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Selecting your Beardies home

You will need to purchase a vivarium before bringing your Bearded Dragon home so it can be introduced straight away to it's new surroundings to reduce stress. If this cannot be avoided ensure that your Beardie is kept warm and most importantly safe while you set up their new home and accessories.

The vivarium size should not be less than 40 gallons with height being the most important dimension as Beardies like to climb. This is a bare minimum that should be considered as a Beardie will quickly outgrow this. Ideally to keep one Bearded Dragon look to purchase a 50+ gallon vivarium and where keeping two Bearded Dragons only a minimum of 70 gallons should be used.

Some vivariums can be quite expensive so as an alternative you can make your own. With all vivariums be it home made or bought ensure that the below are followed

1. A good level of ventilation is provided
2. Ensure that you have easy access to your Beardie
3. Located in a suitable area away from direct sunlight and that any shelves and furniture can handle the weight and your Beardie moving around.

Substrate

The substrate you use is an important factor below are some recommendations.

Good Substrates

1. Sand is cheap to buy and easy to clean, however do not use with Bearded Dragons under six months as it can cause impaction
2. Reptile carpet should be cleaned at regular intevals and replaced quite often
3. Paper towels and newspaper are cheap but need to be replaced almost daily and are not aesthetically pleasing although is recommended for Bearded Dragons upto six months of age

Bad Substrates

1. Reptile bark is not recommended as Beardies may eat this causing complications that may be fatal, also crickets can hide in the day time and cause stress and even nibble on a Bearded Dragon overnight.
2. Calcium based sand, Beardies are prone to eating this due to it's taste this again can cause impaction.

Heating

Their are many types of heaters on the market today, I recommend the use of conical type ceramic bulb's. I advise not using heat rocks or heat pad's as a Beardie can dig down to these and suffer burns which are potentially fatal.

1. The heat source should be positioned at one end of the vivarium with a thermometer placed nearby close to ground level
2. Another thermometer should be placed at the cold end of the vivarium

Lighting

I cannot stress enough that Bearded Dragon's need to have a UVB tube as a light source as this allows them to naturally produce vitamin D3 which helps to absorb calcium and without a supply of it a Beardie will be subject to complications.

1. UVB lighting should be replaced every six months
2. Ensure that your Beardie is within 6 to 10" of the light source

Furniture

It is a good idea to provide a mixture of areas for your Bearded Dragon to explore. Arches to walk under and climb on top of, somewhere to sleep or retreat to when they want to do so and most importantly high reaching areas so your Beardie can survey their abode.

1. Before introducing any new items to your Beardie's home wash them thouroughly
2. Your Beardie should not be able to dislodge any furnishings

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