First beardie set up

[petrodragonicapocalypse]

First bearded dragon and first ever reptile, I’ve had such a blast in the first three weeks I will absolutely get more little guys in the future once I have a job again. My dream reptile is a monitor lizard and a reticulated python but I decided to go with everyone’s beginner recommendation and get a beardie! (Despite being a beginner recommendation I realized how intensive reptiles can be) Very curious as to your guys’ thoughts on my set up! T5 UVB lamp with 10.0 rod, and a double dome with a halogen flood lamp (initial bulb went out so I decided to try a different one I saw recommended) and ceramic heat emitter for night time. There’s also a heat mat underneath is tank beneath the mountain on the left side. His ramp is for direct UVB basking at 4.4 UV (which I saw is what wild beardies have been recorded to bask at) and his hammock is a new edition on the cool side so he can bask at lower UV if he so chooses or just hang around. Top of the mountain is his direct heat basking spot and I don’t have a point thermometer yet so I can’t measure the exact temperature but I imagine it’s anywhere between 90-110. And he has a tree stump hide on his cool side + a fake leafy plant for hot side shade. There’s some emptier space on the back side of his mountain if he wants to be out in the open. I tried to provide a lot of different spaces for him to enjoy and I’ve seen him sleep in just about every spot. Even behind the tree stump on the dirt mound I recently added so he could get on top and into his hammock by himself. I tried to make his enclosure very mobility accessible because he’s had motor issues since birth. I love him very much.

 

[NickAVD]

You have done a great job of organizing the space for your dragon. I liked everything. But if you need advice, I would remove the artificial greenery or replace it with succulents. Sooner or later he will taste it. And dragons do not need additional heating from below, i.e. the heating mat can be removed, because it will not allow the temperature gradient from 110 degrees in the hot zone to 75-80 in the cold

 

[ChileanTaco]

I can agree very much on what NickAVD wrote.
I use only live plants, for two reasons: safe to eat, and they provide fresh greens all day long and also if I can't come home a day or two. Life plants that survive well under the temperature and light conditions in a dragon tank are succulents of which especially golliwog (callisia repens) is recommended for reptiles. It is widely available, and most reptiles love to eat it. My dragon eats it a lot.
I also think that having fresh edible plants around encourages a dragon to eat greens, instead of fake leaves which are "in the best case" feeling and tasting awful when tried so the dragon makes the experience "green = bad", and in the worst case cause serious health issues.

In case you want to use the fake foliage as a a kind of covering, hiding space:
Pet stores usually offer small gnarly branches that can be put low to the ground so an animal can hide below. They can also be used in front of hides to make the entrance narrower. Here https://www.beardeddragon.org/threads/a-cozy-place.270268/ is an image on how I have used a branch to make a cave more attractive due to the now narrower entrance, and my dragon instantly had chosen the cave as an additional safe sleeping spot once modified with the branch. Before, without the branch, he only used it for resting during the day but not for sleeping.

And dragons do not need additional heating from below, i.e. the heating mat can be removed, because it will not allow the temperature gradient from 110 degrees in the hot zone to 75-80 in the cold

Agree

 

[petrodragonicapocalypse]

I can agree very much on what NickAVD wrote.
I use only live plants, for two reasons: safe to eat, and they provide fresh greens all day long and also if I can't come home a day or two. Life plants that survive well under the temperature and light conditions in a dragon tank are succulents of which especially golliwog (callisia repens) is recommended for reptiles. It is widely available, and most reptiles love to eat it. My dragon eats it a lot.
I also think that having fresh edible plants around encourages a dragon to eat greens, instead of fake leaves which are "in the best case" feeling and tasting awful when tried so the dragon makes the experience "green = bad", and in the worst case cause serious health issues.

In case you want to use the fake foliage as a a kind of covering, hiding space:
Pet stores usually offer small gnarly branches that can be put low to the ground so an animal can hide below. They can also be used in front of hides to make the entrance narrower. Here https://www.beardeddragon.org/threads/a-cozy-place.270268/ is an image on how I have used a branch to make a cave more attractive due to the now narrower entrance, and my dragon instantly had chosen the cave as an additional safe sleeping spot once modified with the branch. Before, without the branch, he only used it for resting during the day but not for sleeping.


