# juvi bearded dragon



## KeemCambell (Jun 7, 2004)

i was wondering if it would be safe to have cheap play sand from home depot or sumthing as the subrate for my 9-10" dragon? i dont really feel like payin 10 dollars for 5 pounds


----------



## seanieboy31 (Jun 14, 2004)

do you feed him in the tank? if you do then i don't think thats a good idea. lots of ppl do it but when they get the food ( crckets, lettuce) then they grag some sand with their sticky tongue and their stomachs get impacted. this will cause trouble. if you really want to use it use it but feed the beardie in another cage. hope this helps


----------



## KeemCambell (Jun 7, 2004)

i feed him in the cage, but veggies and pellets i feed him from a dish but with crickets they can go anywhere, is impaction a huge problem with juvis and adults, or will a lil sand jus pass thru, or does it just build up?


----------



## seanieboy31 (Jun 14, 2004)

not so mcuh in adults but it can horm your juvi and lethal to babies. depending how much he ingests it might pass thru. good luck and read up on them there are tons of info on the web.


----------



## KeemCambell (Jun 7, 2004)

seanieboy31 said:


> not so mcuh in adults but it can horm your juvi and lethal to babies. depending how much he ingests it might pass thru. good luck and read up on them there are tons of info on the web.


 alright man thanks a lot, i could always pay like 20X's more for digestible stuff but ill read up, thanks for the help


----------



## seanieboy31 (Jun 14, 2004)

no prob glad to help


----------



## dracofish (Jul 13, 2003)

I keep juveniles on Reptisand and adults on Play Sand. Haven't had any problems yet and I breed them...


----------



## johndeere (Jul 21, 2004)

So are you guys saying that Reptisand is ok for juvi's and adults? I thought that it was not good for any gecko, but I have also never used it. If it's safe for all without worries of impaction I may just try it.


----------



## dracofish (Jul 13, 2003)

johndeere said:


> So are you guys saying that Reptisand is ok for juvi's and adults? I thought that it was not good for any gecko, but I have also never used it. If it's safe for all without worries of impaction I may just try it.


 I don't know about Geckos, but it's fine for Bearded Dragons.


----------



## KeemCambell (Jun 7, 2004)

id be content with reptisand, but its like 70cents a pound and playsand is like 5 a pound im thinkin i need about 100 pounds maybe, so 5 dollars to 70,but i unno if its worth the risk


----------



## dracofish (Jul 13, 2003)

KeemCambell said:


> id be content with reptisand, but its like 70cents a pound and playsand is like 5 a pound im thinkin i need about 100 pounds maybe, so 5 dollars to 70,but i unno if its worth the risk


 Why do you need 100lbs? I have 45 Beardies at the moment and I still don't use that much substrate...


----------



## KeemCambell (Jun 7, 2004)

dracofish said:


> KeemCambell said:
> 
> 
> > id be content with reptisand, but its like 70cents a pound and playsand is like 5 a pound im thinkin i need about 100 pounds maybe, so 5 dollars to 70,but i unno if its worth the risk
> ...


 i unno, it was an estimate(prolly a very bad one but eh), i have a 125 gal, 6' by 2;ish? i unno how much would i need? 
i read they like to dig and wutnot, so i want them to be happy and frolick


----------



## seanieboy31 (Jun 14, 2004)

for baby beardies i've usd and seen at a reptile store they just use paper towels. its a lot easier to clean too


----------



## KeemCambell (Jun 7, 2004)

seanieboy31 said:


> for baby beardies i've usd and seen at a reptile store they just use paper towels. its a lot easier to clean too


 yea but thats not very good looking


----------



## dracofish (Jul 13, 2003)

seanieboy31 said:


> for baby beardies i've usd and seen at a reptile store they just use paper towels. its a lot easier to clean too


 It's not easy to clean when you have 37 juveniles in a bunch of different habitats and they poo alot. Taking a sifter to some sand is much easier than having to change out paper towels every day. The same goes for adults, especially since they just love to get their water bowl everywhere. I'd hate to see how big of a mess that makes with paper towels.


