It's been awhile since I posted, but my beardie is doing good! He's a big boy, about 19 or 20 inches long and loves to eat.
I am moving into a new apartment for college and my parents bought me a nice new tank for Paco. It's the National Geographic Reptile Sanctuary, with the front-opening doors. I really like it and it comes with a lot of useful stuff. One tiny problem... It's 36L x 16W x 18H. A 40 gallon, but not a breeder I am pretty sure? So it is 2 inches smaller in width than his current tank...
My question is, do you all think Paco will notice the lost 2 inches? Will it make him fussy or increase his stress from the move? I feel terrible taking a gift back and don't think my parents kept the receipt...
He may not notice, but that's also pretty small for an adult dragon. Unfortunately there aren't many ready made (reasonably priced) tanks big enough for dragons, which is why a lot of people make their own.
The best bet for a simple solution is to look on craigslist for tanks in your area. I found several really nice sets for way less than I could build one myself, but I ended up building my own anyway because the good ones I found were kind of far away and I wanted something even larger. But I did find a super nice 4X2X2 viv on a stand, with lights for $175, which was a steal, but I ended up building something twice that big (for 3 times the cost! )
But anyway, my advice would be to look for a 4X2X2 viv on craigslist.
If you're going for a tank then you'd want to consider 75 gallons minimum for an adult IMO. (The problem with larger fish tanks (as opposed to wood/melamine) is they are harder to heat, but it can be solved, just takes ore heating devices or some insulting materials, like interior fake-rock walls, etc.
He might not notice 2" but either tank to too small for him. He's a big boy and already longer than th tank is wide, if you can (I know in college it will be hard) get him a bigger setup like above poster suggests he would really benifit from it.
Thanks for the suggestions! Yeah I would love to put him in a larger tank but there is the issue of my apartment being quite cramped for such a large viv, I'll also be living with another person... I'll keep my eyes on Craigslist though! My main concern is just having to downgrade the size already :\