Is there anything I can do to better Leo’s husbandry?

[J4ckdaw-]

Hi there

I’m curious, is there anything I could do to better Leo’s husbandry or quality of life? I’m looking for anything, really, that I could improve on. Here is his set up so far:

He is kept in a 40 gallon.

His UVB is a tube lamp by the brand Arcadia, it is a 39w 14% D3+ proT5 set with a reflector and all. It covers the entire tank, placed above the mesh 7-9” away from decor.

His basking bulb is a 100w Flukers light, 8” away from basking decor. Basking temps sit at 95-100 degrees with a humidity of 32-46% measured with a ZooMed digital probe.

UVB is 1 month old, basking bulb is 1/2 a month old. UVB will be replaced in 9 months, basking bulb will be replaced when it burns out. All from reptile specialist store.

Ambient temps on warm side are 86-94 degrees, temps in the middle at 83-91 degrees and temps on the cool side are 76-81 degrees. Night temps are 73 degrees.

Lights are on from 6:30AM to 8:30PM so he gets 14 hours of constant heat and UVB, his first feeding is at 7:00AM and his second at 4:30PM. I’ll go into detail in his diet now:

His diet consists of crickets, black soldier fly larvae, super worms, collard greens, kale and a rotation of peppers and squash. He gladly eats a full salad a day, sometimes even two!

He gets 30 crickets a day over the span of two feedings, they are supplemented with calcium and D3 5x a week and multivitamin 2x a week only once per feeding.

He gets 20-30 BSFL occasionally whenever I have them, 3-5 super worms a day. Each of these are not dusted with any supplements. Treat days are 1x a week.

His salads are misted in the mornings 5x a week, he is bathed 1x a week for 15 minutes in lukewarm water as well. His crickets are gut loaded 24/7, 12 hours prior to feeding.

Their gut load consists of: calcium and multivitamin dusted oats, collard greens, kale, pepper, squash, cucumber, cauliflower leaves, lettuce, apple, blueberry, carrots, etc…

Onto general hygiene: his enclosure is deep cleaned monthly, spot cleaned as needed and has a partial clean weekly with a 50/50 formula of vinegar and water.

Poo is cleaned up asap. Glass is cleaned with reptile friendly enclosure cleaner (it also provides a natural scent which I like about it, Leo seems to as well) as needed.

That’s about it, let me know if I missed anything. What do you guys think? How can I make this better? I want to ensure my guy has the best life he can get

Leo and I say thanks,

 

[KarrieRee]

Hi there

I’m curious, is there anything I could do to better Leo’s husbandry or quality of life? I’m looking for anything, really, that I could improve on. Here is his set up so far:

He is kept in a 40 gallon.

His UVB is a tube lamp by the brand Arcadia, it is a 39w 14% D3+ proT5 set with a reflector and all. It covers the entire tank, placed above the mesh 7-9” away from decor.

His basking bulb is a 100w Flukers light, 8” away from basking decor. Basking temps sit at 95-100 degrees with a humidity of 32-46% measured with a ZooMed digital probe.

UVB is 1 month old, basking bulb is 1/2 a month old. UVB will be replaced in 9 months, basking bulb will be replaced when it burns out. All from reptile specialist store.

Ambient temps on warm side are 86-94 degrees, temps in the middle at 83-91 degrees and temps on the cool side are 76-81 degrees. Night temps are 73 degrees.

Lights are on from 6:30AM to 8:30PM so he gets 14 hours of constant heat and UVB, his first feeding is at 7:00AM and his second at 4:30PM. I’ll go into detail in his diet now:

His diet consists of crickets, black soldier fly larvae, super worms, collard greens, kale and a rotation of peppers and squash. He gladly eats a full salad a day, sometimes even two!

He gets 30 crickets a day over the span of two feedings, they are supplemented with calcium and D3 5x a week and multivitamin 2x a week only once per feeding.

He gets 20-30 BSFL occasionally whenever I have them, 3-5 super worms a day. Each of these are not dusted with any supplements. Treat days are 1x a week.

His salads are misted in the mornings 5x a week, he is bathed 1x a week for 15 minutes in lukewarm water as well. His crickets are gut loaded 24/7, 12 hours prior to feeding.

Their gut load consists of: calcium and multivitamin dusted oats, collard greens, kale, pepper, squash, cucumber, cauliflower leaves, lettuce, apple, blueberry, carrots, etc…

Onto general hygiene: his enclosure is deep cleaned monthly, spot cleaned as needed and has a partial clean weekly with a 50/50 formula of vinegar and water.

