Bearded dragon enclosure

[Crazycow232]

Im thinking of getting a beardie and ive been look at enclosures and they have been alot of $$$$. so i have decided to make one. 1 metre long, 50cm high and 40 cm wide. i will build it out of wood. the bottom, sides and the back. i will make half of the roof wood and the other half mesh. the wooden roof is so i can secure the basking light and uvb to it. i am going to make the front perspex so i can see and it is scrach proof .

will this be big enough? is it enough ventalation?

Thanks

 

[Red-Ink]

40 cm is too narrow, the "standard" minimum is at least 60 cm.

 

[Crazycow232]

ok thanks, its just that the table in the corner of my room is 40cm wide. might have to get a new table my brother made it.

 

[sharky]

Mine is 4ft longx2ft highx2ft wide. Happily housed a male and a female. My male is only in there now though.

 

[Crazycow232]

should i chandge my demensions to 100cm long 55cm wide 55cm high?
would that be better than before?

thanks for the help though

 

[smileysnake]

sorry scratch proof perspex for beardy wow where did you buy that from lol

 

[Crazycow232]

there is a perspex warehouse in silver water sydney that makes custom sized perspex
not sure how much though it was just a thought coz i drove past it.

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btw
im a noob at this stuff but do just use ceramic tile as a substrate? i would think that they would slip with their claws?

 

[smileysnake]

yeah mate its not scratch proof and bearded dragons have claws perspex wont last dont waste your money do it right buy glass mate you are not gonna save much money by buying perspex

 

[Crazycow232]

ok thanks alot

 

[Venomous_RBB]

100cm long is good for 1 beardie, if you are getting two, I would recommend 120cm(4ft) or more. 55cm h/w are good but 60cm at least is preferred.
In terms of the other stuff, you should use a MVB - Mercury Vapour Bulb, these have both UV and Heat, so you only need to run 1 bulb
You can buy the MVB's at ABDF supplies.

Also speaking of ABDF, you should join that forum as well as here, they have some great advice and are a really nice group of people. ABDF stands for - Australian Bearded Dragon Forum.
(I am BlackHeaded92 on there )

I would also ditch the perspex and get glass mate, beardies will scratch the perspex to pieces.

In terms of ventilation, it should be sufficient enough, however most people have their vents like this:

Just so it makes the ventilation flow better

 

[smileysnake]

no mate the tile is for feeding on or to cover your heat mat or chord i use sand or you can use bark reptile grade

 

[Crazycow232]

ok thanks this site has helped me heaps

 

[Venomous_RBB]

I would stick with the sand/tile - put the tile under the hot end(lamp) so that it heats up and basically becomes belly warmth for the beardies, sand also soes the same thing so if you want to just have sand, then just have sand.

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These are the sandstone tiles I was telling you about, they cost $7 from bunnings, they are big but you can get smaller ones for a great price. My girls love it and it keeps their nails down, it also sits in with the play sand

These is one in the enclosures:


I do have updated pics, taking them now.

 

[Crazycow232]

thanks they look awesome

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thanks they look awesome

 

[Venomous_RBB]

Updated pics - Enclosure:

Actual Sandstone tile/paver(these are 100% sandstone by a SA quarry (That is what I was told annyway ):


And just a pic of my hatchy, she was watching me while I was taking pic's, lol (currently in shed).

 

[Crazycow232]

ok thanks
your dragon can climb

 

[Venomous_RBB]

ha ha yeah she sure can, she loves climbing on the backwall, we call her spider lizard

 

[Hamalicious]

hahaha scratch proof perspex? that must be a new product. definitely go with glass, perspex is rubbish for anything with claws.