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Soon to be beardie owner, lots of questions!

Xiisune

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
2
Hello! I am planning to buy a baby beardie in the next week or so, however I still definitely have many questions regarding lighting in particular. My tank is about 55 x 20 x 20". I was planning on buying a mercury vapor bulb as well as a CHE for nighttime just in case because my tank is near a window. what wattage would make the most sense for a tank that size? Whats the best MVB in your opinion? what fixture should i buy for each type of the lights as well? I also bought a termostat, so which bulb should i plug into the termostat? Can a new MVB sometimes damage a beardie (I heard someone once say that it can damage them if the uvb is too strong). I can post photos of the tank as well (its a little barren but im planning on adding a lot more stuff). My main question is if its safe to use a rock/boulder from the beach I found as long as a soak it? Im having a hard time finding actually good basking items/accessories on amazon under 20$ :/. Links to products would be greatly appreciated for any of the stuff i listed. PLEASE respond asap since im trying to buy this stuff before I go the the reptile expo on Saturday :)
 

Janelle

Juvenile Dragon
Messages
332
I’ve never used a MVB. But if you do choose to go that route, I hear Megaray is hands-down the best. I prefer separate basking and UVB bulbs. If you choose to go separate, I suggest a reptisun t5 10.0 tube or an Arcadia 12% t5. Make sure you get tubes, not compact.

Outdoor stuff is safe to use as long as it’s sanitized. And it’s typically way cheaper. I used leftover bricks from our sidewalk to build up a tunnel with a flat rock on top for her basking platform (all were soaked first). We also have a long branch cut off one of our oak trees secured to the side of her tank for her to climb on. It was baked in the oven before we used it.

A fairly barren tank is fine. They need floor space, so you don’t want it too cluttered with stuff.

Good for you for doing research first!
 

Michleo

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
3
I am a new mom to an 8 month old beardie.
I have a setup now for him but of course I want to upgrade him with more enrichment
At what age can he have a little soil, play sand combo that is kept far away from his food.
I have looked at bricks that I have and my concern is that the edges are very sharp and that they shed the small concrete pieces, and the thought of him eating concrete flakes scares the crap out of me.
I have been a snake owner for years, and he is whole new ball game.
 

Xiisune

Bearded Dragon Egg
Messages
2
I am a new mom to an 8 month old beardie.
I have a setup now for him but of course I want to upgrade him with more enrichment
At what age can he have a little soil, play sand combo that is kept far away from his food.
I have looked at bricks that I have and my concern is that the edges are very sharp and that they shed the small concrete pieces, and the thought of him eating concrete flakes scares the crap out of me.
I have been a snake owner for years, and he is whole new ball game.



Michele, although I'm not an owner yet, but I think it also depends on your lizards personality. Generally I think a year and a half - 2 years is a good time to be adding enrichments like that, but it depends on who you lizard is as well. You can always try at first putting a container with the dirt and sand and see how it reacts ^^
 

Janelle

Juvenile Dragon
Messages
332
I don't plan to ever have any dirt or sand in her tank, unless she needs a laying box at some point in the future. An enrichment alternative I may try at some point is a pile of fleece strips--cut large enough that they won't attempt to eat them. They can then "dig" and bury themselves in the fleece without the mess or impaction risk. They're also easy to wash. The bricks I have are solid (without the holes through the middle), multicolored pavers. The edges are curved, not sharp. I've never had any chunks shed off of them.
 

PatsyB

Super Moderator
Staff member
1,000+ Post Club
Beardie Club
Messages
9,390
Location
Chicago
I did a soil mix for my boy last summer, I used Reptisoil. I only did half of his tank and the other half was tile. It was a pain in the ass! He loved it, was always digging in it but it was DIRTY! He was covered in dirt all the time, I used a paintbrush to brush him off each day. It made it real hard to give him snuggles or let him run around the house because of all the dirt.
 
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