10g glass tank. They can eat the same greens and veggies you give your dragon, dragon pelleted food, oatmeal, and commercial crickets food among other things. Make sure the container is well ventilated since good airflow is required to keep everything dried out (if it gets damp the smell goes through the roof and the bugs start dying off).

Other than that, the other basic you'll need is a basking spot for the dragon and maybe some stuff for him to climb on. This doesn't have to come from the petstore though - you can use rocks and branches from outside as long as you clean them first, or be creative with things you have around the house.

secondly my house here in ireland is freezing at the moment winter and all and i dont have much in the way of heating.. during the night when the heat lamp would be turned off would a heat mat in the tank be enough to keep it at a decent temperature, or would something more be needed?

We usually recommend a ceramic heat emitter for night time heat. The problem with heat mats is that dragons are designed to feel heat coming from above, as well as to feel their overall body temp - not particular hotspots. As a result, if the mat gets too hot, the dragon can be seriously burned on his feet and belly. With the ceramic heat emitter, this isn't an issue since it screws into a light socket over the dragon's head.

ive read up on here about substrates and such... i would like to use playsand or tiles if not.. how bad is it to use sand ive read mixed thoughts i know how bad calcisand is so ill stay away from that anyway. also the tank im thinking of buying is quite high so id like to use the sand to raise the ground a bit.

I wouldn't use sand with a baby dragon due to their habit of licking everything, as mentioned above. Once the dragon is older so that his digestive system has grown and isn't as prone to impaction, and he is a better hunter (i.e. he doesn't get a mouthful of ground every time he goes for a bug) then you could try the sand. Some people here have used it successfully. Honestly I've never tried sand, although I am thinking of adding a sandbox to my dragon's tank so that she has the opportunity to dig around in it if she wants to. If you go over to the enclosures forum and do a search for "sand" you'll come up with many people's opinions on that topic.

Hope this helps

 

[Cybergimp]

yeh if i get a baby ill put it on something safer.. how old (average size aswell) would you consider old enough to be put on sand.

i think the pet shop i was in had reptiglo lights.. so far as i remember a 2.0... ill look around more but what spec's should i look for.. same goes for the rest of the heat and lighting.
i think the basking bulb(guessing it was the basking bulb) they were using in the shop was red.. guessing thats what theyll try and sell me.. whats wrong with red lights? wont get one, just to know for myself
if i have to ill get what gear i can around here then order in decent stuff from the usa or uk.

i have a plastic enclosure i used to use for my snake years back... its about 1foot long, half a foot wide and pretty deep. think thatd be good enough to keep crickets in? also would i have to heat the crickets...

what ceramic heater should i get or is that one of the lights mentioned above... if it is.. arent i supposed to have the enclosure dark at night?

 

[Catalyst]

yeh if i get a baby ill put it on something safer.. how old (average size aswell) would you consider old enough to be put on sand.

Most people say you should wait until your dragon is an adult (12-18 months old) before you put them on sand. 14-16 inches would probably be an okay size to put a dragon on sand - just make sure you keep an eye on him to make sure he doesn't eat the sand. Some dragons will and those dragons can never be kept on it.

i think the pet shop i was in had reptiglo lights.. so far as i remember a 2.0... ill look around more but what spec's should i look for.. same goes for the rest of the heat and lighting.
i think the basking bulb(guessing it was the basking bulb) they were using in the shop was red.. guessing thats what theyll try and sell me.. whats wrong with red lights? wont get one, just to know for myself
if i have to ill get what gear i can around here then order in decent stuff from the usa or uk.

Dragons are desert creatures and need a lot of bright clear light to thrive. Those red lights just aren't bright enough for during the day (think desert sun), and at night the dragon can see the light and it can disrupt their sleep, leaving you with a grumpy tired dragon. Plus those red bulbs tend to cost more, and as I mentioned, a regular lightbulb or halogen flood light from a hardware store do a better job and cost less.

