My bearded dragon

[TheBiscuitBeardie]

I'm new to this community and it seems really nice I always have found myself coming here for answers even though I watched trillions of videos before I got him. I'm a first time bearded dragon owner and Biscuit my beardie is 2.5 years old he's a foot and a couple of inches long and I have a 55 gallon fish tank for him and I want to get him something bigger. He's active when he is out and about but when I put him in his enclosure he's very lazy he had a hammock but it broke so I'm planning on getting him a new one. I have a few minor questions even after I clip his nails they still seem very sharp and I don't wanna try to hard because i don't wanna hurt him. Is there a way to make them less sharp. Ik they are gonna be sharp but they like really dig in. I wanna see what you guys think if he looks healthy he looks fine to me but I want some other opinions. I just wanted to introduce biscuit and I to the community. Also could someone give me links to find a decent sized tank for him.Heres pictures of him baby sized and now!

The last one he was constipated at the time. ?

 

[SHBailey]

He looks good

Hammocks can sometimes cause injury, so that might not be worth replacing.

I'm afraid to trim my beardie's nails too (they're so tiny), so I get it done at the vet

It can also help if you have some textured surfaces in their enclosure (like tile, for example) that they can wear their nails down on.

 

[TheBiscuitBeardie]

He looks good

Hammocks can sometimes cause injury, so that might not be worth replacing.

I'm afraid to trim my beardie's nails too (they're so tiny), so I get it done at the vet

It can also help if you have some textured surfaces in their enclosure (like tile, for example) that they can wear their nails down on.

Okay thank you I have the reptile carpet so I'll give it a try!instead if the hammock what would you recommend for me to use currently I have a log set up secured by his lil hideout spot and the tank wall.

 

[SHBailey]

There's no one right way to set up your beardie's enclosure, but I like the idea of providing a nice wide basking platform than enables him to stretch out under the heat and UV lights when he wants to warm up and make Vitamin D, with some sort of a ramp for him to climb up and back down if he wants to cool off. One of the most important things is to try to make sure that things in his enclosure are secure and safe so that nothing can fall on him or snag his claws, no sharp objects, etc.

Others around here can give you more expert and specific advice than I can about heating, lighting, and temperature control, especially if you are going to get him a larger tank, but the important things are to make sure he has optimum temperatures (around 95-105 F at the basking area, 80-85 F at the cool end in the daytime, and 65-70 F at night) and adequate UVB (Reptisun 10.0 T5 HO linear tube is often recommended). Also good accurate thermometer(s) so you can measure the temperatures, because an enclosure with a different size and shape will change things, and you will probably have to adjust the locations of the lamps, as well as maybe go to higher wattages for a larger tank. A UVB meter is a nice thing to have, but if you can't afford one then be sure to follow the manufacturer's instructions in terms of minimum and maximum distance from the basking area for the UV light, as well as how often to replace the tube.

Hope this helps a little until someone more experienced decides to chime in...

 

[TheBiscuitBeardie]

There's no one right way to set up your beardie's enclosure, but I like the idea of providing a nice wide basking platform than enables him to stretch out under the heat and UV lights when he wants to warm up and make Vitamin D, with some sort of a ramp for him to climb up and back down if he wants to cool off. One of the most important things is to try to make sure that things in his enclosure are secure and safe so that nothing can fall on him or snag his claws, no sharp objects, etc.

Others around here can give you more expert and specific advice than I can about heating, lighting, and temperature control, especially if you are going to get him a larger tank, but the important things are to make sure he has optimum temperatures (around 95-105 F at the basking area, 80-85 F at the cool end in the daytime, and 65-70 F at night) and adequate UVB (Reptisun 10.0 T5 HO linear tube is often recommended). Also good accurate thermometer(s) so you can measure the temperatures, because an enclosure with a different size and shape will change things, and you will probably have to adjust the locations of the lamps, as well as maybe go to higher wattages for a larger tank. A UVB meter is a nice thing to have, but if you can't afford one then be sure to follow the manufacturer's instructions in terms of minimum and maximum distance from the basking area for the UV light, as well as how often to replace the tube.

Hope this helps a little until someone more experienced decides to chime in...

thank you. The only reason I would like a bigger tank for is I feel like it's not wide enough for him and I have a temporary set up till I figure out something big for him to sprawl on I just have a log but I need to change it because it could snag his claws I have not seen him do it before but I don't wanna risk it here's a picture

 

[SHBailey]

That looks like a pretty nice setup, and if it's the same standard 55 gallon tank that we have our snake in, it would be 4 feet long by 1 foot wide (I forget the vertical dimension). If your beardie is 14 inches long from nose to tail tip, he would probably still be able to turn around in it because his tail is somewhat flexible, so I'd say that a bigger tank would be nice, but probably is not absolutely urgent.

