Everyone's favorite hides?

[MBH]

I've searched around and haven't quite found the info I've been looking for - which is just mostly ideas and what everyone's favorite hides are. SO - let's talk hides and climbing stuff - Pics? Links? Do's & Don'ts? I'd love to see what your bearded ones love!

My garters and frogs have bioactive enclosures, but I'm not going bioactive on the beardie enclosure yet as we'll probably be getting a baby - we'll go bioactive when it's older and I won't be freaking out so much about sand and all that. We're in the "setting up and researching" phase still so don't have a dragon yet, and I want to be sure we're just buying things that will be healthy/user friendly overall. We have all the lights recommended on this absolutely stellar forum (thank you all - I've been avidly reading all the threads on all the things - you're all amazing!!) and the 4x2x2 enclosure is purchased but not set up. We have a mat for "substrate" and I have a little reptile ladder/bridge thingy and a bunch of driftwood that I'm thinking could be good for basking, climbing, hanging out, whatever. Also planning on adding some slate or bricks for basking/sitting/climbing on.

 

[ChileanTaco]

My dragon has a naturalistic enclosure (not actually bioactive as I can't get the isopods and such here, but otherwise I would also do that) with real desert sand, live plants (which are part of his food), wooden branches, many stones straight from the desert, and a climbing background that looks like stone despite being artificial (real stone for the full size would be just too heavy so it's the construction made from styrofoam plus construction foam plus tile glue and sand recommended often online and this works really well). His enclosure has many hides, burrows... that he uses a lot.
All hides are on purpose so that I can't lift them up (so no "inverted bowl style"). They are part of the climbing background or he dug him themselves. My dragon likes a narrow entrance and then squeezes in. I have attached pictures of two different hides/ caves he uses for sleeping (the one behind the plant he dug himself and was also used by him for brumation). In addition, when he seeks shadow during the day, he sometimes uses niches a bit higher in the climbing background like shown in the last picture.
We have this setup like it is since I got him (3 months old) with only minor changes, like the small branch in the second picture to make the entrance narrower was added by me just a few months ago (my dragon is now about 18 months old) and it made him really loving that hide for resting as well as for sleeping which before without the branch he just used while he was awake.

Btw.: I have also used this forum before getting a bearded dragon, especially regarding how to set up the light/ heat. With that, I avoided buying expensive stuff that I could not use in the end/ would be dangerous for the dragon. Which enclosure size are you starting with? As I only keep one bearded dragon and I'm not planning to keep other reptiles/herps (everything regarding them is crazy expensive here in Chile, so despite I love them very much and would be totally the candidate for a lizard, snake, frog... rather not), I started with the final size enclosure right away. (Also, this was custom-made as reptile enclosures of that size are simply not available here and the largest one available from a pet store - in my opinion still too small - had costed me three times the price of the custom-made one.) Starting with a large one can be a good choice, I think, if a smaller enclosure can't be reused for another animal, but as you keep many, your situation might be different.

 

[ChileanTaco]

I've attached another photo showing the climbing structure better.

 

[MBH]

My dragon has a naturalistic enclosure (not actually bioactive as I can't get the isopods and such here, but otherwise I would also do that) with real desert sand, live plants (which are part of his food), wooden branches, many stones straight from the desert, and a climbing background that looks like stone despite being artificial (real stone for the full size would be just too heavy so it's the construction made from styrofoam plus construction foam plus tile glue and sand recommended often online and this works really well). His enclosure has many hides, burrows... that he uses a lot.
All hides are on purpose so that I can't lift them up (so no "inverted bowl style"). They are part of the climbing background or he dug him themselves. My dragon likes a narrow entrance and then squeezes in. I have attached pictures of two different hides/ caves he uses for sleeping (the one behind the plant he dug himself and was also used by him for brumation). In addition, when he seeks shadow during the day, he sometimes uses niches a bit higher in the climbing background like shown in the last picture.
We have this setup like it is since I got him (3 months old) with only minor changes, like the small branch in the second picture to make the entrance narrower was added by me just a few months ago (my dragon is now about 18 months old) and it made him really loving that hide for resting as well as for sleeping which before without the branch he just used while he was awake.

Btw.: I have also used this forum before getting a bearded dragon, especially regarding how to set up the light/ heat. With that, I avoided buying expensive stuff that I could not use in the end/ would be dangerous for the dragon. Which enclosure size are you starting with? As I only keep one bearded dragon and I'm not planning to keep other reptiles/herps (everything regarding them is crazy expensive here in Chile, so despite I love them very much and would be totally the candidate for a lizard, snake, frog... rather not), I started with the final size enclosure right away. (Also, this was custom-made as reptile enclosures of that size are simply not available here and the largest one available from a pet store - in my opinion still too small - had costed me three times the price of the custom-made one.) Starting with a large one can be a good choice, I think, if a smaller enclosure can't be reused for another animal, but as you keep many, your situation might be different.

