Bearded Dragons owners.....would like some input!

katlovesaandw

katlovesaandw

New Member
We bought my son(age 12) a bearded dragon. We have had Norberta about 6 weeks now.
She was a baby but boy is she growing!
She is housed in a 20 gallon long tank right now.
We have read several books cover to cover on proper care for her.

My question right now is:
When should we upgrade her tank and should we get another tank or a mesh cage like you use for the chams?

She is approx. 4.5 in. body length, 10 in. overall length inc. tail. And maybe 5-6 months old? I do not know age for sure but she has almost doubled in size in 6 weeks.

We need to start looking for a good deal and I want to make sure we get exactly what she needs!

Thanks!
 
I have a male beardie - Aragon - who is almost two years old and I have had him since he was 4 weeks old. I kept him in a 20 long until he was approximately 8 months old. I strongly suggest nothing smaller than a 40 gallon breeder tank (not a 40 gallon fish tank, but a breeder tank, which is bigger) - the bigger the better. It needs to be at least 18" wide and most of your fish tanks (55 gallon, etc.) are only 12" wide. I keep him in a 50 gallon breeder tank and he has lots of room to move around. Go to www.beardeddragon.org - this is the best web site I've found for info on beardies. Good luck!
 
Thanks!
I figured we had about enough time to get thru the holidays we before we had to invest in a new cage for her.
I am hoping to push it to tax refund time, but will keep my eye out between now and then.
Thanks for the site!
 
katlovesaandw said:
Thanks!
I figured we had about enough time to get thru the holidays we before we had to invest in a new cage for her.
I am hoping to push it to tax refund time, but will keep my eye out between now and then.
Thanks for the site!
Click to expand...


A 40g would work fine for a dragon. Keep an eye on Craigslist as they have cheap tanks for sale ALL the time. Or PetCo / PetsMart has $1 per gallon sales all the time, you should be able to pick up what you need without getting too deep into the pigy bank.
 
Vegas Chad said:
A 40g would work fine for a dragon. Keep an eye on Craigslist as they have cheap tanks for sale ALL the time. Or PetCo / PetsMart has $1 per gallon sales all the time, you should be able to pick up what you need without getting too deep into the pigy bank.
Click to expand...

Thanks!
Ideally, I would love to have hubby make one that fits the space we have her small tank in. But, not sure that would work. There is plenty of room to grow and fit a larger tank there.

I checked CL today and only 40 gal. breeder is with a bearded dragon and we do not want, need nor have space for another.
But, we have time. I will check with the petstore we bought this tank at. This was a used tank of theirs. They always have ones on clearance for cheap. We got it(20gal long), the screen lid, a lamp, a bark tunnel and a long light to fit it plus a bag of substrate for $40. Which was a decent price, we thought.
 
katlovesaandw said:
Thanks!
Ideally, I would love to have hubby make one that fits the space we have her small tank in. But, not sure that would work. There is plenty of room to grow and fit a larger tank there.

I checked CL today and only 40 gal. breeder is with a bearded dragon and we do not want, need nor have space for another.
But, we have time. I will check with the petstore we bought this tank at. This was a used tank of theirs. They always have ones on clearance for cheap. We got it(20gal long), the screen lid, a lamp, a bark tunnel and a long light to fit it plus a bag of substrate for $40. Which was a decent price, we thought.
Click to expand...

I would get rid of the substrate. Beardies do great on newspaper, or you can be creative with ceramic tile, both easy to clean.
 
40 gallon breeders are a great size tank. Try aiming for a $1 a gallon sale because normally then run for about $110 (Got one recently to use as my reef tank and two days later they started the sale -_-) . Also note, a 40 gallon breeder is the same footprint as a 50 breeder, only shorter.

Also 40 breeders are a lot more common, at least in my experience.
 
i would do 40 breeder or 55 long glass , or u can make a homemade one but if so use chiken wire not mess cause they run alot more then chams and that mesh wont hold there weight, upgrade as soon as u can and then u wont have to worry about it in there future, i own 8 adult beardies and over 70 young , my 8 1 male 7 female's all in same chicken wire cage 6'x5'x4'
 
I keep and breed lots of bearded dragons - have had my group going multi-generations since 1994.

I use 175 gallon reptariums (4'x30") for trios of 1 male and 2 females because I keep them outdoors all summer. I cover with tarps when it rains. Damp substrate leads to problems for bearded dragons, so I keep the cages dry in the rain.

40 gallon breeder tanks will work. You can raise even a baby in a tank that size- don't be afraid to make the switch from the 20 anytime you want.

Bigger is always better with bearded dragons though. I have an old 8 foot by 30 inch enclosure that I really like to watch them in because in a cage that size, they jog everywhere they go. In even the 4 foot x 30 inch cage, they might take a few quick steps, but then they have room for no more, so even in a cage that size, natural behavior is limited by the cage size.

Single dragons often aren't as active as dragons kept together though, so maybe these big cages are not as useful for single animals.
 
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