Agree

Yes he did try to eat it the first day he was in there he quickly ignored it however and ive been tong feeding him greens just fine so it’s not necessarily something I’ve worried about. I have however considered getting rid of it because I don’t think it fits the vibe I’m going for and I’m preparing to make his set up bioactive so I definitely appreciate the advice! The heating pad isn’t very large and it’s under the mountain on his hot side and it doesn’t seem to negatively affect the temperature gradient?

I’ve been looking at those branches in store as well, you’ve got a very handsome boy

 

[KarrieRee]

If your screen on the tank is a fine mesh I would recommend getting it unobstructed - the screen will block approx 30% of the UVB rays - distance should be 12-15 inches directly above the basking decor piece

 

[petrodragonicapocalypse]

If your screen on the tank is a fine mesh I would recommend getting it unobstructed - the screen will block approx 30% of the UVB rays - distance should be 12-15 inches directly above the basking decor piece

Oh I took care of that a little while ago! I cut out a rectangle in the mesh and glued the T5 hood into it! It’s very sturdy.

 

[NickAVD]

The heating pad isn’t very large and it’s under the mountain on his hot side and it doesn’t seem to negatively affect the temperature gradient?

There is one more nuance.
Bearded dragons do not feel heat so well with their receptors on their belly. And if the mat accumulates too much heat, they can get burned.
I use a mat for containers with roaches and I saw what the mat is capable of when I accidentally left a piece of polystyrene foam on it (it was a strip a couple of inches wide). After half an hour the polystyrene foam melted in the middle because there was no heat transfer into the air underneath it. When I removed the foam, the mat cooled down and became just a little warm again.

 

[petrodragonicapocalypse]

There is one more nuance.
Bearded dragons do not feel heat so well with their receptors on their belly. And if the mat accumulates too much heat, they can get burned.
I use a mat for containers with roaches and I saw what the mat is capable of when I accidentally left a piece of polystyrene foam on it (it was a strip a couple of inches wide). After half an hour the polystyrene foam melted in the middle because there was no heat transfer into the air underneath it. When I removed the foam, the mat cooled down and became just a little warm again.

Interesting on the belly heat, I will say the heating pad isn’t a typical reptile heating pad, it’s something my dad would lay under our cats and it reaches a maximum temperature of 80 degrees. I more so had it under the tank in hopes of it rounding out the heat on the warm side in combination with the heat emitter on top, but what I’m gathering is it’s just kind of a waste of electricity and not doing all that much?

 

[NickAVD]

Interesting on the belly heat, I will say the heating pad isn’t a typical reptile heating pad, it’s something my dad would lay under our cats and it reaches a maximum temperature of 80 degrees. I more so had it under the tank in hopes of it rounding out the heat on the warm side in combination with the heat emitter on top, but what I’m gathering is it’s just kind of a waste of electricity and not doing all that much?

Yes, dragons don't really need mats. They are used to getting all the heat through their backs and have good control over when it's time to stop, which can't be said about their bellies. Yes, in Australia you can see how dragons can warm themselves up at the end of the day on the warm asphalt of the road, but the road cools down and won't be hotter than it is under their bellies, but a mat can.

 

[ChileanTaco]

Yes, in Australia you can see how dragons can warm themselves up at the end of the day on the warm asphalt of the road, but the road cools down and won't be hotter than it is under their bellies, but a mat can.

Agree!
And: In the enclosure, materials should heat up from the lamps, and that's not too much.
When I touch surfaces near the basking spot, they are warm to hot, like a cup of tea I can already drink - but, once the dragon sits there, the surface cools down as it won't get any more heat from the lamp now that surface being under the dragon's belly.

I like the idea of a bioactive setup very much
I can't go fully bioactive as I can't get the springtails and isopods here, but I have natural desert sand as a substrate, live plants, and the only thing made of plastic is a food bowl. Everything looking pretty natural and natural materials as far as possible. I see many benefits of that, i.e. that my dragon can always eat fresh greens from live plants, and also that all those raw surfaces (sand, real stones, real tree bark, twigs...) help him a lot rubbing off shed and cleaning the pores. My dragon never had any problems with shedding or with this femoral pores so far.