Is my set up okay?

[Joeygachetti1120]

Hello. I recently picked up my beardie (Venom) about two weeks ago and I was just looking to ask around to see if the enclosure I’ve built for him is okay. I have him in a 10 gallon tank at the moment but don’t freak out as it is very temporary and he is only about 6 weeks old and about a little over 6 inches in length. I’m planning on moving him to a 40 gallon tank this weekend. As for the enclosure itself, I’m using eco carpet as substrate to prevent impaction, his basking temperature is about 105 on average and the cool side being 80. (Temps are measured with a RYOBI infrared heat gun as I’ve heard adhesive thermometer can be off as much as 20 degrees) I have two UVB lights that span the rest of his cage other than the heat lamp, one is a reptisun 5.0 and the other is a exo terra 26 watt reptile UVB 150 Humidity stays at a consistent 30% and if it goes over I simply take his water dish out for a little bit and it goes back to normal. At night I just switch his heat lamp off and it drops the temp throughout the cage to about 80 F. I feed him small crickets 3 times a day by dusting them in repti-calcium and just dropping them into the tank for him to hunt down and that usually does the trick until he’s full. I offer him salad daily but he usually leaves it alone unless I drop some very finely sliced apple pieces on his hammock he will eat them, he loves apples. In all it’s about 80% crickets and 20% apples and some kale. I just order small dubia roaches so hopefully he will like them as well. He’s a very active dragon and spends a lot of his time basking with his mouth open and waving his arms at me which I’m pretty sure is a good sign. The only weird thing I’m noticing is that he tends to close one eye for a little bit and then open it back up a couple seconds later. (He does this in and outside the tank) otherwise he seems to be a very active and happy dragon based on everything I have researched I’m pretty sure I’ve provided him with a rather decent life and habitat. Let me know what you think! Thank you!

 

[QuinnF]

Everything sounds great except 1) you need a 10.0 uvb bulb as a 5.0 isn’t enough uvb and it needs to be under the screen because the screen blocks most of the uvb. 2) kale isn’t an ideal staple collard greens squash dandilion greens are better. Everything else sounds good my adult beardie closes his eyes on weird patterns too.

 

[kingofnobbys]

If you have only a small tank , you will need a 26W UVB200 (a high intensity 10%UVB compact)
>> mount UNDER THE MESH LID in either a good reflector dome or an Exo Terra Nano Hood (gives more spread to the UV at high levels (will cover an area of 60cm x 45cm and provide about 180 microW UVB / sq.cm at 8 inches from the bulb)
>> set up the basking spot so it's no more than 8" from the above globe

Diet : 3 meals per day of high quality live insects see this for guidance : viewtopic.php?f=45&t=244111
offer some finely grated or chopped veg and greens each day but don't worry at such a young age if the little hatchling shows no interest in these. It will eat what I needs (I don't restrict mine when young).

 

[Joeygachetti1120]

Thank you so much. I’m gonna pick up a stand and remove the mesh until I get his 40 gallon and I can just install the uvb inside the tank. I didn’t know that the uvb was blocked by the mesh! I skimmed over something about it today on the threads and thought about it but now that you guys have told me I’m definahely going to fix it for my little guy. He shed a couple days after I got him about 2 weeks ago and hes just starting to show signs of shedding again so we’re off to a good start! I appreciate the feedback so much!