I personally would say that a 3' is "definitely" too small for an average beardie. Having had to keep an adult female (only 18") in a 3' for a week whilst I was adding some extra vivs on top of her cage, I would advise people not to keep a beardie in there full time. It looked far too small and cramped for her, and whenever she tried to run or do anything other than plod around she quickly hit the other end of the cage. An extra foot may not sound like much, but it's almost double the effective running distance for her (assuming she's 18", she has 18" to run in a 3', compared with 30" in a 4')

Have you considered Rankins dragons? They typically grow smaller than a beardie, and should be ok in a 3' as adults.

With regards to the MVB, I personally wouldn't touch one without a stat, especially not during the summer. They definitely have higher UV output, but there is the safety issue; they must be mounted further away from the animals to avoid overexposure to the UV, and they can pump out a fair bit of heat. I would definitely say a 3' is too small for one; it would be extremely hard to get the temperature gradients etc.

Have a read through UV Guide UK - Ultraviolet Light for Reptiles - UVB reptile lighting on test; they have tested out various MVBs and tubes; a correctly set up ReptiSun 10.0, mounted on the backwall with a reflector will give you a similar UV output much more conveniently in a smaller cage, with the added safety of being able to use a dimmer stat with it. It will also cover the entire cage, rather than just the basking spot. If the basking spot gets too hot (which it may well do with an MVB in a low cage), the dragon will sit around the periphery of the actual spot to bask. Due to the UV profile of an average MVB (again, see uvguide.co.uk), there won't be much UV around the edges of the basking spot, so the "advantage" of using an MVB for the higher UV is lost.

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hmmm.. not sure what to do now.. I dont think i like the idea of it possibly being too small would rather it be too big if anything... iykwim.. think I will prob leave it a while n see if we can find a bigger something. The other option is to go with hubby's choice or lizard a yeman chameleon.. as this unit we have would make a 3ft x 2.5ft x 17" home.. what do u reckon? do i let him get his own way for once or do i stick to my guns...?

Thanks guys for all your input. really apprciate it.

cheers Chell

PS. I have considered rankins cause they are really sweet.. bit like rocking horse poo though

ta chell

Rankins are becoming more widely available - have a quick flick through the lizard classifieds in the last week or so, I'm sure I've seen a few up for sale...

I don't know whether it would be suitable for yemens or not; they get quite large and need a lot of height. You'd be best speaking to one of the guys in the lizard section who has kept yemens for a few years to get an idea. Have a look at caresheets for them in the caresheet section on here; caresheets on forums tend to get a lot of feedback, so you can get an idea for how reliable they are, and any errors are quickly corrected etc...

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