Hopefully upgrading Enclosure Sizes soon..

[Quelaag]

I'm hopefully going to be getting a 40 or 55 gallon enclosure soon, but I have a few questions. Firstly, is it wise to go ahead and put my 4 month-old Beardie in a larger tank? He's currently in a 20 gallon, but he's almost a foot long and I feel he could benefit from the upgrade. Or would it overwhelm him too much?

Aside from that, I can't help but notice all of the gorgeous enclosures people have. Mine looks so plain in comparison! Any tips on creating the ideal enclosure? Also any tips on finding cost friendly decor/essentials would be awesome! Right now his current enclosure contains a basking rock that he can hide under, a stick that he can climb on (Though he's getting too big for it, sadly), a little bridge he likes sleeping under, and his veggies dish. He also uses a 100Watt Powersun UVB. Any other suggestions or change suggestions would be wonderful! Though the Powersun I plan on using for a while longer before trying any other brands, but I am not opposed to using a second basking light for temperature regulating purposes if I need to!

Thank you all in advance.

 

[Taterbug]

At four months/that size I doubt he would be overwhlemed unless he is unusally shy.

My personal advice on enclosures is go with the biggest you can. 36x18x18 is a good starting size but if you can get bigger and still keep this minimums I doubt you would regret it.

I like to provide as many options to climb on as possible. A variety of perches close enough to the UVB but at different temps, perches at different heights and temps give options for UVB and heat exposure. Mesh hammocks can give shade areas. Use vertical as well as horizontal space as they like to climb. If at all possible mount the UVB directly overhead and centered in the tank. It will give you more options down the road and is safer for the dragon than minuting it on the wall.

I don't like to buy reptile furniture since it's over priced. I collect rocks and hardwood sticks from outside. Paving stones, bricks and cinder blocks can make cheep hides, perches, climbing things. I wound string around my sticks since the bark is too smooth. I zip tie stick together to keep them stable/sturdy and to make them wider as Pepper grows. I make my hammocks out of mesh fabric from dollar store laundry bags. Command hooks are great to hang hammocks or other decorations. My food and water bowls are plates/catfood bowls from the dollar store. I use Pyrex storage bowls for feeding roaches.

 

[CooperDragon]

I agree with Taterbug. Only thing I'd add is that if you collect furniture from outside, you'll want to make sure it's cleaned up before going into the tank. With rocks and wood, I'd usually rinse them off really well with water then throw them into the oven on low for 20 minutes or so (keep a close eye on them) to kill any bacteria/critters that may be lurking. Let them cool off, then put them in the tank. I did the same to sanitize tiles. Anything plastic or otherwise meltable/burnable in the oven I'd soak in vinegar/water mixture to sanitize and then rinse and air dry. There are a lot of options for tank decorations, be creative and have fun with it. You don't need to spend a ton of money if you don't want to.

 

[Quelaag]

Thank you both for your awesome advice! The main reason I'm going with a bit smaller for now is I need to make room for a bigger enclosure. Right now I'm looking into replacing my dresser (which holds Haru's current tank) with a much bigger one so it can hopefully hold a bigger enclosure AND provide more storage space for myself. However, that will take a bit longer than I'd like it too and it's not fair for Haru to be stuck in a little 20 Gallon tank for too long so I'm going to at least upgrade a little bigger in the meantime while I save up for better stuff and rearrange my room. Also I hope it doesn't seem like I'm dissing your advice, Taterbug and it is definitely wise to suggest that I go bigger. In fact, If I could right now I would definitely go bigger to avoid having to upgrade again in the future. I really wish I could luck out like one of my friends and find a 200 Gallon tank for 80 dollars. Sure, I don't currently have room for a 200 Gallon, but for 80 dollars I'd buy one in a heartbeat! On the bright side, having multiple tanks raises the potential for future reptiles buddies.

It rained today, so I sadly didn't get to go outside to look for potential things for his enclosure. I will definitely sanitize everything. Also would paving stones from Lowes work as potential basking spots? Or would that be too hot for him? Also I've seen some Vivs with plant decor, would the fake plants you see for crafts at Walmart work? Or could that harm Haru? I'm mostly worried about him trying to eat it. I don't think Beardies can see in color (can they?) but he somehow knows the shade of green and associates most green things with his food-- I once caught him licking at some green stars on one of my socks because I guess he thought they were veggies?

And right now I'm stalking the DIY section for ideas, haha.

Also making a hammock sounds like a lot of fun! Does it have to be a particular type of fabric?I know fleece is a big no-no for them because of their claws, but I have a fabric stash from sewing over the years, surely something in there might work.

 

[Taterbug]

I totally understand, we don't all have the opportunity to make/buy a huge palace. It's great you are upgrading, too often they do get stuck in the "stater tank" for way too long.

Pavers are fine, you'll be taking your temps anyway and they don't heat up any faster/more than any other stone. Only concern in a glass tank may be weight.

Fake plants are fine, but yes it's possible he may try to eat them. You'd need to take them out of he does. I think they can see color, they lack red cones in the eyes (which is why it was believed red light are ok I think) but it seems like actually they have pretty good vision and can probably see colors we can't.

I think any regular old fabric would be fine, like i said, I use that mesh bag stuff, no problem with snags it just really flimsy.

 

[Quelaag]

So I got his enclosure today and my fiance and I are planning out what we want to do to his enclosure. We're not going to go too crazy because we still want him to have enough floor space, but we definitely want to give him more things to climb on.

I think he loves his new enclosure though. I mentioned my recent issues with him in a thread I made where he's been hiding under his rock a lot lately. I thought maybe it was the fact he is about to shed, but I'm starting to think that maybe he might have been a tad depressed over the fact that he was getting too big for his enclosure-- not sure if that's possible. But now he's super perky and exploring everywhere, jumping on his rock and on his stick. He's already eating in his enclosure which I assume means he's not too stressed over the change. I looked into getting him a 55 gallon, but alas, the only 55 gallons they had were more tall than they were wide. Hopefully the 40G will hold up for a while, while I work on making room for a much bigger enclosure. I might even be able to get him a custom made one.

And I'll definitely monitor the weight of whatever paver/rock I get. And I think I should have super sturdy fabric that would be perfect for a hammock. Hm... I just need to drag out my fabric stash.

 

[Taterbug]

They do appreciate space, and I'm sure it's very uncomfortable for them to feel cramped, I'm glad to hear he perked right up! Have fun decorating!

The 40 should last you a while, and give you plenty of time to plan and save for a big cage if you want one. Sometimes big ones show up on craigslist too, just never when the time is right it seems.

 

[Quelaag]

Thank you! We're excited, my fiance's already planning out making him a grout-based platform so we'll see how that turns out. And yeah, he's definitely acting a lot better, the only frustrating thing about this new enclosure is figuring out new heating settings. We've got a second basking light on him now, but it needs to be adjusted to where it's not to unbearably hot, but without it, it's too cold so we're working on messing with that. Otherwise so far so good!

And I'll definitely be browsing Craigslist often. If I can snag a deal, I'll buy the enclosure and keep it in the garage until I have room for it.

 

[newbeedragon]

Not sure where u live but if u have a pet Co near buy u this weekend they have a sale on tanks ... A dollar a gallon ...just thought u may be interested...