Taking ALL advice! (MY ENCLOSURE)

[NOOB4835]

I would first like to say thanks to everyone for your future advice!

I am new to this site and have been reading tons of material :study: but would like you guys to scrutinize my setup!

First I have 2 sets of dragons... the first set are about 5months old ... Male is a Leather back/ female is a red/orange morph (I believe). They are in a Custom made tank I built myself. (3ft x 18in x 18in) the lighting which im about to change unless otherwise told is a 100w basking bulb that reaches 120 degrees and a COMPACT exoterra uvb that I have seen being ripped on here. (AS SOON AS I LEAVE WORK THAT WILL BE CHANGED) They have tiled flooring and lighting is inside the cage (Not close enough for them to reach or come in contact with) about 6-8 inches from their basking spot.


Second set are 2 sub adults (Male/Female) that are in another custom built cage. (4ft x 2ft x 2ft) the lighting in this cage consist of a Zilla Slimline Desert 50 UVB T8 Fluorescent Fixture thats center aligned inside the cage about 12inches from the floor. I also have 2 lamps inside the cage but only 1 is used for the basking area with a 150w basking bulb picked up from Petsmart they are about 15 inches away fromthe ground. They also have a tiled floor.


Please give me all the advice that you can I will change as you guys see fit. I have put a lot of time and effort into my beardies in a short amount of time and dont want to see it all going to waste because i did something wrong.

Thanks

Jason

 

[Jess]

First off, I would sperate both sets of beardies. They are not social animals, and are not meant to live together. Bearded dragons will happily mutilate or kill their "friends" at the first chance they get. Reptiles dont see their cage mates as companions, just competition.
My beardie used to live with another female before I adopted him. He is missing a geed 4 inches of his tail, and his mate is missing at least half of her tail, her entire back foot, and is half the size of Dudley. She obviously wasnt the dominant one, and she got the short end of the deal! Poor thing.
Ive seen posts on here where the larger dragon of the pair actually eats the smaller one, and chokes/dies or becomes impacted/dies. Then you lose both of them.

And you need to replace BOTH of the UVB lights with ReptiSun 10.0s. Youve already read the dangers of coil lights, and the Zillas are just as bad, if not worse. You can get ReptiSuns for under $25 shipped at Petmountain.com or LLLreptile.com.

Also, 120*F is wwaaayyyy too hot of a basking spot. It should be between 105-110*F for juvies.

 

[NOOB4835]

Thank you sooooo much...Im glad this site is here. I thought I had everything PERFECT and I started reading and reading and reading all the stuff I was doing wrong! I guess I will get to building me some more cages. (ACTUALLY like building them)

Can I just put the reptisun bulb in the Zilla fixture?

Also if you dont mind.... can I email a pic of the enclosures just so you can see if everthing is set up correctly? I really love my beardies and have put a lot of money and time into them...NOW I want to get everything right!

 

[ziggy23]

I agree with separating them. Another factor is all the babies you'll end up. Even with the smaller ones, they'll be hitting puberty here real soon and early pregnancy is hard on females.

Also, 120 is a little hot. I would try and get that down a bit.

btw you can post pics on this site. just upload it onto photobucket or similar site and copy and past the img code.

 

[NOOB4835]

Ok cool....

As soon as I get home(AT WORK) I will post some pics of the cages and my bearde dragons...... (Do I use the IMG button to post pics?)

Trying to find the best priced Repti sun to use! Petmountain seems to have the best priced at $18.08 compared to $39.99 at petco!

 

[NOOB4835]

Ok the cage on top is for the little guys... this was taking before i put them inside.

 

[drgnfly2265]

I agee that they need to be housed seperately. I have sadly witnessed a beardie eat a smaller beardie on youtube My beardie also shows signs of why they need to be housed seperately. My beardie is missing a good 2" or more of ther tail.

Ok cool....

As soon as I get home(AT WORK) I will post some pics of the cages and my bearde dragons...... (Do I use the IMG button to post pics?)

