A Few Startup Questions

[Fishoutofwater]

Greetings everyone. Always wanted a Bearded Dragon and I'm finally taking the plunge. I'd like to get a juvenille or young adult. I'm trying to figure out how to set his tank up and how I want it to look and feel.
I was wondering about how much the setup as a whole will cost me(ballparked, and only things that he NEEDS)
How safe are they around 2 year olds?
Is it possible to have an "oasis" of sorts in his tank with a couple small fish or maybe even a betta. In the corner and Shallow water but deep enough for a nice betta fish.

Thanks!

 

[river-7]

Hi; and welcome to BDF forum; First off I would suggest reading beautiful dragons .com on the front page. Read a lot of the posts and then come back with any and all questions but to answer 1-of your questions; no water can not be used with a dragon dry animals and are they safe mostly yes, but they must be treated with respect; 2-year olds can be a little rough and beardies are by nature gentle animals .Ball park figures on price depends on a lot-where you live, what you need and what you would like.As you read you will find that the humidity will rise with any water in tank and that would make your gentle giant sick. Good luck reading and come back with as many questions as you can and none are stupid we all had to learn. Tank as big as you can afford .hope this helps you some but you will need Tank[not fish] reptile,UVB light -repti-sun-10.0-basking bulb, dome for bulb. 2-probs for temps; 1-for hot side and 1-for cool side.Substrate for the ground of your tank, not sand or bark, most of use reptile carpet or paper towels or newspaper. And last you will need something for him/or her to bask on log ect When looking for your beardie look for clear eyes, active not aggressive and ask shop or breeder to feed and let you see him eat. Ok, covered a few things good luck and I may have missed a few but someone else will chime in i'm sure--ps glass tank with screen on top no plastic as it will not hold the heat properly please don't listen to pet shops none of them know too much. Let us know if you have any more questions and welcome again to BDF;-river-7

 

[Ben Rivera]

River-7 has some good stuff here. I especially recommend doing as much reading as possible. Lastly, try to get as much information on the breeder as possible. You hear of puppy mill horror stories and you want to make sure that the breeder follows a moral compass in breeding them.

 

[Fishoutofwater]

Awesome replies thanks! I was reading about the UVB light that it should stretch the length of the tank and preferably not be a dome bulb type fixture. Is there any truth to this or does it not matter? Also, If I can keep the tank at night around 72-74 degrees will I need an Infrared light?

 

[Ben Rivera]

Fishoutofwater, I wouldn't use the infrared light since the temperature is where it should be. I have a night light that's very dim without emanating much heat.

 

[Fishoutofwater]

Ok good to know thanks. What about my other question: I was reading about the UVB light that it should stretch the length of the tank and preferably not be a dome bulb type fixture. Is there any truth to this or does it not matter? I'm back and forth on this.

 

[Ben Rivera]

I have the bulb that stretches across my tank. I feel more comfortable with the longer bulb for her.

 

[jarich]

You will want the long fluorescent tube style UVB light, yes. It should stretch about 2/3 of the enclosure, not the full length of it. That way the animal can get completely out of the UVB exposure if it chooses to.

As for it being safe around your 2 year old, just be cautious. Dragons do carry salmonella quite often, so treat it a little bit like you would eggs. Make sure your child washes their hands after handling the dragon and dont leave it unattended with the dragon.

As for the water, its absolutely fine to have water in the enclosure, however most fish wont be able to survive in the water. Dragons can be a messy lot and will foul the water regularly. It will usually also be very warm and non aerated as a result. I would guess the fish would last a few days to a week and then probably kick the bucket on you. All depends on how deep/big you make the water feature though I suppose.

 

[river-7]

I was always under the impression that the dragon could get a URI. with too much water in the tank. Please enlighten me-river-7

 

[jarich]

Water, or humidity, does not cause URI. Thats like the old tale that cold weather causes colds. What can be problematic is an enclosure with poor ventilation or heating, where the humidity goes above around 70%. That has a tendency to cause fungal blooms in the stagnant air, which can cause irritation in the lungs of the dragon and allow for possible infection. However, water dishes rarely cause any appreciable rise in enclosure humidity, and simple cross ventilation and proper heated basking areas will take away any risk of fungal blooms becoming problematic.