----------



## lemmywinks (Jan 25, 2004)

ya just regular play sand should work out ok w/ the little guy. another thing i would suggest is indoor/outdoor carpet. its pretty easy to clean and it looks good


----------



## KeemCambell (Jun 7, 2004)

lemmywinks said:


> ya just regular play sand should work out ok w/ the little guy. another thing i would suggest is indoor/outdoor carpet. its pretty easy to clean and it looks good


 i have the reptile carpet right now in the 20 long, i dont really like it, but i had to cut it to fit so its kinda wierd to clean (like 5-6 pieces) but i want the more natural look to the tank, ok next question would be lighting, i was gonna do the strip lights for the UVB and then attach like 2 heat lamps(i believe are 100 watt) about a foot -a foot and a half from the sand, would this be enough for heat? i will have something to climb on underneath it

ALSO if you dont mind, i read about this one thing on this site like wildearth or sumthing ill try to find the link, but its like a background cut to fit the tank with all this detail and then sandstuff for tthe bottom, seems like it would be cool has anybody used this or something like this?

AND THANKS SO MUCH FOR THE HELP GUYS


----------



## dracofish (Jul 13, 2003)

For lighting you need two different light fixtures. One ceramic standard fixture (with a dome) for the heat lamp on one side of the enclosure... it can be purchased from petco or sometimes found at home depot. It should be able to support at least 100 watts. As for heat lamp wattage, that depends on your individual tank and where you situate the bulb. Make sure the dragons cannot come in contact with the bulb. Situate the slate basking rock underneath and get a digital temperature guage (purchased at home depot) and measure what it reads after a few minutes (measure where the dragon would be sitting). Figure out the wattage by trial and error. The heat spot should be around 100 degrees. For bulbs we use halogen or even sometimes standard incandescent. You don't have to buy the ones meant specifically for herps because they're expensive and burn out quickly.

For the UV fixture you need to use a standard strip light fixture. Situate the driftwood perch underneath so the dragons can get within 8 inches of the source. It gives off negligable heat, so it can be situated in the center of the cage or even on the cold side. BOTH lights are turned off at night and should be kept on the same timer.

The bulbs that give off both heat and UV don't give off the correct amounts. Bearded Dragons need both UVA and UVB light in order to produce vitamin D3.

If you are using a wire cover you can set the UV strip light on top where it needs to go and then secure it in place with wire. For the heat light, once you figure out where it needs to be in relation to the basking spot and the correct wattage (DO THIS BEFORE YOU GET YOUR DRAGON SO YOU HAVE THE BASKING SPOT READY), you may have to cut a hole in the wire top and secure the fixture that way. Make sure the bulb doesn't come in contact with anything.

Also, here's a caresheet I've typed up:


> Beardies are very docile, like the dogs of the herp world. I'd say that they're the best pet reptile out there. Of course, they have to be handled a lot to stay that way, males moreso than females.
> 
> Housing:
> The enclosure should be no smaller than 36" x 18" (standard 40 gallon breeder) for a single adult or pair. Two females may be housed together but never two males. The enclosure must be large enough to establish a proper heat gradient with the necessary equipment such as a slate basking rock and driftwood perch. For substrate we recommend ReptiSand. Adults may be kept on Play Sand (bought from Home Depot) but the grains are too large for juveniles. The enclosure must be sifted every day for feces and other detritus.
> ...


----------



## KeemCambell (Jun 7, 2004)

i was just thinkin, im prolly not gonna be able to do a male/female, kuz i dont think i have the money/time to deal with babies right now, hmm ill have to do somet hinkin wut i wanna do, kinda seems wasteful to put him in there alone, but he will prolly like it, then maybe later on when i have a lil more money i can start a small breeding project, i also am lookin at snakes i always thought having one would be very cool, since the 20 long will be open im prolly gonna get a corn snake things will be fun

THANKS FOR THE HELP


----------

