Daylight Blue Reptile
April 7th, 2010 | Published in Reptiles

Would this be alright an alright habitat for a Bearded Dragon?
* Wooden 4ft Vivarium with sliding glass doors (vents)
* Door Lock
* Red Calci-Sand
* Small Water Bowl
* Small food bowl
* Hollow rock (Basking Spot/ hiding spot)
* Fake Plant
* Thermometers
* Habba Hut (http://www.reptilesupply.com/images/hh_s_habba_hut.jpg)
* Arcadian Fluorescent Lighting Controller 36-38watt 42"-48"x1"tubes
* Arcadia D3 Reptile Lamp , 36watt 48" 1200mm
* Blue daylight spot. 100 watts. OR 100 watts Sun Glo (Neodymium daylight lamp) ???
* Habistat (dimming thermostat)
Is this alright and is there anything else i need?
Everything sounds good, except for the calci-sand, the blue light, and no supplements.
Bearded dragons should NEVER be housed on calci-sand; it causes impaction, which can be fatal. All sand, and other loose particle substrates (crushed walnut, bed a beast, etc) are VERY dangerous to beardies, and should NOT be used. Besides the impaction risk with sand, it is very germy. Even after you "scoop" the poop, the germs stay in the sand, which is in the tank. The best substrates are paper towel, newspaper, slate or ceramic tile (don't glue it down), and non-stick shelf liner. They are cheap, sanitary, easy for daily spot cleaning, and can't cause impaction. If you use either of the papers, you just take out the soiled piece, trash it, and put in a clean piece. If you use tile or shelf liner, you just take out the soiled tile and wash it (use reptile-safe disinfectant, not soap), or take out the shelf liner and wash it.
With the basking light, it should be white. Bearded dragons do NOT do well under colored light; whether it's blue, red, or black. The light should be white. You can use a white reptile basking bulb, or a regular (white) household bulb. This is a good bulb for beardies http://www.petmountain.com/product/incandescent/501544/exo-terra-sun-glo-tight-beam-basking-bulbs.html
Also, you can't have a dimmer for the UVB light, that causes the UV rays to diminish faster. You MUST replace flourescent tubes at least every 6 months. You can use a dimmer for the regular heat bulb though
For the thermometers, make sure you get the digital ones with a probe. Do NOT get the cheap stick on ones, they can be off up to 20 degrees!
Also, make sure you get calcium and multi-vitamin powder for your beardies. If you use a flourescent tube UVB, you need Repcal calcium+D3, and Herptivite multi-vitamin. If you get an MVB bulb, you need Repcal calcium NO D3, and Herptivite. A baby needs calcium 5x a week (only on one feeding; so if you feed 3x a day, only put calcium on the first feeding) and herptivite on 2x a week (only on one feeding that day). An adult needs calcium 2x a week, and Herptivite 1x a week.
http://www.petmountain.com/product/supplements/105551/rep-cal-ultrafine-calcium-with-vitamin-d3.html
http://www.petmountain.com/product/supplements/105550/rep-cal-herptivite.html
If you get a hollow log, make sure the beardie will be able to get out if they get in it. Beardies have been known to get stuck in things like that. You can use aquarium sealent to close up holes; let it dry overnight before putting it in the cage.
Also, if you want, the water dish can be big enough for the beardie to get in it. A lot of the time beardies like to soak and poop in their water.
Here is a site that has everything a beardie can&can't eat http://www.beautifuldragons.503xtreme.com/Nutrition.html
And here is a site if you need more advice: http://www.beardeddragon.org/bjive/
Good Luck!
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