bearded dragon setup questions

[dragozz]

ok so I;m getting my first pygmy bearded dragon on Monday I know this setup question has been asked a thousand times, but I just want to make sure that I;m doign the right, and since most of you have a lot of experience, your knowledge on this will be greatly appreciated

I have a 3 ft tank. now the questions. As a substrate I;m thinking either desert sand or newspaper for now, Anything else I can use?

I heard that you can use a heat mat instead of a basking lamp? true or totally wrong?

I will have a reflector of course, I heard you can use the NEC blacklight? Is that ok for this setup? if so do you know where they sell them at?

Just wanted to confirm these things before I buy everything.

 

[wil]

nec blacklight at bunnings, spotone globes from bunnings 4 basking light, how old is beardy you are getting?

 

[D.Adder]

Bearded Substrate

Hi there,
I find recycled newspaper cat litter is a great substrate for my Bearded Dragons. They can burrow into it at night and cleaning is very easy as faeces can just be picked up in conglommeratted lumps. It spreads quite easily and I recommend changing it once every two to three months depending on how many dragons you have in one tank. I gather you would only be wanting to keep two in a tank three foot in size. One word of warning though, When feeding be sure that no food drops out onto the substrate as they will want to eat the food off the ground prompting them to accidentally take some pellets into their digestive system. The recycled paper is non toxic however it is not a good thing for them to eat as it can expand in the gut and cause digestive trac blockage. I recommend using a reasonably high ceramic bowl with some weight to it so they cant tip it over.
I hope this helps you out.
Kind regards.

 

[MrBredli]

I've never seen an NEC T10 Blacklight at Bunnings (not saying they don't sell them - just never seen them). The Herp Shop sells them. Don't use a heat pad for Beardies, they much prefer to bask underneath a radiant heat source.

 

[dragozz]

so you think only 2 pygmy's will go in a 3ft tank? I heard that a little colony can fit in a 3ft ??...

 

[dragozz]

ah ye, what wattage spotglobe should I get for a 3ft? 60w?

 

[CodeRed]

you'll fit two or 3 adult pygmy beardies in a 3 ft tank, but not a whole colony

60W spot globe will be plenty. I currently have a 40 W spot globe and a 26 W compact fluro (for UVB) and it works very well.

Havent tried the T10's but have heard they are very good. My only problem with the fluro tubes vs compacts is that they are a long way from the animals and depending on the type of tank you may have some glass between the fluro tube and the beardies. Normal glass will absorb UVB.

With the new compact fluros (the ones with a hood from URS) the beardies can bask really close to the tube and get the max UVB.

Here's a pic of my heat/light setup.
View attachment 445

 

[dragozz]

CodeRed

what sort of sand do you use?

I'm changing the glass lids to the metal/net like one's, so that the uv rays can go through. I will have a couple of high rocks and wood that will go up towards the basking lamp.

Ye in terms of the amount of pygmy's in a 3ft, it was getting confusing cos everyone's opinion varies:S haha. If I get more I can upgrade the tank anyway.

 

[CodeRed]

I use playground sand from bunnings ... $4 for 20 kgs