We have a 125 gallon aquarium tank (6 feet long, 18 inches wide, and around 2 feet high) for our bearded dragon, who is about 17 inches long. (It replaced the couch in our living room :roll: ) Plenty of space for the beardie, but heating all of that space to optimum bearded dragon temperatures does nasty things to the electric bill, and the vertical dimension is a little too high for me to reach him if he's on the bottom of the tank in one of the far corners, but fortunately he spends most of his time on the basking platform where I can reach him easily, and my husband is a little taller and a lot thinner than I am, so he can reach him just about anywhere he goes if necessary. We considered several different ready made sizes and shapes when we bought the tank, and decided this was the best option without having to go to something custom made and therefore more expensive. It also took two guys to haul it in here; glass aquariums that size are not light, so you have to make sure that whatever furniture you have them sitting on is sturdy enough to bear the weight. My husband and I are no longer strong enough to lift the beardie's tank or even the 55 gallon one, which weighs about 80 pounds as I recall, so we'd have to get professional help if we ever need to move them again. So I suppose it is possible to have an enclosure that's too big, and we're almost there

It's hard to tell from your photo, but what kind of thermometer are you using? Do you have something that can tell you what the temperature is right at the basking site?

 

[TheBiscuitBeardie]

That looks like a pretty nice setup, and if it's the same standard 55 gallon tank that we have our snake in, it would be 4 feet long by 1 foot wide (I forget the vertical dimension). If your beardie is 14 inches long from nose to tail tip, he would probably still be able to turn around in it because his tail is somewhat flexible, so I'd say that a bigger tank would be nice, but probably is not absolutely urgent.

We have a 125 gallon aquarium tank (6 feet long, 18 inches wide, and around 2 feet high) for our bearded dragon, who is about 17 inches long. (It replaced the couch in our living room :roll: ) Plenty of space for the beardie, but heating all of that space to optimum bearded dragon temperatures does nasty things to the electric bill, and the vertical dimension is a little too high for me to reach him if he's on the bottom of the tank in one of the far corners, but fortunately he spends most of his time on the basking platform where I can reach him easily, and my husband is a little taller and a lot thinner than I am, so he can reach him just about anywhere he goes if necessary. We considered several different ready made sizes and shapes when we bought the tank, and decided this was the best option without having to go to something custom made and therefore more expensive. It also took two guys to haul it in here; glass aquariums that size are not light, so you have to make sure that whatever furniture you have them sitting on is sturdy enough to bear the weight. My husband and I are no longer strong enough to lift the beardie's tank or even the 55 gallon one, which weighs about 80 pounds as I recall, so we'd have to get professional help if we ever need to move them again. So I suppose it is possible to have an enclosure that's too big, and we're almost there

It's hard to tell from your photo, but what kind of thermometer are you using? Do you have something that can tell you what the temperature is right at the basking site?

My dad and I was to custom make one. I feel like he would be happier in one that wider.? The exact dimensions are 4 feet long and 1 ft wide Biscuit is 15 inches just measured this morning and the thermometer I currently use ran out of battery's so it was not in there in the picture. I actually got the tank for free along with some hermit crabs we still take care of the hermit crabs but we had a smaller enclosue to move them into the one biscuit is using is a 55 gallon and that's a really big tank that you have LOL and these are the lights and thermometers I use

This one has the battery's out

These are the ones that came with the hermit crab

The light bulbs the regular one is just a. Average light bulb then the basking light is this one

 

[SHBailey]

The thermometer that needs the battery looks like it might be your best bet for accuracy. (BTW that is an incredibly cute picture of him sitting on that yellow fuzzy thing with it ) The kind that stick on the walls of the tank are notorious for not giving you good info.

If you're using the coil bulb for UV, most people will tell you that those aren't the best and some will say they can even be harmful. For heat, just about any kind of bulbs that put out white light will do as long as they get the tank up to the right temperatures for the basking area as well as for the warmer and cooler sides, and as long as they're next to a good source of UVB. I use plain old cheap incandescent light bulbs with dimmer switches so I can adjust the heat output by dialing them up and down, alongside the linear tube for UV. But that's not the only way to do it. As long as the beardie is warm enough to be comfortable and digest his food, and getting enough UVB to make vitamin D and enough UVA to see the world in "full color" (they can see into the ultraviolet), he should be able to stay happy and healthy light- and heat-wise.

 

[TheBiscuitBeardie]

The thermometer that needs the battery looks like it might be your best bet for accuracy. (BTW that is an incredibly cute picture of him sitting on that yellow fuzzy thing with it ) The kind that stick on the walls of the tank are notorious for not giving you good info.

