New 40 gallon tank

[BeardieBaby]

Hi everyone! Just got my new 40 gallon tank today! I picked up some supplies at Home Depot and this is what I have so far...I am not finished yet but I would like some suggestions on how to improve it. It does seem a bit cluttered and I am not sure how to make it less cluttered but if anyone can give me any suggestions on what to do to improve it I would greatly appreciate it! Here is the picture of it so far:

 

[Germ]

The hide is not necessary for a young BD & as has been mentioned many times, provides dark hiding spots for feeders. Using cut softwood from Coniferous trees that is not properly sealed, such as the spruce blocks you have in there, is not the best of plans, as they can secrete oils & aromas that can be harmful to a BD & many other reptiles. Bricks or something of the sort would be a much better choice.

 

[BeardieBaby]

Ohhh, I did not know that the wood gave out aromas that are not good for beardies! Thanks so much for telling me! I will take out the hide which I am actually glad about that because it did seem too cluttered, and I will get something else to hold up the tile. Is there anything else you think I should add or do anything too or does it seem like it would be okay after I do those changes to it?

 

[BeardieBaby]

Oh..and another question before I forget...when I do get the bricks, should I bake them in the oven first before putting them in the tank? And I do bake my rocks in the tank I have now for 15 minutes at 300 degrees so I was wondering if I would do the same with a brick or if it works any differently?

 

[Germ]

It never hurts to take the half hour to do it to be safe, as it is always a good plan. You never know whats crawling around in a stack of Bricks.

Basically all a young BD needs is a Basking Spot & a Food dish, that is all that is in my youngsters 6 square foot enclosures, along with a flat bottomed rock so feeders can't crawl underneath easily. The rock gives them something to climb on & will help keep their claws\nails in check.

 

[BeardieBaby]

Ok, great! Thank you so much for all your help! I know I say this a lot but I am SO thankful for you and everyone else here on this website because I learn so much and can easily correct my mistakes and get great feedback! If I didn't have this website I never would have known about the wood issue and my baby might of got really sick! Yikes! Going to go to Home Depot tomorrow right away and get some bricks. I am going to go take the wood out now. Thanks so much again Germ!!!

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

Woot Woot..Glad you got your new 40!! How you decorate it is really up to you but I would still keep the KISS method in mind. I still do in Mungi's tank enclosure eventhough it may not appear that way..he basically has his Basking Perch and His eating platform/bunker and that is it. The raised eating platform was mainly done because I use sand substrate and wanted to keep him from throwing or tracking sand in his salad bowl. Mungi is older tho and he does enjoy going in his hide on occassion but as Germ pointed out its not necessary with your beardie at this time.
Personally I would recommend that you get or make a background and cover the two sides and the back of the tank. I believe it looks better done like that... At least for sure on the back because it will help block some of the light coming through that window which can effect the temps in your enclosure.
Will be interested to see the complete finished set up...It's a Grand Day to be a Beardie in your house today for sure..lol;-)

 

[BeardieBaby]

LOL Thanks Mungi!!!! Well what I did with the backround was I taped paper towels to the outside of it and the sides and the reason I used paper towels was because for the tank he has now I used a back round and for some reason it keeps peeling off and it looks awful plus the paper towels are cheaper and I figured it would work just as well. And I learned my lesson to put it OUTSIDE the glass because crickets can climb! Eek! Never knew crickets could climb up paper towel before until I put the paper towel inside the tank lol. I am going to go buy some bricks tomorrow and I think I am going to wait to make a home made hammock because Baby is still rather small and I don't want to change EVERYTHING in his tank because I don't want him to get too stressed out, so at least if he has his hammock he has now it will be something he's used to. Plus he is in love with his hammock! He falls asleep on it every night and is always hanging out on it! I also went to Lowe's today and two 50 Watt Halogen bulbs so hopefully that will be warm enough. Now that I think about it I probably should have got a 75 watt just in case because I forgot I have a dimmer on my dome! Duh! LOL...oh well. It takes trial and error and luckily I have some extra money I have been saving so if it comes down to buying new lights again I think I will be able to do it. I was so thankful everything was so cheap that I bought today for Baby's new tank! One other question I have is that when I do make his new hammock, what material could I use? I realized that my jeans are not big enough to make a big enough hammock for him when he gets bigger, so I was thinking maybe cutting up an old sweatshirt? Just don't know if that would hold him up though. I can't think of any other materials I could use for a hammock, do you have any other ideas for material?

