AQUARIUM & GLASS ENCLOsure setup for bearded dragons
It can be challenging to set up the heating & lighting in an aquarium (or a plastic tote) for a bearded dragon because they are poorly ventilated and most of the commercially available equipment does not provide the conditions that your bearded dragon needs.
Your dragon needs UVB to produce vitamin D which allows them to metabolize calcium just like us. Screen tops block 50% of the UVB while glass and plastic block 100% of the UVB. Additionally, the available UVB is reduced by 50% for every inch that you move away from the bulb. With a tall aquarium and a screen top your dragon may not be getting very much UVB at all. As UVB bulbs age their UVB output decreases so after a few months they may not be getting any UVB even if the bulb is still producing it. The bulbs will also continue to produce visible light when they are no longer producing UVB. There are some high output UVB linear bulbs on the market that are designed to be placed on top of screens but the frequency of the UVB may not all be in the beneficial range, and they may have other issues. Without sufficient UVB you can give your dragon all the calcium in the world, but they will not be able to absorb it.
They also require a basking temp of 100°F or higher to efficiently digest their food and absorb the nutrients. Babies like it as hot as 120°F, but they must also have a temperature gradient so they can thermoregulate. Go to our information & care sheets page to download instructions to setup your aquarium.
Aquarium setup for bearded dragons
Bearded dragons are not from the desert, they are inland bearded dragons. They live at room temperature (65°F-80°F). They are cold blooded so they need to obtain their heat and UVB from an external source, but they also require a temperature gradient in their enclosure so they can regulate their body temperature. If bearded dragons needed to live at 100°F, then when you took them out of their enclosure they would be freezing and looking for a heat source.
Aquariums and glass bearded dragon enclosures are not appropriate for bearded dragons because they do not have sufficient ventilation to provide a temperature gradient. If you add a lot of heat to an aquarium or glass enclosure you are creating an oven. The goal is to provide exposure to UVB and create a basking spot without losing the temperature gradient by moving both the basking light and the UVB fixtures inside the enclosure. This will allow for sufficient exposure to UVB and allow you to provide a suitable basking temperature and a temperature gradient so your dragon can thrive.
Please visit our information & care sheets page to download instructions to setup your aquarium for a bearded dragon.
Many of the “bearded dragon” enclosures sold through pet stores are not actually appropriate for them. They have many of the same issues as glass aquariums including inadequate ventilation, and difficulty providing sufficient UVB, & a proper temperature gradient. A lot of them come with compact fluorescent bulbs. The compact fluorescent bulbs can blind and can kill your dragon. If you google “compact fluorescent UVB and bearded dragon Blindness” you can read any of the 1000's of articles but they basically say the same thing, and if the 1000’s of people are wrong, according to only the manufacturers who are selling them, is it really worth the risk. I recommend that people who buy the compact fluorescent bulbs try to get their money back. If they can’t then throw them away, I believe it is better not to give your bearded dragon the UVB that they need than to give them UVB that will blind and can kill them until you get the appropriate UVB, but you can make your own decision.
Providing sufficient UVB Is not as simple of putting a fluorescent fixture on top of the enclosure. Glass & plastic block 100% of the UVB, while metal screens block 50%. The UVB is also decreased by 50% for every inch you move away from the source. When you place the fixture on the screen, the animal would need to get pretty close to it to receive a sufficient amount of UVB. We recommend that the UVB coverage only be ½ the length of the enclosure so they can get away from it if they want. You can suspend the fluorescent fixture from the screen inside the enclosure. If you fixture is more than ½ the length of the enclosure tape something over part of the bulb to block some of the UVB light.
Another issue is the basking temperature & temperature gradient. Unfortunately, aquariums & aquarium type enclosures retain heat. Bearded dragons live at room temperature. They only need to heat up to digest their food. This is why basking lights are spotlights. They only heat a spot, not the entire enclosure. Most of the commercial bearded dragon enclosures have little ventilation, but it is generally inadequate to provide a proper temp gradient so the dragon can thermoregulate. Additionally, if you place the basking light on the screen top then the 1st thing you are heating is the cool air intake, so you are actually pre-warming the cool air which decreases the temp gradient. This can be addressed by adding ventilation & moving the basking fixture inside the enclosure. Here are a few things we do to “modify” the bearded dragon enclosures so they are appropriate for bearded dragons.
UVB Fixture
Basking light
Basking light
The 1st thing we do is to suspend the fluorescent fixture from the screen inside the enclosure. If your fixture is more than ½ the length of the enclosure put clear packing tape over part of the bulb to block some of the UVB light.
Basking light
Basking light
Basking light
We then dis-assembled the dome light and make a hole in the screen top and attached the ceramic socket on the inside of the screen. You could also attach a fixture similar to the one for the aquarium above.
Ventilation
Basking light
Ventilation
The ventilation is the toughest part. We had the glass beneath the door cut into 3 pieces so we could add a vent the entire length of the enclosure. If the glass breaks while being cut you can replace the glass with acrylic. The 3" vent is attached with 100% pure silicone.