With the reptiglo lights you need at least an 8.0 - anything lower isn't strong enough for your dragon.
For the reptisun then you can use either the 5.0 or the 10.0 (best).
Again, make sure you get the flourescent tube bulb, the one that goes most of the length of your tank, not the compact versions since those have issues (burn out quickly, some brands cause eye problems, etc.).

As far as the wattage of the heat bulb, that'll depend on the size of your tank, the temperature in your house, the type of bulb you use, etc. etc. You'll pretty much have to use trial-and-error to figure it out. I'd use a bulb that you have around the house first and see where that puts your temps, and then go up or down in wattage from there. I have a 75g tank and used 175 or 200w regular lightbulbs at first to get my temps right but then was able to switch to 75w halogen floods to get the same temps. During the summer I use a lower wattage bulb than in the winter since the ambient temp of my house changes with the seasons.

i have a plastic enclosure i used to use for my snake years back... its about 1foot long, half a foot wide and pretty deep. think thatd be good enough to keep crickets in? also would i have to heat the crickets...

Crickets do fine at room temperature, so as long as you're keeping them in the house they'll be fine without any extra heat.
Yes you can use that container to hold the crickets, I'm not sure how many it would hold at one time though.

what ceramic heater should i get or is that one of the lights mentioned above... if it is.. arent i supposed to have the enclosure dark at night?

A ceramic heat emitter is a ceramic disk that screws into a light socket (like your heat bulb does). It puts off heat but no light so it won't disrupt your dragon's sleep.

 

[Cybergimp]

so lighting and heatwise if possible i need...
a reptisun 10.0 or megaray (do i need both?),
clear basking light of some sort,
ceramic heat emitter for nights
and all the fixtures

 

[Catalyst]

so lighting and heatwise if possible i need...
a reptisun 10.0 or megaray (do i need both?),
clear basking light of some sort,
ceramic heat emitter for nights
and all the fixtures

No, you don't need both - you use either a flourescent tube or a MVB. The megaray is only found online as far as I know, from the website link I gave. The other good MVB that is found in petstores is the T-Rex Active Heat.

Your list about covers it. You can get the clear basking lights (regular bulbs or halogen flood lights) from a grocery store or a hardware store. The ceramic heat emitter you only need if it's going to drop below the low sixties (*F) at night, otherwise the cooldown is natural and healthy for them.

 

[Cybergimp]

yeh my house is freezing i can see my breath sometimes... so think ill definately need a ceramic heater, any brands i should look for?
which would be better.. a mega ray, that trex thing, or a reptisun 10?

 

[Catalyst]

yeh my house is freezing i can see my breath sometimes... so think ill definately need a ceramic heater, any brands i should look for?
which would be better.. a mega ray, that trex thing, or a reptisun 10?

If your tank is large enough, the mercury vapor bulbs are the best option for UVB in my opinion. You need to use them in an adult sized tank though, because your dragon shouldn't be closer than 12-18 inches to the bulb (depending on which one you get). They are more expensive and can be harder to come by depending on where you are though, so if all you can get is the reptisun 10.0 flourescent tube for UVB that's okay too, it's a good bulb. If you have any more questions about the particular pros and cons of those lights feel free to ask them over in the enclosures forum - there are a few people over there who've done a lot of research on lighting, and you'll be able to get more opinions before you spend your cash.

 

[Cybergimp]

ok had a Iook around, bought a 100watt exo-terra ceramic heater for nighttimes(wiII this be enough for a decent siized tank.. 3ft by 1.5 or so?), and a reptigIo 8.0 best i couId find (probabIy get better stuff once i have everything and some spare cash), shouId be getting the rest of the stuff around wednesday, im toId hardware shops seII things to hoId these... anything speciaI i shouId Iook for? A good brand? or is there just a basic one that works for everything...

 

[noelwpb]

Hello.

Im in Ireland, let me know if you need any advice.