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

@BeardieBaby...Ya know I think you are very smart in pretty much setting up his new house just like his old house basically to start with..I think it will prove to be much less stressful on him and using his favorite hammock for now is a good idea too. Our Mungi is about 2 and 1/2 years old now and sometimes even the slightest change in his set up gets him bent out of shape..he doesnt mind if I put little things in there temporarily and will just check them out but if I make changes to his basic setup like for instance today I repositioned his UV fixture..allI did was move it about 3 inches to the other side of his basking light..it was still shining down on his perch the same but he immediately moved to his coolside and wouldnt get on his basking log..So just out of curiousity I move the UV back to its original spot and he walked backover and jumped right back up on his basking log. LOL..He told me I guess;-)
Anyhow as far as material goes I would just stay clear of things that his claws could easily get caught in such as stretchy polyester or knit material...and if you still want to make it out of denim I can tell you that if you will go to your local GoodWill store if you have one there you can find BIG OLD JEANS readily and probly wont cost but 3 or 4 bucks a pair..GoodWill stores are excellent places to find material of all kinds in the form of used clothes to use in projects;-)

 

[BeardieBaby]

Oh, that's a good idea! There is a store right downtown that is similar to a GoodWill store. Great! And I honestly must say I am very nervous to transfer my baby to his new tank because the last tank I put him in he freaked out and wouldn't eat and acted terrible! He's been eating OK now, he is eating a bit less than usual, and like you have seen in my previous posts he has been dark lately, so I am afraid he is already stressed out and I am so nervous he is going to die when I switch tanks. I am probably being WAY to paranoid and worried, but because he had such a tough transition the last time, it makes me very nervous about this one! Hopefully he won't be too scared and hopefully he will still eat. If he does happen to get relocation stress, how many days do I wait for him to eat again, and how many days have to go by before I maybe have to force feed him? I DO NOT want it to come down to that, and luckily it did not come down to that the last time, but I just don't want him to lose any weight right now when this is the time for him to be growing and getting bigger. I should probably just chill out and allow whatever it is to happen, but I want to be prepared on how to handle him in any type of situation.

 

[Germ]

Just remember that making a big hammock of solid material will block a large amount of the lighting & heat from the lower areas of the enclosure. This is one of the reasons why commercial ones are made out of screen that some light can penetrate.

 

[Germ]

Any enclosure change can have a week to 10 day acclimation period, as it is very similar to bringing a new BD home to a new environment. I really dislike force feeding being mentioned, it is so rare that this is a necessary resort & if done unnecessarily because of over worry, can do more harm than good.

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

@Germ...agreed and good point on the solid material. I should have stated that

 

[BeardieBaby]

Oh wow I didn't realize that is why they were made out of screen...makes sense! Hmm....well do you think there is anything I can use that won't block to much of the light OR should I just put the hammock on the cool side and put him there when he sleeps? I am so stumped now! I just know he doesn't like to hang on his basking spot all the time so I wanted to have something else he could hang out on...any ideas?

 

[Germ]

You shouldn't be 'Putting' him anywhere when he sleeps, let him choose his own spots & leave him there, providing of course he is in his enclosure .

 

[BeardieBaby]

Okay, just thought maybe I'd make him feel better if I put him on the hammock but I understand he'll choose where he's happy. When I had the first tank he used to sleep in the corner splattered on the glass with his arms spread out on the glass, it was adorable! I have heard you say you shouldn't treat your beardie's like dogs or cats, so I should keep remembering that, but it's so hard because they are just so darn cute and sweet!

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

You can still make your hammock if you wish too ...you can let the baby choose which one he uses and when..You can use your mesh one on the hotside and your homemade one on the cool side...I still think its a good project worth doing if you want and that there are plenty of options in fabric out there to choose from that will work just as well as the commercial mesh hammock.

 

[Mungi's Buddha]

@BeardieBaby...I want to say one last thing about hammocks...I personally don't use them and my reason being that I prefer to use materials in enclosures that are closer to what the creature in them might have in the wild. Hammocks are cool but it's just my preference to use the stone and driftwood and boulders and such. I do that with all of our creatures using and trying to create something that is at least close material wise as they would naturally have as I can get.
My only point about the hammocks is that the project of making your own is easy and inexpensive and something anyone can do. I'm a creative soul, always have been the type of person that likes to "make it myself" rather than buy it pre-packaged.
For the time being, I would suggest doing as you said your plan was earlier and basically setting up his new tank as you did before or close to that way as you can..it will be less stress on him which is priority #1 and projects can wait till later but if and when you do decide you get tired of the green mesh store bought hammock and want to create him a new one of his very own it is a project that you can do;-)
I am thrilled that you got his new tank and I am sure that he is going to love it as well...now he has room to really stretch his legs and GROW;-)
Have a great rest of your evening

 

[BeardieBaby]

@Mungi......thank you very much for your advice! I may wait a little until I put one of my own in there because I suppose it's not really necessary to make one now, just was thinking ahead to when he outgrows the hammock he has now. I posted in another thread that I did get the bricks today at Home Depot and I just baked them in the oven and they are cooling right now. Tomorrow I am going to set up his tank and put him in there for the first time. I am so excited but so nervous at the same time! It is quite different than his tank now....new basking spot and all. I just hope he won't get super stressed to the point where he doesn't eat. I know it takes up to two weeks for Beardies to get adjusted to their new home, but I don't want my baby to die of starvation! I'm assuming if he doesn't eat for the first few days he won't starve himself for too long and when he's absolutely starving he will finally eat. ::Crosses fingers:: I will definitely have an update on how he is doing in his new tank and I may be very worried and have a few questions about his behavior but be patient with me! LOL..

 

[Spikeleebd]

that carpet is a big no for me. go to home depot and get some slated tile. with that carpet you will have a breeding grown for fungis and bacteria and humidity.