I would definitely cover the sides and back of the cage. I used paper towels and it worked well. Again, I guess it depends on the baby but I first started off with a partition on Harleys cage which is 4ft long and then left it like that for 2 days, then just opened it up full cause she was wandering all over. When I opened it, she had a hayday. She loved it and would wander all over and then come back to her basking bricks when she wanted to warm up and then off and running around again once she was "charged up". Only thing is if you feed crickets, it can be a pain since they hop all over. I fed Harley little dubias and phoenix worms so the big cage wasn't an issue as far as her finding food.
And the water dish isn't so much about raising the humidity especially in such an open cage, its more about the fact that water dishes are breeding grounds for bacteria and especially so if your dragon poops in it and you don't catch the whole day cause of work/school. Plus like I said, I've never really heard of a dragon
drinking from a standing water dish. Harley drank 1 time from her
bath water and that was the day after I got her. Then a few times she would drink from an eyedropper but again that was when she was 6-8 weeks old. After that she never drank water. She got all her liquids from bugs and veggies.
But again as for portioning, you will just have to play it by ear. If anything, you could start with a partition(I used cardboard cut to fit and then a little packing tape on the top of each side to keep it in place) and if your dragon seems content and happy, open it up and see how they react. Me personally, I never really believed anything was too big since after all they live in an area much bigger than a 55 gallon tank. The only problem is them finding food but a babies cage should be minimalist to begin with. Paper towel floor, a simple basking spot, no hides since you want a social dragon, not an antisocial dragon, a hammock and a log or 2 for them to jump and climb on. Once they get 8+ months, then you can go all out and deck them in something like an AP or Showcase or some other fancy cage with all the logs, rocks, plants and fancy stuff. That's just my opinion and so far it's worked great for Harley. She is an almost 9 month old fat lap lizard who ive had since she was 6 weeks old :lol: Anyways good luck and if you are questioning the beardie bites, I say throw em out. Better safe than sorry and especially for a few dollar jar vs the price of a vet visit.