Ok, so my little baby, Woodstock (3 months old), has spent her first few days home in a 10 gallon tank with a coil UVB light. Consider it a lesson learned! She is moving into a 20 gallon tank ASAP. My question is, if I have to upgrade her lighting/heating now, what should I get that will satisfy both a 20 gallon tank, and then in the future, a proper adult sized tank?
I was thinking of the 24" reptisun 10.0 with the appropriate fixture, and keeping my dome heat light.
Those should be fine for lighting and warmth in such a small tank. In a 20 gal you can even use a 60w household bulb for the basking light, it's much cheaper than the heat lights from pet stores. Can I ask why you're only upgrading to a 20 gal? It's really cheaper and less stressful on the dragon in the long run if you get a tank you can use his entire life right off the bat. If it's a money issue, I suggest checking craigslist.org to see what people are selling there, you can usually get a pretty good deal.
It's not so much the money as it is the crickets. I thought that if I had a larger enclosure, she'd have a tougher time hunting down crickets with all that space. Is there a way to partition the enclosure (so that even the crickets can't get by) without damaging the tank?
Or you could keep your 10 gallon & feed her in that...
I don't think it makes a big difference whether you pick up a 20g or a larger enclosure right now as long as you feed in something smaller!
What are you planning on keeping her in as an adult? A 40g breeder or were you going to build your own?
Personally, I really like the idea that my beardie is getting some UVB everywhere in the enclosure, so I would actually tend to buy a longer bulb and let it hang over the sides if you do decide to pick up a 20G L