I tried posting this in Enclosures a couple weeks back and haven't gotten any replies... it's a little urgent though because I was wanting to do it this weekend, so I figured I'd try. I am putting in excavator clay in Paco's tank, and it needs approx. 24 hours to dry. I have the tank Paco came in, which is 30 gallons at most, but I'm not quite sure... All I know is it's below the minimum size and he's a big boy. Will he be okay for twenty four hours in in while I let the clay dry in his big tank, or do I need to find a bigger temporary tank??? I want to do it this weekend so I won't be off at school all day and I can let him get out and run around more.
That should be fine. I use a smaller travel tank for weekend trips sometimes and it's no problem. Just provide plenty of outside the tank time and think of the small tank as just a place to hang out and get some heat/uvb for a while. If it comes down to it you can even use a big rubbermaid tub or a pen of some kind if you don't have any other animals in the house. You just need a spot to provide proper lighting for a while.
When beardies are shipped or taken to shows they're in even smaller containers for a day, so one day should be OK. I wouldn't do it long term, but don't see a problem with a day or two. During and emergency evacuation I had to keep my last beardie in a small container for a week, but that was an extreme case and it didn't cause him any harm.