New member doing setup research before owning

[Bigbearwoodworks]

I've been doing a lot of reading the past couple weeks some bias (pet product care sheets) some pretty informative and I think I know at least enough to get started. I'd like to post my setup to see what you guys think.
I will most likely get a baby from a local family owned pet store and yes I know from what I read babies can be started in a big tank, but Im still in the process of building my custom terrarium 4x2x2 all wood framing front sliding glass doors and... Well I'll stop there I could keep going on about that like the name suggests I really enjoy wood working. For now I'll be using a twenty gallon that I've had for a while, I've got the full screen top, two porcelain fixture dome lights one for 65 watt basking spot lamp and one for 100 watt CHE, and 18" t8 reptisun 10.0 uvb bulb with fixture mounted just under screen inside tank. I'm using the carpet liner in my 20 gallon but will have slate tile in my big tank. Side thought will the slate help keep its nails short or do they actually need to be trimmed? The 20 will have a chunk of mopani and another wood hide. There will be no water dish just a greens dish, I plan on "misting" them and maybe a fake plant also for misting. My setup will be in my basement which even though is fully finished and heated it can still drop to 57 on an average night here in the winter (Northeast Wisconsin) when it's 0 or lower outside, with that said what would be a good night time temp to shoot for? The basement stays at 67 all summer if that should be taken into consideration. This is why I'm glad I'm a slight hoarder, I'm a electro, mechanical maintenance manager and I tend to keep any good components I can off of machinery going to the salvage yard. So in other words with all the controllers, digital displays, sensors and timers I have I should have one of the coziest habitats around for my beardie! Yeah for him or her! One guestion I have is at what size/age can they start eating the smallest dubia available. I'm going into this full bore and I already have the roaches on the way to start my own colony it might be to soon but oh well I'll be ready. I am also curious if any of the pellet food is good for them from what I read it isn't very clear. I read on the intro that it's ok to use calcium powder with D3 and not worry about an overdose but should I get the multivitamin with it too then or without? This might be too much for an introduction if so sorry. Thanks in advance for answering any of my questions or enlightening me on dos and don'ts. One last thing where on this forum would one post to see if anyone knows a breeder or is a breeder close to me like driving distance. ok I'm done thanks again

 

[Taterbug]

Glad to hear you are building a 4x2x2! It's a good size I think you'll be happy with it.

I recommend the T5 lighting - you'll be able to mount it further away and still get better output form it. You won't have to worry about D3 either then and can use plain calcium. Just a thought. D3 is hard to acutely overdose from supplements but there is little research about chronic low level toxicity - I prefer to avoid it and would use vitamins without D3 as well.

Mid to low 70s is a good night time temp - a CHE or radiant heat panel would do the job nicely.

I don't trim my guys nails because he needs them to climb - it does make him prickly though. some folks do, I never needed to when I used tile. A rough basking perch he must climb also works to file them down.

You cage should be large enough and ventilated enough a water dish shouldn't be a problem. If you don't offer a dish you'll want to offer water another way too (sprayin or dripping on the snout etc).

Baby dubia are suitable for baby dragons. No minimum age just follow the space between the eyes rule. Better to get the colony ahead and let it start producing - never to early I dirn feed pellets - most brands have lots of grains or other fillers dragons wouldn't normaly eat. I'd rather fill him up on good food. There are a few that are less processed etc (Repashy has some gel formulas I've looked at). But overall I prefer a well rounded diet of fresh foods.

Your area met have reptile shows or something that could be a good place to start looking for a breeder.

 

[Bigbearwoodworks]

Thanks for the info Taterbug
I am searching now for the right fixture so I can use the HO T5 in my custom enclosure
Here's a picture from a quick google search I'm basing mine off of but it will have a storage space underneath to match the tank that will house my dubia tote and eventually super worms too. I know I talk big we'll see how the superworms go they seem cheap enough buying in bulk maybe I'll try breeding if I get some more lizards. That sounds like a good excuse to get more pets I have to many feeders LOL!