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recommendations on inside of tank

Beardiesrock84

Hatchling Dragon
Messages
53
Location
Sacramento Ca
Hello world! Gordo is my second bearded dragon. He is a bit larger than my last one, and I do not have a large enough income to just go out and buy $45 logs from petco. Does anyone have recommendations on D.I.Y. cheap ideas for building play areas he can climb on and explore? I want to spil him, but I can't spend a lot of money...but I want him to have an awesome set up!
I have a 40 gallon tank with just a hide log and hammock and some rocks at the moment.

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Germ

Bearded Dragon Veteran
3 Year Member
1,000+ Post Club
Messages
4,493
Location
North America

Aleena

Bearded Dragon Veteran
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1,996
Location
Utah
I agree with Germ completely. I would get the bark out of there ASAP. You can put newspaper or paper towels down while you're deciding what else you want to do for substrate. A lot of our forum members swear by tile, some use non adhesive shelf liner, some use strained washed play sand for an adult dragon. Even if you don't feed your BD on the bark, they wind up ingesting some of it and it's not very digestible and gets stuck in their digestive system causing deadly results if not passable.
 

Lemonpie

Hatchling Dragon
3 Year Member
Messages
93
@beardiesrock84 I would try and find a local stone supply yard, they sell a variety of stones for the cage and you can get all he needs for about $5! I was able to buy 23 lbs of river rocks (about 5 large stones total) for $4.04. Make sure to wash and bake all stones of course to kill any bad stuff.
 

Spikeleebd

Juvenile Dragon
3 Year Member
hey beardierock i like your set up if your dragon is 10 inches or bigger man just save yourself alot of hassle and go to lowes and get some washed playsand and your bds enclosure is good to go. also try and get the uvb tube fixed inside the cage were he basks at.
 

Beardiesrock84

Hatchling Dragon
Messages
53
Location
Sacramento Ca
I have changed the bark out, I got him a green terrarium liner and placed that in there instead. I was curious about the bark because I had noticed he was getting pieces on his mouth. The only thing that sucks about taking it out is he liked to go to the warmest corner and "bury" himself in the bark to sleep. So now what should I do?
Thanks for the websites, and the stone yard idea, I am going to look around for some.
I'm nervous about sand too, because my last beardies would get stopped up all the time from sand....I guess bark isn't much better....
 

Germ

Bearded Dragon Veteran
3 Year Member
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4,493
Location
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Fine strained, washed, sand will pass right though a well hydrated BD of appropriate size (10+"). Washed sand has no binding agent, so will not clump together & pass right through without discomfort. Much, much safer than Bark if ingested. I have been using Children's Washed Play Sand for almost all of my BDs 10+", nose to tip of tail, for just about 11 years now, with no issues whatsoever.
 

Germ

Bearded Dragon Veteran
3 Year Member
1,000+ Post Club
Messages
4,493
Location
North America
Basically all you need is > a 10.0 UVB covering the basking spot, as that is where it should spend the majority of it's time, if your Temps are setup properly. Your BD needs to have an area that it can get away or get out of the UVB, should it feel the need to, in the shade so to speak, which generally is the cool side in most setups.
 

Beardiesrock84

Hatchling Dragon
Messages
53
Location
Sacramento Ca
I have him set up with a cool side and a basking side. He goes back and forth and his food is on the cooler side. I am sanding a log now to put in his home, sanding it because it has sharp edges. I also removed all of the bark and put the terrarium liner down. His UV light stretches pretty much over his whole cage. and I see you say that washed play sand hasn't had any problems with you? I think I will try it.
 

Germ

Bearded Dragon Veteran
3 Year Member
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Location
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Be sure to strain it first, it always looks nice & fine to start with coming out of the bag, but after a week or 2 of walking on it, the finer particles settle to the bottom, leaving the larger pebbles exposed on top, these have to be removed so this can't happen. Failure to do this & using it for a BD that is to small (Should be 10"+) are the most common reasons some keepers report problems with sand & it is not the sand's fault, but poor husbandry on the keepers part ;) .
 

Beardiesrock84

Hatchling Dragon
Messages
53
Location
Sacramento Ca
I measured him and he is 12". My last beardie was only about 9" or so he was a little guy, but Gordo is a big boy ;) I have a sifter I use for flour, I'll just wash it really well and use it. But I think Gordo will like the sand better than just the flat liner bc when the bark was in there he really liked burying into the bark to sleep.
 

Germ

Bearded Dragon Veteran
3 Year Member
1,000+ Post Club
Messages
4,493
Location
North America
A 12% Arcadia is supposed to be a good system, from what I have read, & should do the job quite well. I have not had any personal experience with them, nor do I personally know anyone who has, as they are a fairly new thing this side of the Pond.
 

Kashiya

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
19
Eventually you can change to slate tile too it is the most closest to their natural habitat I put sand in the cracks so there is some dig spots. You can even get broken pieces for free at some hardware stores if you ask
 
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