Partitioning for a Baby Beardie

[ElectricPaladin]

Hey all.

After only five years, my beloved Jabberwock passed away. I've done a lot of soul searching, consulted with my local reptile store folks, and taken care of my grieving, and I've come to two realizations: I'm ready for a new beardie, and I didn't do anything wrong.

So, I'm getting started. The only trouble is that the only tank I've got is a great big two by two by four vivarium. I'd really like to raise my new beardie in the same house without having to spend money on a new, smaller tank.The folks at the reptile store were dubious, but suggested that maybe I could get by if I used a piece of untreated wood to partition my tank and a lower wattage heat bulb. Maybe.

Here are my questions:

1) Do you agree with the reptile store folks that this is a valid concern? The original tank that I raised my first beardie in wasn't that much smaller, and as far as I could tell he seemed pretty happy in it, even when he was a little guy.

2) Is it worth it to try to partition my tank to create a smaller area for a baby beardie to live in while he gets bigger? Or should I give up and cough up the money for a smaller tank?

3) If I can partition the tank, what tips do you have for making this work? Or, alternately, if I use a smaller tank, do you think I could put the smaller tank... inside the larger tank... would that work, so at least I could save money on heating and lighting equipment (my current large tank has built-in fixtures, and the temps in there are definitely all right).

Thanks in advance, folks.

 

[Taterbug]

How old of a baby are you looking at?

I got pepper at 3mo and 10" long. He went straight into his 4x2x2 and never had a problem, no partition or anything. I gave him some climbing sticks and a baskig rock and arranged part of it so he could feel out of sight but still bask. Sort of like a privacy wall.

I'd do a partition before hassling with a second tank. For me I'd probably grab a craft sized bit of foam insulation board (lowes or homedepot usually sells 2x2 sections)

 

[ElectricPaladin]

The ones they sell at East Bay Vivarium are a little smaller. More like 6'' to 8'' or so. As a reference, the guys at the store said that a baby bought from them would be six months to a year away from needing a full size tank.

 

[Taterbug]

The ones they sell at East Bay Vivarium are a little smaller. More like 6'' to 8'' or so. As a reference, the guys at the store said that a baby bought from them would be six months to a year away from needing a full size tank.

Someone with more experience with little babies will hopefully chime in but a lot of the time I feel like the idea of selling smaller setups and then selling upgrades is a bit of a ploy for companies to get more money. That's just me though.

Planning out the enclosure or even just blocking the excess off will effectively accomplish the same thing. Needing and utilizing are a bit different, my guy has always used every bit of space I've offered him.

By 6 months (old, not of ownership) I'd certainly think a full size cage would be fine.

Anyway, just my thoughts hopefully others will chime in and I'm sure you'll figure out what works best for you.

 

[CooperDragon]

I agree with Taterbug. From what I've seen, the little guys like to roam around a lot and climb. Giving them as much space as you can just gives them more space to roam. They're all a little different, so keep an eye on their behavior though. If he shows signs of stress, you can add a partition. If he climbs around and enjoys the space, even better.

 

[ElectricPaladin]

I wanted to check in and let you know how it's going.

I decided to let our baby beardie explore his new tank in all its enormous glory, and Lír - we named him Lír Jabberwock Ailil - is settling in just fine. He had fun exploring the tank on his first afternoon, and there isn't anywhere he didn't find an excuse to sniff (well, lick) around. He seems to be experiencing very little stress. I was expecting him not to want to eat right away, for example, but when some flies started buzzing around the outside of his tank, he started lunging at them hungrily.

It's also obvious that he can thermoregulate just fine. He seems to have two preferred perches - the top of his hide and the basking branch - and he spends most of his time moving back and forth between them and repositioning his body to catch the light just so.

Thanks for encouraging me to just go for it - it saved a lot of time and trouble, and I'm feeling pretty good about the decision.

 

[CooperDragon]

I'm glad to hear he is settling in well =). It will take a bit of tweaking as you go along to get everything just the way he wants it, but it sounds like the tough part is done =)