Poo is cleaned up asap. Glass is cleaned with reptile friendly enclosure cleaner (it also provides a natural scent which I like about it, Leo seems to as well) as needed.

That’s about it, let me know if I missed anything. What do you guys think? How can I make this better? I want to ensure my guy has the best life he can get

Leo and I say thanks,
View attachment 83903

Get a 120 gallon tank

 

[Hazelthebeardeddragon]

Hi there

I’m curious, is there anything I could do to better Leo’s husbandry or quality of life? I’m looking for anything, really, that I could improve on. Here is his set up so far:

He is kept in a 40 gallon.

His UVB is a tube lamp by the brand Arcadia, it is a 39w 14% D3+ proT5 set with a reflector and all. It covers the entire tank, placed above the mesh 7-9” away from decor.

His basking bulb is a 100w Flukers light, 8” away from basking decor. Basking temps sit at 95-100 degrees with a humidity of 32-46% measured with a ZooMed digital probe.

UVB is 1 month old, basking bulb is 1/2 a month old. UVB will be replaced in 9 months, basking bulb will be replaced when it burns out. All from reptile specialist store.

Ambient temps on warm side are 86-94 degrees, temps in the middle at 83-91 degrees and temps on the cool side are 76-81 degrees. Night temps are 73 degrees.

Lights are on from 6:30AM to 8:30PM so he gets 14 hours of constant heat and UVB, his first feeding is at 7:00AM and his second at 4:30PM. I’ll go into detail in his diet now:

His diet consists of crickets, black soldier fly larvae, super worms, collard greens, kale and a rotation of peppers and squash. He gladly eats a full salad a day, sometimes even two!

He gets 30 crickets a day over the span of two feedings, they are supplemented with calcium and D3 5x a week and multivitamin 2x a week only once per feeding.

He gets 20-30 BSFL occasionally whenever I have them, 3-5 super worms a day. Each of these are not dusted with any supplements. Treat days are 1x a week.

His salads are misted in the mornings 5x a week, he is bathed 1x a week for 15 minutes in lukewarm water as well. His crickets are gut loaded 24/7, 12 hours prior to feeding.

Their gut load consists of: calcium and multivitamin dusted oats, collard greens, kale, pepper, squash, cucumber, cauliflower leaves, lettuce, apple, blueberry, carrots, etc…

Onto general hygiene: his enclosure is deep cleaned monthly, spot cleaned as needed and has a partial clean weekly with a 50/50 formula of vinegar and water.

Poo is cleaned up asap. Glass is cleaned with reptile friendly enclosure cleaner (it also provides a natural scent which I like about it, Leo seems to as well) as needed.

That’s about it, let me know if I missed anything. What do you guys think? How can I make this better? I want to ensure my guy has the best life he can get

Leo and I say thanks,
View attachment 83903

How old is he? If over a year definitely get a 120 gallon and only feed once a day. If he’s still a baby the 40 gallon and twice a day is ok for now. Make sure your UVB is placed according to the box the light comes in. It will tell you how far away to place it etc. you don’t need it to completely cover the tank as you want him to have a completely shaded dark spot. If he’s a dragon that normally keeps the tank clean, you don’t have to clean that often. However if he’s normally dirty then your good with that. You don’t need to feed calcium with D3 everyday as you can overdose them on it and you have the correct uvb. Instead do calcium without D3 and give calcium with D3 2-3 times a week instead of 5.

 

[J4ckdaw-]

Get a 120 gallon tank

That’s the next step, unfortunately I won’t be able to get a 120 gallon but I’ll get somewhere close to that.

It will have to fit the dimensions of my dresser which I am working out as we speak.

Since he won’t get as big of a tank, I plan on turning part of my room into a reptile safe free-roam for him.

 

[Hazelthebeardeddragon]

That’s the next step, unfortunately I won’t be able to get a 120 gallon but I’ll get somewhere close to that.

It will have to fit the dimensions of my dresser which I am working out as we speak.

Since he won’t get as big of a tank, I plan on turning part of my room into a reptile safe free-roam for him.

Anything over 75 is ok but try no less than that. Make sure your getting a good light gradient. I know it takes time and the safe free-roam is very good.

