New Beardie and new person :)

[miss2]

Hi everyone
iam seeking others opinions as you all have a lot more experince then me in the reptile department
my partner and i have recently bought a custom made 4ft bearded dragon tank with all the trimmings but i have a couple things i would like opinions on as i have heard some conflicting advice.
the tank came with the some reptile carpet on the bottom and iam wondering if that is the best thing to use or if i can use reptile sand (i would prefer the sand because of the location of the enclosure and i want it to look nice but want our dragons best intrests put first)
also live or fake plants?
we have a light across the top (i think this is the uv?) and our heat light is a standard 100 watt globe.when we made the purchase of these items for the tank set up we were told that that was all we would need heat wise but i did just want to double check
thanks in advance for taking the time to offer advice

Cheers,
Miss2

 

[miss2]

i guess i will just go on what the shop told me

 

[miley_take]

beardie's claws can get caught in carpet...maybe use the sand instead

 

[Sturdy]

sand also can be known to cause impactation.

ive heard that the bunnings play sand is OK an gets passed on by the beardie.

i use live plants in my angle headed enclosure an they are fine.

just keep them in there pots an dont plant them in the sand. they will get trashed an mucked up.

keeping live plants in a lizard enclosure looks effective an the plants will grow real quick.

also note that beardies will taste test everything so choice on plants maybe important.

so for your lighting as long as there a hot end an a cooler end you lil guy should be right.

also is your breardie a central or eastern?
what temps were you told to use?

 

[Smellie]

howdy

in the way of carpet some people use it, some don't, it's more a personal choice. If it's a hatchling you're getting, then newspaper/paper towels are the way to go, as sand may cause intestinal (sp) problems for them. Most would say wait until they're around the 9 month-1 year age before putting in sand.

With lighting and UV, make sure UV is a 10.0 output as they need it to keep them healthy and prevent them from getting sick and bone deformities. That globe should be fine but get yourself a digital thermometer (if you don't have one already) because they're a LOT more acurate then your typical mercury ones. Under the basking spot it shoud be roughly 38-40 degrees, and on the other side of the tank shouldn't be any less then 10 degrees less then that, especially when they're young because they need the heat.

Any other advice you may need, just use the search function on here and have a look around, there's a heap of information on here.

Good luck!

 

[Chyka]

In my experience these little guys are pretty hardy, once you get into a routine of caring for them.
I agree carpet is'nt the best for them nore does it have a attractive look, but you can buy reptile sand they even have calcium sad made for dragons generally that's a good start the only thing i would say is if your getting juveniles i would probably stay with something else until they are older as young dragons are very interested in tasting everything and if they consume something they can not pass it can cause digestion problems. hope i have been some help

 

[Chris1]

once ur beardy is a half grown or more u can use sand, definately only the stuff from bunnings though, that passes the way it goes in. the sand to avoid is the expensive petshop sand with added calcium, it forms concrete like plugs and impacts them horribly.

till u move to sand i suggest using newspaper, if its too ugly paper towels over the top look a bit better, remember its only temporary and once youve smelt the poos you'll be happy to have somethign thats quick and easy to change,..

if the 100W light gets the temps to 43Cish then its perfect, but you'll need to test teh temps, theres no standard as to what strength globe to use,..

fake plants, less bacteria/humidity etc, i use big leafed vines from the $2 shop, they love giong under them to dig up a storm!!

even if you have a UVB light in ur tank a bit of natural sun is a good idea, dont let ur dragon loose, theyre fast, dont leave it unattended, they can overheat.

and lastly, WE WANNA SEE PICS!!!!

 

[miss2]

thanks so much everybody, i went home last night and wrote out what we have!

the tank is 122L 61h x 50w we have a 48' 10% out back max uv light tube,the day heat light bulb was a 100watt but i didnt think it was reaching the right temperatures so changed it to a 120 watt.
the hot spot was at 32 degrees this morning and the other side of the tank was at 17....... i turned the uv tube off over night and that was the temps this morning.
one other concern i have was the fact that the rock was soooo hot, its directly under the heat spot is this ok?
thanks again guys!!!

 

[Chris1]

the actual rock in my tank is 43C, the lizards when i test their temps (temp gun thing) are in the high 40's

hot is good, 32 is nowhere near hot enough.

turn all the lights off at night, they'll only need night heating for a couple of months over winter.

 

[TheBoga]

My cool end of the tank gets to 17* overnight too and that's with a 75watt red night light on overnight during winter.

I'll have to re-asses now that the warmer months are coming up because it will be my first spring/summer with my beardy.

Good info in this thread, pretty much sums up the best beardy set up miss2.

 

[shane14]

one way ive learned is water the sand with about 1L and the sand should be softer for the lizard

 

[miss2]

ok ill make a few changes, thanks guys...ok so most people have recomended not to go with the sand coz its only a little dragon, but was wondering about reptile litter??? its app all natural and made from nutt shells or something?

 

[Chris1]

never use the nutshells, i almost lost 2 juvies to that crap.

seriously, newspaper/paper towels are only temporary and will keep ur dragon safe till u can put it on sand, then playsand is cheap, looks nice, lets em dig etc.

 

[miss2]

ok thanks chris1...can u ask y though? is it from them eating it? wow they shouldnt be allowed to sell it if it can cause problems guess some places are just out to make money!!!

 

[Chris1]

yes, they were very impacted (lizard constipation,...)
Bug was managing 5 tiny poos a day (like a granule of that crap) and squeezing constantly with very little success, chub was leaving her vent hanging open fro 20 mins after pooing, the sharp edges were shredding her internally.

it took over a week of feeding only mushy fluidy foods and lots of baths to pass it, i was very lucky not not lose at least 1 of them.

the packet actually said fully digestable,....so it seems that not only can they sell things that are terrible, they also get to lie on the packaging.

 

[miss2]

hey everyone we picked up Boris on the weekend!!! hes so tiny!! so breeder said he might not eat for a day or so due to stress so i was very happy to see him munching crickets on the first night! its such a hard temptation to not to pick him up but were letting him adjust.
we were told that boris was a eastern bearded dragon but on futher inspection and from having a quick glance at mum and dad i suspect he is a central.
also i was wondering what peoples thoughts were on getting a 2nd, if we could guarantee a female?? the tank is 4 foot and we would be more then prepared to get another set up if any problems arised?

 

[Chris1]

i'd never recommend getting anything to put in with a male, my male has been seperate since he turned into a turd at around 5 months old. (lots of people do it though, i just hate seeing my dragons stressed and unhappy)

you could get a couple of females to live together though if you want more dragons, my 4 girls get along beautifully!!
that way if you want to breed them you can put the male with them to do the deed and move him out again,...

where are the fotos of Boris?