The background you made is amazing!! I love it! My goal is to have something like yours eventually. I've seen videos of people making similar backgrounds and they look so wonderful, but it seems a bit hard to do. I live in the Pacific Northwest - exactly the opposite of a desert - so I'm more familiar with keeping moss rather than cacti.
I'm starting with what I assume will be the final size enclosure - 4x2x2 (120gal equivalent?). We have little frogs and garter snakes (local species to us, so I get everything for their enclosures from outside), and I don't think we'll have other reptiles after the bearded dragon (I say that now, but who knows, haha!). It sounds like you started your baby on sand right from the start? That sounds really ideal, but I'm nervous because it seems to be a big debate about sand being dangerous, which is why I decided that I'll start ours on a mat then move to sand later when they're older and less likely to eat the sand? I'm planning to use play sand and topsoil mix, but I just want to make sure that I don't mess this up so I'm open to whatever is best, haha

 

[ChileanTaco]

The background you made is amazing!! I love it! My goal is to have something like yours eventually. I've seen videos of people making similar backgrounds and they look so wonderful, but it seems a bit hard to do. I live in the Pacific Northwest - exactly the opposite of a desert - so I'm more familiar with keeping moss rather than cacti.
I'm starting with what I assume will be the final size enclosure - 4x2x2 (120gal equivalent?). We have little frogs and garter snakes (local species to us, so I get everything for their enclosures from outside), and I don't think we'll have other reptiles after the bearded dragon (I say that now, but who knows, haha!). It sounds like you started your baby on sand right from the start? That sounds really ideal, but I'm nervous because it seems to be a big debate about sand being dangerous, which is why I decided that I'll start ours on a mat then move to sand later when they're older and less likely to eat the sand? I'm planning to use play sand and topsoil mix, but I just want to make sure that I don't mess this up so I'm open to whatever is best, haha

The background is made from things from the hardware store - for that, no desert is required.
Similar sand and stones can be found in reptile stores, might need to order the sand online (Exoterra or Zoomed "desert sand" as well as "excavator clay"; make sure what you buy is real sand and not an imitation from ground-up walnut shells or plastic).
I had to buy the branch - as we don't have forests here. (At other places, it would have been exactly the opposite - getting the branch from nature, buying the sand and desert stones. Btw.: I am generally also more familiar with moss and forests and such; I grew up in in Germany, in the Bavarian mountains, and I just live in Chile for 2 years now. Had to learn that certain plants I'm used to just don't grow here, and on the opposite, all kinds of cacti and succulents are now super easy to grow.)

Yes, I made the enclosure how it is right away - before I got him, and my dragon was 3 months old when I got him. There was really never an issue, my dragon grew up very healthy.
In my opinion, sand is an issue if its dusty - so something that "runs through your fingers", like in an hourglass, is not good. It can irritate the eyes and nose, it can make walking hard. But proper sand will stick together when you spray it with water and let it dry (still sticks together when dry). The sand is really like on a hiking trail - if I want to break it apart, e.g. for planting a new plant, I have to use a metal spoon to break it up.
I have never seen my dragon to eat sand. And I think there should be no problem if there is really sometimes a tiny grain eaten - as long as he isn't eating it by the spoonful.
Regarding substrate being eaten: What is more a problem is substrate made from larger and lighter particles, such as what is used for snakes, or generally for animals coming from forest areas. So things like "jungle bedding", or tree bark... can be dangerous, as when insects escape the food bowl and crawl around, they will sit on those pieces, and when the dragon grabs them with their sticky tongue, the dragon will get both, insect and that piece of wood/ bark. And these pieces are significantly larger than a grain of sand.

 

[Sue E.]

I've searched around and haven't quite found the info I've been looking for - which is just mostly ideas and what everyone's favorite hides are. SO - let's talk hides and climbing stuff - Pics? Links? Do's & Don'ts? I'd love to see what your bearded ones love!

My garters and frogs have bioactive enclosures, but I'm not going bioactive on the beardie enclosure yet as we'll probably be getting a baby - we'll go bioactive when it's older and I won't be freaking out so much about sand and all that. We're in the "setting up and researching" phase still so don't have a dragon yet, and I want to be sure we're just buying things that will be healthy/user friendly overall. We have all the lights recommended on this absolutely stellar forum (thank you all - I've been avidly reading all the threads on all the things - you're all amazing!!) and the 4x2x2 enclosure is purchased but not set up. We have a mat for "substrate" and I have a little reptile ladder/bridge thingy and a bunch of driftwood that I'm thinking could be good for basking, climbing, hanging out, whatever. Also planning on adding some slate or bricks for basking/sitting/climbing on.

Kai loves the toad ranch bask n hide. I got a double wide because he is an adult but a single wide would probably do for a baby. They grow pretty fast though, so Im not sure if the hide on a single wide would be big enough for a full grown dragon.

 

[xp29]

I prefer to make my own. I like to use a big piece of sandstone or slate as the top. It's great for nail and pores maintenance