Enclosure and accessories all collected from Freecyle!

[pepper44]

Almost everything in Norbert's home is from Freecycle. This is how you have a happy bearded dragon when you are poor. 8)

The only items not from Freecycle or Craiglist's free section are the stones and bricks. Those were about 30 cents each at Lowes.

The entire glass tank was free from Craigslist!

Up close of the basking area...it's really brighter in the tank than it appears in the photo.

Up close of the other side...the plants were free, the water fountain was free, the branches were free!

It looks a little tropical, but he likes it.

The tiles in the bottom, which were also free from Freecycle, are not working out. They are a huge pain to clean, especially because I'm pregnant and it's hard to bend over to the bottom of the tank and pull them out and put them back in. What else could I use for a simple substrate?? Sand is an attractive idea, but I've read negative things about it. What about that wheat cat litter?

 

[pepper44]

Just to note, I did buy the screen top and the lighting. He has a basking bulb on the right, Reptisun 10.0 bulb in the middle, and compact florescent bulbs for extra brightness on the far left.

 

[Jess]

That looks awesome! Im jealous of your massive free tank LOL! Im going to check Craigslists free section now...

As for substrate, try non-adhesive self liner. Its easy to pull out, wash off, and put back in. I really like it.

 

[pepper44]

I used non-adhesive shelf liner in my baby chick brooder and it worked really well. I never thought to try it with my lizard! I have an extra roll of it, too...

 

[Twobeardieguy]

Just a note, the compact florescent bulbs may cause problems with your pooper just keep an eye on him.

 

[Shoni]

Hi,
What an awesome tank set up you've gotten for your beardie! Wish I would have looked for some stuff on CL or freecycle, too!
I have a question about the shelf liner idea, we put in that green turf-carpet stuff you get at the pet store, but our beardie seems to get his little nails caught sometimes while on the hunt for crickets...he has to slow down and lift his legs up (sometimes) slowly before attacking...what type of shelf liner are you using? Does it matter?

 

[Jess]

The kind that looks like this:

It doesnt stick and it is squishy :mrgreen: You can get it in designs that looks kind of like sand too.

 

[pepper44]

That's the same kind of shelf liner I had for my chick brooder and they didn't get their little toes caught in it at all! I'm going to get out my leftovers and try it for the lizard soon.

My lizard has watery stuff that comes out with his poop though...this was the problem with the tiles. The liquid part would run everywhere, so I couldn't just scrape off the solid. The liquid ran between and under the tiles and made a horrible stinky mess! The liquid might also just run through the holes in the shelf liner...

 

[pimmsoclock87]

That's the same kind of shelf liner I had for my chick brooder and they didn't get their little toes caught in it at all! I'm going to get out my leftovers and try it for the lizard soon.

My lizard has watery stuff that comes out with his poop though...this was the problem with the tiles. The liquid part would run everywhere, so I couldn't just scrape off the solid. The liquid ran between and under the tiles and made a horrible stinky mess! The liquid might also just run through the holes in the shelf liner...

I had this problem as well so in the end i fixed the tiles down and grouted it in, cant remove them but now i spot clean with baby wipes and can just clean it in place.

You could always train your little one to clean the poop up for you

 

[MyLittleFoot]

wow that's a nice setup looks great

 

[xtremelegend07]

I use echo earth witch is like dirt, you just put a couple of the bricks in water and wait about 30 mins for it to expand and then u can spread it around in your tank. you want to change it out either every week or 2 weeks it does dry up in a couple days of putting it in the cage but its still alright to use.

 

[hockeyballz30]

a shelf liner with no holes seems to work the best for me, easy to clean and the liquid hangs out in the middle. every month i take out the shelf liner and do a scrub and clean, very durable and makes cleaning up simple. I also go the route of using wipes to clean up the majority of the mess. Easy as pie

 

[Lexie]

THAT IS SOOO AWESOME THAT YOU WERE ABLE TO FIND A LOT OF THAT STUFF AS FREE! SO COOL, IM JELOUS OF YOUR HUGE FREE TANK, I WILL NOW BE LOOKING FOR THE FREE STUFF ON CRAIGSLIST, WAT IS FREECYLE? THANKS FOR THE IDEA AND INSPERATION OF GETTN STUFF FREE! I GIVE YOU MAJOR PROPS!