Trying to find the best priced Repti sun to use! Petmountain seems to have the best priced at $18.08 compared to $39.99 at petco!

Wow, I need to check Petmountain out. Great price!

 

[Jess]

Wow, those enclosures look really nice! Would you mind making me one? LOL

The only thing I noticed that could possibly be a problem was the half-log hides. Are those real wood? Sometimes little pieces of bark will fall off, and your beardies could eat them. I have a plastic half-log hide that is made for turtles, and it works great.

I'm not sure if the ReptiSun will work in the Zilla fixture... If I'm remembering right, the Zillas are T5 or something and the ReptiSuns are T8. You can get a 24" fixture at WalMart for $9 though, so you don't need to buy one of those "special" $40 fixtures from the pet store.
Oh, and you can use regular house hold bulbs for basking lights. The "special" reptile ones are rip offs too. :roll: Its a good idea to pick up a few different wattages so you can find the perfect one to get the temps just right, and return the other ones that you don't need.

BTW, I'm really glad that you are taking everyone's advice into consideration. You wouldn't believe how many people just ignore these things, and terrible things happen to their lizards. I can tell you really care about your beardies! :wink:

 

[NOOB4835]

Thank You!!! I put ALOT of time in my cages... well not too much just alot because ive never built anything before these 2 cages. Well to WALMART I will be going... Im taking all the advice that I can get because you would think that the basic care sheets are enough... NOT! Im glad this site is here because everyone that is helping me has been nice and informative!

Guess Ill be making a trip to PETSMART and PETCO to return these $10 bulbs for my pack of 5 for $1.25! LOL

 

[Jess]

Sounds good! Haha, you can get almost anything you buy at a petstore at Walmart or Home Depot for half the price. Its SOOOO much easier on your wallet!

 

[alkemisten3]

I would ask the following, and then we are able to tell a lot more about what to improve.
Also some pics of the beardies, and final result (if you will change anything in the cages) are always really good.
How old is your dragon?
How long have you had your dragon?
How long is your dragon?
What is the sex of your dragon?
What size enclosure do you have your dragon in?
What type substrate do you have on the bottom of your tank?
Do you use UVB lights?
If so, Is it a coil, compact, fluorescent tube, or Mercury Vapor bulb?
What is the brand name and number of your bulb? Wattage (if MVB)?
How old is your UVB bulb?
How close can your dragon get to the UVB?
Do you use a separate basking bulb? What kind and what is the wattage?
What are the basking temps?
What is the cool side temp?
Do you take the temps with a stick on thermometer, a digital thermometer with a wire and a probe end or a temp gun?
Where exactly are you taking your basking temps?
Do you use a heat rock or heat pad?
What do you feed your dragon? Please be specific.
How often do you feed and what time do you feed (morning, afternoon, night)?
Do you gutload (feed) your crickets, worms, etc?
Do you use vitamin or calcium supplements? What brand(s)? How many days a week do you use each of them?
Is your dragon having regular bowel movements (poops)?
Do you bath your dragon? How often?
Do you mist your dragon or offer water other than in the bath?
Does your dragon share an enclosure with another dragon?
Have you gotten a vet check and fecal done?

 

[Slave2Scarlett]

I'm also new to the beardie world and I've been doing an extreme amount of research as well. First off.. I have the Zilla UVB set up from PetsMart and the reason I purchased it was b/c the reptile guy @ petsmart has one and his beardie is 9 years old and said that it worked just fine... There are so many different opinions and truths to all the advice people give I think its pretty much trial and error as to what works best for your beardie.. Except the sand thing.. I'm too scared to try that so I'm going with tile... Another place you can get your supplies for really cheap is www.lllreptile.com. Good Luck!

 

[MasterYoda]

Ok the cage on top is for the little guys... this was taking before i put them inside.

