New to the site and fairly new dragon owner

[agates0523]

I am new to this site and a fairly new dragon owner. I got my dragon about 7 months ago I believe and he was from a local pet store so I’m not exactly sure how old he was when I got him but he was pretty small. I bought the extra large tank setup from the store which I believe is a 40 gallon breeder tank. He got pretty big so I wanted to upgrade his setup. I upgraded him quite a bit to a 150 gallon tank with a stand which I got used on Facebook for a good deal. My question is, is this too big of a setup if that’s even possible? He has 2 basking spots. One of them the temp is around 105 and the other the temp is about 90. I have two 150 watt basking bulbs and 2 UV lights and 2 100 watt ceramic heating lights. Also, is this a good enough light setup? Thanks for any help!

 

[Gormagon]

Let me start by welcoming you to the wonderful world of bearded dragons, a magical land of mystery, enchantment, cuddles, love and, worry! A mysterious realm where things always seem to change in an instant and, the moment you think you have it all figured out, the rules change! You think you own your dragon? Ha Ha....guess again..... Like it or not, you are now a slave, lol!!!

A 150 gallon tank is a great space to have. You have room for lots of climbing branches which your dragon needs. You can also get great temperature gradients across the viv with two lights (4' Reptisun 10.0 t5 HO and, a 100watt basking bulb). Temperatures should range from 105° in an elevated basking spot, 95° on the warm end to 78° on the cool end. No colored lights are needed because they distort their vision. The CHE should only be used if temperatures in your house drop below 65° at night. No lights at night, they like it cool and, totally dark at night. Dark and cool allows them to slow their metabolism enough to actually rest when they sleep.

All those lights are not needed, that is the first thing that popped out to me.

 

[agates0523]

Let me start by welcoming you to the wonderful world of bearded dragons, a magical land of mystery, enchantment, cuddles, love and, worry! A mysterious realm where things always seem to change in an instant and, the moment you think you have it all figured out, the rules change! You think you own your dragon? Ha Ha....guess again..... Like it or not, you are now a slave, lol!!!

A 150 gallon tank is a great space to have. You have room for lots of climbing branches which your dragon needs. You can also get great temperature gradients across the viv with two lights (4' Reptisun 10.0 t5 HO and, a 100watt basking bulb). Temperatures should range from 105° in an elevated basking spot, 95° on the warm end to 78° on the cool end. No colored lights are needed because they distort their vision. The CHE should only be used if temperatures in your house drop below 65° at night. No lights at night, they like it cool and, totally dark at night. Dark and cool allows them to slow their metabolism enough to actually rest when they sleep.

All those lights are not needed, that is the first thing that popped out to me.

Awesome! Thank you for the info! So would you suggest getting rid of the CHE bulbs until winter and get rid of the one of the basking bulbs? Also should I keep both uv bulbs or just one is enough? I will hopefully be adding more climbing areas for him. Should I be concerned that he seems to sleep up in the top area at night where his basking spot is during the day rather than sleeping in a hiding area?

 

[charmander16]

There is no such thing as too big. I just put mine into an about 190 gallon viv and I still feel like it's too small

You can check out my setup here: viewtopic.php?f=75&t=233838

I will say that your setup looks a little unstable. Make sure that those structures are very secure and won't collapse of all over when your guys runs around on them.

I'm not sure about saying all the lights are not needed. The enclosure should be bright, well lit, and warm. Colored lights aren't good, but plenty of white light is a good thing.

 

[SHBailey]

You can probably take it as a complement that your beardie doesn't feel the need to hide at night when he sleeps -- it probably means he feels safe with you.

Our beardie slept in his hide the first few nights when we first got him, but nowadays he usually sleeps on his basking platform where he also spends most of the day, and he only seems to go in his hide if he's upset about something.

And ditto to everything Gormagon said. Welcome to the wonderful world of bearded dragons.

 

[Gormagon]

The reason i said that all the lights were not needed is heat issues. It would be hard to get the gradients right.
As far as the CHE, you won't need it until night temperatures call for it.
As for PROPER UVB in a tank that is 28" tall, you will need a strong UVB to give him what he needs and at least a 14" raised basking platform to get to it 16" would be optimum. This is why I said, a 4ft long, reptisun 10.0 T5 HO to span 2/3 of the length and provide a shaded spot at the cool end.. THOSE screw-in compact bulbs will NOT provide proper UVB nor can they. Though the can cause eye irritation, eye infections and blindness.
I am not trying to be argumentative, just giving advice to help.

 

[charmander16]

Yeah, I think going to a single 2 foot Reptisun T5 HO would be a good move. Maybe 4 foot, but I would think 2 foot is fine it it's over the basking area.

It does require a lot of bulbs, CHE & otherwise, to heat a glass tank that large, cause the glass doesn't hold heat well.

I think what I would do in a tank like this is setup a good solid, long shelf along the back of it, at least 2/3 of the length of the tank. The shelf should be about 14" from the top of the tank. If you put a T5 HO over that, and a basking bulb, you should get good temps there and good UVB. (assuming no screen). If you are using a fine metal screen... #1 think about getting rid of that and moving to something like this: http://www.homedepot.com/p/1-2-in-x-2-ft-x-50-ft-Hardware-Cloth-HC22450/300180176

#2 if you don't do that then get the shelf about 10" from the top, but really it's better to get rid of the screen so you'll get more UV throughout and light in general throughout the tank.

If you do the shelf then you can have a basking light over the shelf to a high heat basking area and a basking light over the area with no shelf to have a lower temp basking area, which can actually be your "cool side". "Cool" can be 85 degrees.

 

[agates0523]

Thank you everyone for all of the advice! I had a feeling my lighting setup needed some adjustment which was the main reason I had posted! This picture is of him in his favorite spot and position, he even likes to sleep in that position hahaha

 

[charmander16]

He looks good!

This is a general rule to keep in mind. If your dragon is always staying in one spot, it may mean that the rest of the tank isn't to his liking. Ideally, they will move around quite a bit. Don't get me wrong, if you have one main basking spot they will stay there most of the time, but if that's pretty much the only place they go then it means the rest tank is too cold or too hot or something, etc...

 

[agates0523]

He looks good!

This is a general rule to keep in mind. If your dragon is always staying in one spot, it may mean that the rest of the tank isn't to his liking. Ideally, they will move around quite a bit. Don't get me wrong, if you have one main basking spot they will stay there most of the time, but if that's pretty much the only place they go then it means the rest tank is too cold or too hot or something, etc...

Ok thanks! How much bigger do you think I should expect him to get with being in such a large enclosure?

 

[agates0523]

Also, what’s the best way to have a background on this large of a tank? I can’t seem to find any this large online and I hate seeing the wires on the back

 

[SHBailey]

How big a beardie gets mainly has to do with genetics and diet and good heat and light -- if he's well taken care of and well fed he will grow to a healthy size that's right for him regardless of the size of the enclosure. Most normal adults range from about 18-22 inches from nose to tail tip, with a few reaching 24 inches. And about half of that length is tail.

 

[charmander16]

Also, what’s the best way to have a background on this large of a tank? I can’t seem to find any this large online and I hate seeing the wires on the back

DIY. You can either just get a big piece of paper or cardboard and paint it yourself or have something printed at a place like Office Max (does that still exist?), or get a custom size print on-line.

Alternatively you can build out a custom 3D background using wood or foam and grout.