However, too dry an enclosure or air within has more potential for danger. Just because these animals live in semi arid areas does not mean there is not regular levels of humidity. Across their range, the humidity fluctuates between 30-60% rH, and lower humidity than this will more easily dehydrate the animal, leaving the lungs unprotected from infection as well as reducing overall immune function.

 

[river-7]

Jarich;Thank you never to old to learn lol-river-7

 

[Fishoutofwater]

Ok I've begun setting up the tank and was wondering how good of climbers these guys are. Trying create a way for him to get up to his basking area and keep it natural looking. How steep and narrow is too much?

 

[Fishoutofwater]

What about a rope bridge. Something for hamsters: http://www.amazon.com/Prevue-Hendry...8&qid=1434970448&sr=8-11&keywords=bird+bridge

 

[river-7]

They are good climbers. As far as your other questions;-I personally would not use rope as they [poop] a lot and you would be cleaning all the time, as there,is bacteria in their poop. So it's best to clean it up as they go. You can get the little bridges in wood and he will get to his basking area and that is why the screen top as they can jump high. My baby is about 4-1/2 inches from head to tail and she hops up no problem.I have a little bridge that is 10-times bigger then her and she pops up on that and a log and no problem. If you want to get a wooden one you can get it in the bird or guinea pig section of the pet shops or order one, but make sure it's wood. and wash it and put in the oven for a couple of hours. I had a guinea pig one for my big girl when I had her and she was very rarely off-of it. hope this helps some.Re; last night I was about to clean out her left over crix; and I could not find her and she was hanging very close to the top of the tank having herself a good old time. [She gets playful just before bed lol.]

 

[Fishoutofwater]

Awesome i'll check out the bird section today. As far as drinking water goes, can i use tap water and If so do I need to treat it with a water conditioner before putting it in his cage?

So instead of having a full blown waterfall with "pond" setup. I decided to make my own waterfall that will slowly trickle down the 3d background into his waterdish. The background has ledges in it that come out about 5" so he can climb up it. My question is, I'm going to put the waterfall kind of in the middle of the climbing area, but again it's going to be a slow glide of water. But I want him to still be able to climb all the way to the top of background. I'm concerned the water on the background might scare him from doing that. Is this a warranted concern?

 

[river-7]

no, but I hope your up to cleaning the water fall often enough as they don't care where they poop-some poop in their salad dish.some poop in anything available to poop in or on.Most beardie's drink tap water when they drink and some use bottled water.A lot of people just put a drop of water on their nose as they don't drink a lot. But the odd beardie will drink water from a dish but they don't recognize standing water-it must be moving. and most if not all will drink from their bath water.no that water treatment is a money maker but if your water is bad then by all means use it. But shops will sell you what you don't need. And FYI; when you bath them their tummy will expand and almost go flat to the ground-Don't be alarmed as it quite normal.and beardie's get a lot of water from their feeders,salads and a light mist from a spray bottle, and their bath of course[helps with shedding too]. You have to be careful that your feeders can't hide in the background that you will put up. or any-where else. and your beardie will not eat if crix; can hide and they will. Are you in an area where you can feed roaches?? If so better for you and your baby.I am in Canada and if they catch you with roche's they will take them and your reptiles and by the time you get them back if you get them back they are in very bad health.Well hope I have covered a few of your questions and keep us posted pics are nice and we can recommend better seeing pics-River-7

 

[Fishoutofwater]

So far so good with the setup. I will post a picture tomorrow when everything is ready. Should his food dish be on the warm or cool side of the cage?

 

[river-7]

what his salad dish?? Crickets or roche's, won't stay in a dish or do you mean pellet's?/

 

[river-7]

Anyway I have a baby so I put her food[pellet's] and salad in the middle of the tank fairly close to her. Cricket's I just dump in as they like the chase.a worm I just give her and feed with my fingers.Hope I have touched on a few of your questions.Looking forward to seeing pics of your tank-river-7

 

[river-7]

As to your other question he will get use to your background and it takes a week to 10-days for them to settle into their new home.I have had my new baby about 12-days and she is now beginning to trust me so that I can take her out to bath her, and she's not bothered by any changes to her tank. I use a dust-buster now to clean out any left over crix; that she didn't eat as they will chew on a sleeping dragon and take a bite or 2-out of the dragon.You must remove them at night, all baby sleeping dragons are cricket prey[FYI] I leave her salad bowl in her tank over night and any stray crickets will eat the salad instead of your dragon[remove first thing in the morning and give him or her fresh salad to eat and repeat] River-7