Nice enclosure but the gap on the left is a little to big i think! i can see you have a thermometer on the other side. maybe, just a suggestion, get another thermometer and do the same then close up the gap nice and tight so bugs like spiders or chemicals like Ajax or W index, hair products or deodorant something don't get in and harm your babies! thats the last thing you want. also, from this pic i can't see any air vents? pretty simple to install and prolly take about 30mins to 1hr to do but it's definatley needed! and then i agree with everyone else but looks awesome though!

 

[Floof]

So glad you're separating them!!! It's definitely a necessity! I had my two girls, adult rescues who came to me together, housed together for the first couple months I had them, and ended up with the smaller one attacking the bigger one!! Fortunately she didn't cause any permanent damage, but it could have been MUCH worse and just serves as a small example of why you should keep even docile adult female beardies separate at ALL times. They're both missing tail tips and the larger of the two has a missing toe apparently from similar conflicts in their last home, as well. (I should have taken those as a hint, but, in my own naivety, assumed they were from when they were hatchlings--young reptiles are said to be much more prone to cannibalizing similarly-sized dragons than adults.) That's not even getting into the risks of housing young male/female pairs together.

I have a suggestion on the UVB situation. The very best UVB sources you can use for your beardies are good Mercury Vapor Bulbs, especially MegaRay brand. They put out MUCH more UVB than the fluorescents, and are especially useful in set-ups where the basking spots are all 12+ inches away from the UVB and heat sources (fluorescents only put out significant UVB for 6-12 inches, maximum). The MVBs put out UVB for twice as long as fluorescents (12 months instead of 6 months). The only things you need to consider is that the fixture has to be ceramic! You can get ceramic fixtures that can be installed on the roofs of your custom enclosures at hardware stores if you aren't already using these. You need to make sure the bulb faces straight down, with the bulb parallel to the floor, as having it at an angle damages the bulb and has the potential to damage your beardies' eyes--UVB coming in to their eyes at an angle is both unnatural and harmful. MVBs put off heat, as well, so they are best utilized as your basking light. Don't have the bulb closer than 12"; they're very powerful. They put out excellent levels of UVB for 12-24 inches (ideal being 12-18"), much better than a fluorescent's 6-12" range. MegaRay is the best (and least expensive) MVB bulb you can get, and can be purchased at http://reptileuv.com. With enclosed wooden enclosures, 100 watts will probably put off plenty enough heat; if not, it's easy to install a second fixture to utilize a plain incandescent to boost the heat.

Your enclosures definitely need vents. Your beardies might also appreciate a second level on the cool side (so they don't get too close to the heat bulbs!). This will put them closer to the UVB on the cool side if you stick with fluorescents, and will give them more space to explore their habitat. I have one of my girls in a 4x2x2 ft with a removable second floor for the cool side. She loves to run up and down the ramp, and spends quite a bit of time up top, since it's the closest she can get to her ReptiSun 10.0 (haven't been able to retrofit her enclosure, made by someone else with plastic, angled heat light fixtures, for a MVB yet).

Concerning fluorescents, I highly recommend getting fixtures/bulbs long enough to stretch across as much of the enclosure as possible (ideal would be 3 ft light and fixture for the 3 ft enclosure, and 4 ft light and fixture for the 4 ft enclosure). That way you get UVB over the entire enclosure (again, if you stick with fluorescent), as well as light over the entire enclosure. The latter is a good thing, as well, since your diurnal beardies appreciate a very brightly-lit enclosure (as long as they have secure hides to retreat to, of course!).

There's my $.02. Hope it helps!!

 

[NOOB4835]

Thanks to EVERYONE! I have already started some of the changes.... although I have to wait for the reptisun 10.0 to be delivered. I got 2ft strips and ordered 2ft bulbs for both enclosures....

Also concerning the air vents... I have several... I just positioned them so that they arent seen from looking direct!

Below is an updated pic of the small enclosure with the 2ft strip. (You can see the vents as well)

Another quick question..... What is your opinion on using SOLAR GLO MVB for a couple of days just until my reptisun 10.0 has been delivered?


Thanks again EVERYONE I really appreciate all the advice!