Increasingly confused and disgruntled

[Puff and Poppit]

I have a glass vivarium - it has ventilation, lighting, heat mat and heat lamp etc. Two shops have now said they will not sell me a bearded dragon if I have a glass viv. One of the shops is holding two hatchlings for me (a christmas pressie) - am I over-sensitive or are they just trying to sell me a state of the art £350 set-up I don't need? What is the advice on heat mats? and sand? and do I need to get a wooden viv? I am getting really confused as everywhere I go seems to give different info. Can anyone advise and help me>?

[ian14]

Glass vivs don't hold heat well.
You may well be better off looking on the classifieds on here and buying from a private breeder - the dragons will be around half the price they would be in a shop, and the breeder can advise you on a correct set up rather thn thinking of profit by selling unnessecary equipment.

[Puff and Poppit]

Thanks for that - I will do. But the shop still is holding two little beardies for me which have already been paid for!

[ian14]

I would then ask for a refund.

[Meko]

a glass viv is perfectly fine apart from not holding heat as well as a wooden one. The main reason that people advise against glass is that the open sides can stress them out.
Spend a couple of quid on a fishtank type back ground to cover 3 of the open sides. You don't need a heat mat, they need a basking light and don't bother with the sand if they're only babies; paper towel will be fine.

Once you've got the sides covered and the viv all set up, make sure you can get the correct heats (105f - 110f basking spot down to 85ish in the cool end) using a bulb on a dimming thermostat. Make sure they can get to within 8inches of the UVB tube etc etc
Once you've got the viv setup right then there's no reason why they shouldn't let you take the beardies.


Better still... take pics of the viv and post them up here, we can tell you what needs changing and when it's right.

[auntiesocial84]

theres a man called volly on here who makes nice wooden vivs which are really good for money. im gona buy one from him soon.

[HABU]

that is retarded... like not selling a car because they don't like your drive way... or how you drive...

screw them... don't do business with them...

probably charging too much for them anyways...

glass vivs?... everyone uses aquariums here just about for vivs...

stupid... i would tell them a thing of two....

stupid shops...

[HABU]

Originally Posted by Meko

a glass viv is perfectly fine apart from not holding heat as well as a wooden one. The main reason that people advise against glass is that the open sides can stress them out.
Spend a couple of quid on a fishtank type back ground to cover 3 of the open sides. You don't need a heat mat, they need a basking light and don't bother with the sand if they're only babies; paper towel will be fine.

Once you've got the sides covered and the viv all set up, make sure you can get the correct heats (105f - 110f basking spot down to 85ish in the cool end) using a bulb on a dimming thermostat. Make sure they can get to within 8inches of the UVB tube etc etc
Once you've got the viv setup right then there's no reason why they shouldn't let you take the beardies.



Better still... take pics of the viv and post them up here, we can tell you what needs changing and when it's right.

yeah,... i've used all glass predominately... what i've done is placed a computer fan on the screen top of aquariums for ventilation...

[Puff and Poppit]

Thanks - that's just how I felt! But I changed my viv and now have a cupboard with glass doors (well that's what it looks like. Beardies are fun but I still can't pick up the crickets! Yeeeooo!

[Antw23uk]

And dont forget there is a very strong possibilty that you will need to seperate them as they mature. Two males will fight, two females ... well my female pretty much killed her sister at four months (before i got her) and a male and a female will breed endangering the females life if she is bred from too young ... plus they are probably related so not a good idea.

Selling two beardies together is a bad move in my opinion and pretty typical of a shop