If you're using the coil bulb for UV, most people will tell you that those aren't the best and some will say they can even be harmful. For heat, just about any kind of bulbs that put out white light will do as long as they get the tank up to the right temperatures for the basking area as well as for the warmer and cooler sides, and as long as they're next to a good source of UVB. I use plain old cheap incandescent light bulbs with dimmer switches so I can adjust the heat output by dialing them up and down, alongside the linear tube for UV. But that's not the only way to do it. As long as the beardie is warm enough to be comfortable and digest his food, and getting enough UVB to make vitamin D and enough UVA to see the world in "full color" (they can see into the ultraviolet), he should be able to stay happy and healthy light- and heat-wise.

The right one is for basking,should I change the left one. What should I do for the lighting?

 

[SHBailey]

If you're planning for sure to move him into a larger tank very soon, then the setup you already have will probably be ok for the time being. Otherwise, I would recommend getting a Zoo Med Reptisun T5 HO linear tube, but the problem with that for your current setup is that the hood is 4 inches wide and many of the round reflectors that go with the basking lamps are 8 inches wide or more, so you're pretty tight with your 12 inch wide tank. (I just played around with trying to see if all that would fit on top of my snake's tank, which is apparently the same size and shape as yours, and no go. I have 3 lamps in a row to maintain heat and light for him, but his heating and lighting needs are different from those of the bearded dragon, so I haven't had to worry about squeezing a UVB hood on to the top of his tank alongside the other lamps.)

Another option that might work for you with your 55 gallon tank (if you end up keeping your beardie in it for a while) is the mercury vapor bulbs, which provide heat and UV all in one bulb, but I have no experience with them because I've never used them. If I understand correctly, one of the disadvantages is that they don't work with a dimmer switch and they run very hot, so the only way you can control your temperatures is to adjust the distance of the bulb from the basking site, although I think there are a very limited number of different wattages available. I'm sorry I can't tell you much more about that option, but there are a number of more experienced people on this website who should be able to advise you if you want to go that route.

Once you've got adequate heat and UV at the basking area and/or at the warm end, it's also nice for a bearded dragon if you can light up the whole tank all the way from one end to the other during the daylight hours, but you can use just about any kind of white light for that, and shoot for temperatures in the low 80s (F) at the cool end.

There are some articles on this website (sidebar to the right) on lighting that you should read (if you haven't already.) :study:

 

[TheBiscuitBeardie]

If you're planning for sure to move him into a larger tank very soon, then the setup you already have will probably be ok for the time being. Otherwise, I would recommend getting a Zoo Med Reptisun T5 HO linear tube, but the problem with that for your current setup is that the hood is 4 inches wide and many of the round reflectors that go with the basking lamps are 8 inches wide or more, so you're pretty tight with your 12 inch wide tank. (I just played around with trying to see if all that would fit on top of my snake's tank, which is apparently the same size and shape as yours, and no go. I have 3 lamps in a row to maintain heat and light for him, but his heating and lighting needs are different from those of the bearded dragon, so I haven't had to worry about squeezing a UVB hood on to the top of his tank alongside the other lamps.)

Another option that might work for you with your 55 gallon tank (if you end up keeping your beardie in it for a while) is the mercury vapor bulbs, which provide heat and UV all in one bulb, but I have no experience with them because I've never used them. If I understand correctly, one of the disadvantages is that they don't work with a dimmer switch and they run very hot, so the only way you can control your temperatures is to adjust the distance of the bulb from the basking site, although I think there are a very limited number of different wattages available. I'm sorry I can't tell you much more about that option, but there are a number of more experienced people on this website who should be able to advise you if you want to go that route.

Once you've got adequate heat and UV at the basking area and/or at the warm end, it's also nice for a bearded dragon if you can light up the whole tank all the way from one end to the other during the daylight hours, but you can use just about any kind of white light for that, and shoot for temperatures in the low 80s (F) at the cool end.

There are some articles on this website (sidebar to the right) on lighting that you should read (if you haven't already.) :study:

okay, thank you so I'll but a mercury vapor bulb and put it on when the regular light bulb is.

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

You have gotten great advice so far.
What sized tank are you building for your dragon?
Which Mercury vapor bulb are you considering? It will depend on the size of the tank & where you are able to place it as to what wattage you get.
Most of the times, the 100 watt bulb needs to be 10-12 inches away & a 160 watt should be at least 14 inches away. Mercury vapor bulbs are terrific ways to light up & heat up the larger tanks as long as they are placed correctly.
Do you primarily use a digital probe to measure the temperatures?

Tracie

 

[Drache613]

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