Is a lid necessary?

[TeddyLC]

Like many people, I very quickly got sick of having to move all of my lamps every time I opened up my viv. Are there any concerns with just leaving my viv lidless? I've never seen or heard of a beardie that does much vertical jumping, my UVB strip is going to be installed in the tank tonight so I won't need the hood any longer, and my basking lamp hangs from an adjustable stand. I no longer feed my dragon crickets, so there's no worry about food escaping. I have no cats or dogs or children to get into the viv, and my temperatures seem fine even if the lid is off for a day. Is there anything I'm not thinking about that would warrant using the screen lid?

Thank you! Hopefully I stop feeling constantly obsessive over my little boy and asking a billion questions soon... if I'm this obsessive over my dragon all day every day, it's probably a good thing I'm not planning to have any human children. :lol:

 

[CooperDragon]

As long as you don't have other animals who can get in and the basking areas are too low for him to wander out from it should be fine. The only issue I had was in the fall when box elders and ladybugs invaded the house they'd sometimes crawl in. I often kept the screen top off of my tank.

 

[TeddyLC]

Yes, the basking areas don't reach the top of the enclosure and aren't against the sides of the glass, so he'd have to give a leap to jump out. I just worried that maybe beardies were avid jumpers and I'd missed that detail! So far, the only bugs I've ever seen in my apartment (that I didn't bring in, HA) are flies and spiders... would it hurt him if he accidentally ingested either of those once in a blue moon?

Thank you so much.

 

[CooperDragon]

Occasional fly or spider won't hurt as long as they are normal house bugs and nothing venomous. They do tend to jump so if you take the top off, watch him closely for a few days and see how he reacts. I left the front doors to my tank open sometimes and then I'd hear a *thud* from the next room as Dundee decided to fly off of his basking spot, out the front door, and down to the floor. Not high enough to hurt him but he did have the inclination to escape now and then.

 

[TeddyLC]

We do have brown recluses, hobo spiders, and black widows in my area, but I've never seen one in any of the places I've lived, so I think we should be good. I'm glad Dundee was okay! I'd love to get (or if I have a house one day, make) a tank with front-opening/sliding doors, but I'd definitely be worried about Wade jumping out then. He gets excited to hang out.

 

[CooperDragon]

I would flip if I had those spiders near me! Just keep a close eye on the corners of the tank and it should be fine though. The front opening doors are great. I have one of the glass exo-terra tanks and can lock the front doors. I just left them open sometimes if I was nearby. At the time I really didn't expect Dundee to make a run for it because he was so sick. Never too sick for an adventure though I guess! :wink:

 

[TeddyLC]

Trust me - as somebody quite arachnophobic, I am not exactly thrilled with our local spider population! I think if I can make a cage one day, I'll stick to sliding doors - just one less thing to worry about as opposed to accidentally leaving swinging ones unlocked.
At least he has spirit! ;D