Any substitutes for screen lids?

[anothermix]

Hi all. I'm getting a baby bearded dragon next week and I'm still in the midst of setting up my tank. Currently my bearded dragon will be housed in a 20 gallon tank.

However, as I'm from singapore and getting reptile accessories are a little difficult, I'm not able to get a screen lid for my tank. i tried using an egg crate for my lid, but however it was not able to withstand the heat of the basking light. I'm hoping if i could get any advice on what i can use as a substitute for my tank lid which will be able to withstand the heat of the basking light.

Appreciate if anyone could give me any suggestions!

 

[PatsyB]

Can you buy screen and make your own lid with some screen and some wood? Also, how big is the bearded dragon you are getting? 20 gallons is not big enough to house an adult. If it's still a baby 20 gallons is okay to start with but keep in mind you will need to upgrade to at least 40 gallons when it gets bigger.

 

[anothermix]

Thanks for the suggestion! My bearded dragon is about 3months old, and will definitely be looking to upgrade to a 40gallons in about 6-8months time. I think i will be trying out those wire mesh used for bbqs as they would be able to withstand high heat.

 

[PatsyB]

Good luck! Post pictures when you get your little guy or girl

 

[anothermix]

Thanks! Will do once everything is done!

 

[anothermix]

Hi all this is my current setup at the moment!

 

[PatsyB]

There's lots of talk around here about substrate and the general rule of thumb is sand is okay if it's children's play sand (washed and baked), not the sand formulated specially for reptiles and especially not calcium sand. Also, sand is only okay for beardies that are at least 15 inches long, your guy is only 3 months so I'm guessing he's not going to be ready for it yet. The best substrates are slate tiles, newspaper and paper towels. I use paper towels, it makes cleaning the tank so much easier. My Dexter is 16 inches so I've recently added a sand box rather than having a whole tank of sand. This way I can feed her in her tank by just taking out the box and I don't worry about her eating the sand.

Also, look into getting a digital thermometer with a probe. You need to know the temperature right at the basking spot where he is going to sit. With an analog gauge you aren't going to get that reading. You actually need two, one at the basking side and one to measure the temp on the cool side.

It's very smart that you are setting this all up and working out the kinks before you get the beardie!

 

[anothermix]

Thanks patsy! Yes those are play sand and not reptile sand. I will try to look for slate tiles and see if i can change it to tiles till my beardie gets older.

 

[anothermix]

Here's an update of my setup. Just changed to tiles. Basking area hits between 38-40 degrees and the cool side is around 30 degrees while at night it i around 26-28 degrees. Hope this will be fine!

 

[PatsyB]

Looks good! I'm assuming you are using celsius, try bumping the basking up to 44. Maybe use the branch as the basking spot instead of the rock. It's a little higher than the rock and it might just bring you closer to the right temp.