 

[J4ckdaw-]

How old is he? If over a year definitely get a 120 gallon and only feed once a day. If he’s still a baby the 40 gallon and twice a day is ok for now. Make sure your UVB is placed according to the box the light comes in. It will tell you how far away to place it etc. you don’t need it to completely cover the tank as you want him to have a completely shaded dark spot. If he’s a dragon that normally keeps the tank clean, you don’t have to clean that often. However if he’s normally dirty then your good with that. You don’t need to feed calcium with D3 everyday as you can overdose them on it and you have the correct uvb. Instead do calcium without D3 and give calcium with D3 2-3 times a week instead of 5.

He is 7 months old, though, a bit big for his age a bigger enclosure is my next step, I’m working out proper dimensions to fit my dresser as we speak. A 120 won’t work out.

By his entire tank, I mean it covers that full length. He has several hides in case he feels he is getting too much, but I’m not concerned as he has no negative reactions.

He is VERY messy and so are his crickets, they seem to poo as soon as I put them in his tank for feeding time! As you can imagine, it isn’t a pretty sight. As for the D3…

You have a good point, but I am cautious with just how much I dust his crickets. They have a light coating once a day AND I’ve been doing that for 4 months without issue.

I can certainly cut back if you see it as a potential issue, thanks so much for this by the way! I’ll certainly put some thought into what you’ve said

 

[Hazelthebeardeddragon]

He is 7 months old, though, a bit big for his age a bigger enclosure is my next step, I’m working out proper dimensions to fit my dresser as we speak. A 120 won’t work out.

By his entire tank, I mean it covers that full length. He has several hides in case he feels he is getting too much, but I’m not concerned as he has no negative reactions.

He is VERY messy and so are his crickets, they seem to poo as soon as I put them in his tank for feeding time! As you can imagine, it isn’t a pretty sight. As for the D3…

You have a good point, but I am cautious with just how much I dust his crickets. They have a light coating once a day AND I’ve been doing that for 4 months without issue.

I can certainly cut back if you see it as a potential issue, thanks so much for this by the way! I’ll certainly put some thought into what you’ve said

Yes I personally would cut back on the D3. You can dust the crickets lightly but twice a day. My feeding schedule when it comes to dusting is
Monday-Wednesday & Saturday : Calcium (no D3)
Thursday: multivitamin (no D3)
Friday: calcium with D3
Sunday: same multivitamin as Thursday but mixed with calcium with D3

If your tank hangs off the dresser a little bit that’s fine. Since 75 is still on the smaller side please try not to go any smaller than that. I personally have a play pen and I put my bugs in there during feeding time and sit in there with my beardie and watch him eat (however I feed bsfl). So I don’t feed inside the tank. You can do what you do but I personally like having him out and watching him. You really only need a minimum of 2 hides however I have about 4. If you see any hide that you believe he won’t fit in and doesn’t go in, I’d remove it. I know you mean it fits that whole length but you only need it to fit about 3/4 of the length of the tank (your ok for it fitting all). I personally don’t feed crickets as they are annoying but if you aren’t comfortable changing or just don’t want to that’s ok!

 

[J4ckdaw-]

Yes I personally would cut back on the D3. You can dust the crickets lightly but twice a day. My feeding schedule when it comes to dusting is
Monday-Wednesday & Saturday : Calcium (no D3)
Thursday: multivitamin (no D3)
Friday: calcium with D3
Sunday: same multivitamin as Thursday but mixed with calcium with D3

If your tank hangs off the dresser a little bit that’s fine. Since 75 is still on the smaller side please try not to go any smaller than that. I personally have a play pen and I put my bugs in there during feeding time and sit in there with my beardie and watch him eat (however I feed bsfl). So I don’t feed inside the tank. You can do what you do but I personally like having him out and watching him. You really only need a minimum of 2 hides however I have about 4. If you see any hide that you believe he won’t fit in and doesn’t go in, I’d remove it. I know you mean it fits that whole length but you only need it to fit about 3/4 of the length of the tank (your ok for it fitting all). I personally don’t feed crickets as they are annoying but if you aren’t comfortable changing or just don’t want to that’s ok!

A 120 gallon would hang 1ft off my dresser on either side, due to placement I won’t be able to move it either. My dresser is 6ft long and 2ft wide so I might have a custom made enclosure if I can’t find one that fits.

I’m going to continue to feed inside his enclosure because crickets are hard to keep track of AND they can climb smooth surfaces, I already have enough of them crawling around in my room

I don’t exactly have an option when it comes to feeders, dubia roaches are illegal here, nowhere near me sells discoid roaches, silkworms are unreasonable expensive… A good thing about crickets is that they are easy to breed!

