General questions about beardie care

[Cipher1992]

Hey Reptile forums

First off I've always been an animal lover, I have been contemplating getting a few Tarantulas and Reptiles for a while I figured I would start off with a beardie as they seem to be good for beginners anyway, I have a few questions, sorry if this is in the wrong section.
Would it be OK to get a viv suitable for an adult beardie but use a splitter to half the beardies living area until he/she gets bigger?

I was reading http://www.reptileforums.co.uk/forum...s-kent-19.html and it seems Penfolds shop seems the way to go. What size viv would I need for an adult beardie? I thought about making my own, but seeing as I'm a novice I'd rather buy an already made one.
I just basically need a list of everything I need for my beardie to live a happy life. Perhaps some good links on taking care of them? Any information is greatly appreciate even if I haven't asked for it.

[Exzhal]

A beardie, to be honest, wouldn't mind the full tank even as a baby and would probably love the space as long as you pack it out with things to climb on/under and some hides thought of course if you wanted to you can put a divider in there no problem.

You'd want a 4ft x 2ft x 2ft for an adult beardie which will do them for life. A good place to start on that and someone I'd highly recommend is Volly, I just got a 6x2x2 from him for my Burm and worked out very cheap and better quality than my VivExotic ones I have :P You can get in touch with him here https://www.facebook.com/volly1?fref=ts. Can also check the classified section for second hand ones.

Basically you're going to need a ceramic bulb holder with a 100w bulb on a dimming stat, a normal bulb will do. You'll turn this off at night time (which you can buy timers for to do it automatically) to keep a day/night cycle for your pet. You need a bulb guard over that too.

Second you'll need a UV bulb, most recommened Arcadia T5 Essex Reptile - Arcadia T5 D3 Reptile Lamp 12% and for that you're looking for the 46"/54w one for a 4ft viv. With a controller Essex Reptile - Arcadia Ultra-Seal Controller and of course the fittings for the bulb, you can get those on ebay

Erm other things.. obvious being decor for your viv, water bowl (though not everyone uses water bowls for beardies as not all drink from them, but get one to start off, if it's never used to scrap it and give your lizard a weekly bath as they will take it moisture that way), hides/plants, and you'll need to choose a substrate.

The best substrate in my opinion is upturned tiles. Upturned keeps their nails nicely trimmed down and they're easy to clean and look really nice. Otherwise go for play sand Buy Children's Play Sand - 15kg Bag at Argos.co.uk - Your Online Shop for Sand., sand is a controversial subject with beardies especially though as it can cause problems with impaction, but play sand is the safest sand if you go down that route.

[tomcannon]

Originally Posted by Exzhal

A beardie, to be honest, wouldn't mind the full tank even as a baby and would probably love the space as long as you pack it out with things to climb on/under and some hides thought of course if you wanted to you can put a divider in there no problem.

You'd want a 4ft x 2ft x 2ft for an adult beardie which will do them for life. A good place to start on that and someone I'd highly recommend is Volly, I just got a 6x2x2 from him for my Burm and worked out very cheap and better quality than my VivExotic ones I have :P You can get in touch with him here https://www.facebook.com/volly1?fref=ts. Can also check the classified section for second hand ones.

Basically you're going to need a ceramic bulb holder with a 100w bulb on a dimming stat, a normal bulb will do. You'll turn this off at night time (which you can buy timers for to do it automatically) to keep a day/night cycle for your pet. You need a bulb guard over that too.

Second you'll need a UV bulb, most recommened Arcadia T5 Essex Reptile - Arcadia T5 D3 Reptile Lamp 12% and for that you're looking for the 46"/54w one for a 4ft viv. With a controller Essex Reptile - Arcadia Ultra-Seal Controller and of course the fittings for the bulb, you can get those on ebay

Erm other things.. obvious being decor for your viv, water bowl (though not everyone uses water bowls for beardies as not all drink from them, but get one to start off, if it's never used to scrap it and give your lizard a weekly bath as they will take it moisture that way), hides/plants, and you'll need to choose a substrate.

The best substrate in my opinion is upturned tiles. Upturned keeps their nails nicely trimmed down and they're easy to clean and look really nice. Otherwise go for play sand Buy Children's Play Sand - 15kg Bag at Argos.co.uk - Your Online Shop for Sand., sand is a controversial subject with beardies especially though as it can cause problems with impaction, but play sand is the safest sand if you go down that route.

Just a couple of things to question from what is otherwise a great reply. As said he'll be fine with the whole space of the viv, you DON'T want to put a divider in as this will disrupt your temperature gradient which is very important for BD'S. They require a high basking spot and a much cooler cool end which is difficult to so in a smaller space than 4x2x2. So leave him with the full space, just allow for decor and hides as mentioned so he has got somewhere to retreat if he's threatened by anything.

Depending on your ambient temps within your house a 100w spot may be too overkill and result in a constantly dimmed bulb (don't forget to buy a dimming thermostat!) and you may be better off with a 60w, buy a couple of different ones and see what works best.

As said you want the T5 uv, but you don't want the 4ft version in a 4ft uv, you want the 3ft version mounted in the hot side so that the cool side drops in to shade. Check photogradient on here.

Finally, although I'd agree with playsand being the best of the sand substrates I wouldn't recommend any loose substrate for a young BD. Go for tiles, Lino, paper towel.

[Cipher1992]

Thanks for the awesome reply's. Ended up re-homing a neglected 18 month old beardie, they hadn't replaced the UV bulb after it broke -__-. After I put him in a viv with a new UV bulb (went for the Arcadia D3+) he was so much more lively than when I had seen him around the previous owners my face lit up! I let him settle in for a day without interacting with him, today he ate out of my hand and let me stroke him.

[Big sunflower]

Hi Cipher

Well done for rehoming a beardy - I'm thinking about doing the same. How did you go about doing it, and is there anything you'd do differently next time? Also, did you look at any reptile rescue places? I'm in Kent also.

[Cipher1992]

Gumtree is a great place to find reptiles that need re-homing, however there's a great reptile rescue centre in Brighton the RSPCA run it you can find out more info here RSPCA - Reptile Rescue I've been to that one.
Differently? Definitely preparation is key I would advise to set up his/her viv before you get one, I spent hours setting mine up the same day I got him which probably lead to more stress for him.