Bearded Dragon Enclosure

Bluebeard · Mar 30, 2005

ok this is my first atempt at building an enclosure, it stands about 3' high 4' long and about 1 1/2' deep, tell me what you think, I've already made some plan changes for the next one.

Bluebeard · Mar 31, 2005

come on people, give me some imput, good or bad.

Quigs · Mar 31, 2005

Beardies don't need that height, you have there. In fact, UV lights are supposed to be no more than 12 inches from them. Hard to tell from those pics but that looks quite a bit higher to me.

Bluebeard · Mar 31, 2005

from what i've read they like to climeb as well so why not put some height in there with some diferent leveals for them to bask on?

JTGoff69 · Mar 31, 2005

Bluebeard said:
ok this is my first atempt at building an enclosure, it stands about 3' high 4' long and about 1 1/2' deep, tell me what you think, I've already made some plan changes for the next one.

Quigs is right about the light. Floor space is more important than height when dealing with beardies. The length is great, you might just make it deeper rather than higher so the UV rays can reach them.

CAV · Mar 31, 2005

I agree with the advice you've been given

I'll throw in my .02.

Beardies only climb in order to bask near the heat/light. A high qualility UV should be no more than a foot above the basking platform. If you make the enclosure too tall, they aren't going to absorb the full spectrum lighting UV that is essential for they health.

mosdef · Mar 31, 2005

simple...the cage looks great hang your uvb fixture from stings from the top of your cage and make a low basking light and a high basking light so they can climb up something to get to the other basking spot (just to utilize the height in the enclosure). definatley need the uvb about 12-14 inches away from he bottom. im sure they will be fine just make sure their temps are 100-115 in the basking spot and an ambient temp of 80-85, and if the uvb is 12-14 inches from bottom, your beardies will do very well. good luck i frickin love beardies although i am extramley addicted to snakes now so i think i will be getting rid of one of my 4 beardies to get another tb. congrats on getting a beardie!

venus · Mar 31, 2005

I was going to say that it does not seem wide enought for an adult, it should be at least 2 ft wide. Here is one of mine that is 3 ft tall x 4 ft long x 2 ft wide. I have another that I built that is similar. Just make sure when you build that your lights are adjustable. My dragons all have their spots they like to lay so I can adjust them. As others have said, floor space is definately more important than height. Here is a link for a great bulb that includes basking and UVB. Its all I use. http://www.reptileuv.com/megarayflood.htm

jrobinson · Mar 31, 2005

18" is deep enough(people keep them in 55 gallon longs), 4' is a good length. The tank is tall, but that is okay, you will just have to use a Mercury Vapor Bulb (mvb) instead of a flourescent fixture, mvb's provide uv up to three feet depending on the wattage that you get. Marsha (Venus) has given you a good site to get mvb's at... check it out.

Here is a pic of one of our custom builts... (60"long x 18"wide x 31"tall) we use mvb's as well...

Bluebeard · Mar 31, 2005

thanks for the imput but the light fixtures are already done, i've got a heat lamp on the right side, theres a 100W bulb there right now but can go up to 175W and there is a uv day light that spans the rest of the lenth if need be i can upgrade the buld or and another but they'll not be moving any lower due to designe you can see in the pic there is a screen just at the top ot the door the brown strip, the lights come out right above that, the rest that is coverd is to hide the fixtures, it will not be changed, i'd have to reconstruct the entire enclosure and i'm not about to do that, when i get the rest of the stuff that will be going inside like logs and rocks and things i'll test temps and such befor actuly getting the beardie.

CAV · Mar 31, 2005

If they hang out up top and are properly supplemented, you might be OK

I'll restate a key point here. UV is critical to the health and development of your beardies. If they don't get enough, they will not thrive and may not survive. If you must redesign the tank to ensure this happens, so be it.

Mercury bulbs are certainly top notch (I use them myself) but they aren't long fluorescent tube bulb and don't fit in those type light fixtures.

mosdef · Apr 1, 2005

if you arent willing to make a simple adjustment be it hang the uvb bulb fixture by fishing line so its 12-14 inches away than maybe you should get another lizard. it is critical to have uvb, yes vitamins help but wont be properly broken down with out uvb light, you were skilled enough to build that nice enclosure im sure you can mickey mouse something to get the uvb light lower. im not attacking you by anymeans. this is however a serious thing they need the uvb. im sure you can come up with something

mosdef · Apr 1, 2005

whats a mvb run anyways????? i havent seen them anywheres around here, i would love to get one, it'd make my enclosure so muchneater looking.

CAV · Apr 1, 2005

The best one I've found are the PowerSun bulbs. They run about $50 each. It sounds exspensive but the results are clearly visable within minutes. The lizards become more active, have improved color and show less signs of stress.

jrobinson · Apr 1, 2005

a self balasted mvb (www.reptileuv.com) can be put in a ceramic fixture like you have probably have your basking bulb (100 watt) and would be much more benificial then that tube, as the uv light you have will not provide uv more then 12 inches away from the bubl, where as the basking lamp if replaced with a mvb can give off uv up to 36" depending on the wattage you select, they make a 100watt and a 160watt...

in case you dont know, lack of proper uv light for beardies is fatal, without proper exposure you beardie can a will develop metabolic bone decease (mbd), will lead to paralysis, and possible death... proper uv is needed (along with vit. d3) for your beardie to process its calcium and digest its food properly...

Bluebeard · Apr 3, 2005

alright you'll be happy to know i've taken your advice and went out and got a MVB and took out the uv bulb, and also put down a deposit on a beardie, so they would keep him for me, thanks for the imput guys.

Bluebeard · Apr 10, 2005

ok just picked up my new little guy, here are some pics of him and the enclosure completly set up.

CornyApollo · Nov 9, 2011

This is just for future reference.

I also have a Beardie, and I typically use BeardedDragons.org for the forums. It's a community much like this one, and it has great information.

CornyApollo · Nov 9, 2011

Your Beardie is a cutie! My Aaliyah is about 7 weeks old. The tank looks great!

dwyn127 · Nov 10, 2011

CornyApollo said:
My Aaliyah is about 7 weeks old!

This thread is 5 1/2 years old.

Bearded Dragon Enclosure

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