He has 3 hides, he fits inside all of them. What are some symptoms of a D3 overdose?He hasn’t had any strange behaviour and I’ve been using calcium w/ D3 for 10+ years of beardie care, I simply don’t have that issue with my current care strategy.

I’ll talk to my vet about this, for now I’m going to stay with my own methods of care. I really do appreciate your effort, I can tell your beardies are in great hands

 

[Hazelthebeardeddragon]

A 120 gallon would hang 1ft off my dresser on either side, due to placement I won’t be able to move it either. My dresser is 6ft long and 2ft wide so I might have a custom made enclosure if I can’t find one that fits.

I’m going to continue to feed inside his enclosure because crickets are hard to keep track of AND they can climb smooth surfaces, I already have enough of them crawling around in my room

I don’t exactly have an option when it comes to feeders, dubia roaches are illegal here, nowhere near me sells discoid roaches, silkworms are unreasonable expensive… A good thing about crickets is that they are easy to breed!

He has 3 hides, he fits inside all of them. What are some symptoms of a D3 overdose?He hasn’t had any strange behaviour and I’ve been using calcium w/ D3 for 10+ years of beardie care, I simply don’t have that issue with my current care strategy.

I’ll talk to my vet about this, for now I’m going to stay with my own methods of care. I really do appreciate your effort, I can tell your beardies are in great hands

That’s ok. I’m new , I’m just doing what I heard and I was told they can overdose on D3 so that’s just what I’d like to say. You could be right and I could be wrong but idk. How would a 120 gallon hang off? They are 4x2x2, how would it hang off the dresser ? (Sorry if that sounds like I was having an attitude I’m not I promise lol)

 

[J4ckdaw-]

That’s ok. I’m new , I’m just doing what I heard and I was told they can overdose on D3 so that’s just what I’d like to say. You could be right and I could be wrong but idk. How would a 120 gallon hang off? They are 4x2x2, how would it hang off the dresser ? (Sorry if that sounds like I was having an attitude I’m not I promise lol)

Isn’t a 120 gallon 8ft in length? Haha- I may be pulling a no brainer here, a 40 gallon enclosure is 4ft so I’d assume it’s that much bigger. I’ll have to look up the dimensions.

Edit: never mind, a 40 gallon is 3 ft… I guess it is getting kind of late, after all I do have a field hockey tournament…

 

[Hazelthebeardeddragon]

Isn’t a 120 gallon 8ft in length? Haha- I may be pulling a no brainer here, a 40 gallon enclosure is 4ft so I’d assume it’s that much bigger. I’ll have to look up the dimensions.

A 120 gallon is 4 foot long, 2 foot wide, 2 foot high.

A 40 gallon is 3 foot long

 

[Hazelthebeardeddragon]

Isn’t a 120 gallon 8ft in length? Haha- I may be pulling a no brainer here, a 40 gallon enclosure is 4ft so I’d assume it’s that much bigger. I’ll have to look up the dimensions.

Edit: never mind, a 40 gallon is 3 ft… I guess it is getting kind of late, after all I do have a field hockey tournament…

 

[J4ckdaw-]

A 120 gallon is 4 foot long, 2 foot wide, 2 foot high.

A 40 gallon is 3 foot long

Oh- wow, I got waaaay off! I’d expected it to be so much bigger! Leo would be almost half the length of that (20”)

 

[Hazelthebeardeddragon]

Oh- wow, I got waaaay off! I’d expected it to be so much bigger! Leo would be almost half the length of that (20”)

Yes, 120 is minimum so bigger is better but if you can’t 120 is best

 

[Axil]

Glad a 120g easily fits your dresser. A 6x2x2 is 180g and would perfectly fit your footprint.

Just keep in mind a bigger enclosure is going to require larger lighting and heating elements and of course is more expensive. If you can manage all of that I'm sure Leo will appreciate the extra space.

Whether you go 120 or even larger it sounds like it's time to make the switch, if he's 20" already he's probably feeling pretty cramped in a 40g enclosure.

Love the picture btw, Leo is a handsome Dragon

*edit* just noticed your mentioned your uvb spans the length of the tank? With a 40g that means you have a 36" fixture? The general recommendation is to have the uvb span 33-50% of the tank.

Bearded Dragons benefit from being able to choose thier uvb exposure and you're aiming to create a gradient similar to the way you do for heat.

Given that your existing light should fit well in a 180g (6ft long) enclosure if you choose to go that route.