Will this cage be good?

[Zelma Freedline]

My bearded dragon is about 10 months old. Will this cage be a good cage to last him the rest of his life? It measures 48x24x24. I am tired of having to keep buying different cages for him. Or could someone point me to a site with a good cage that isn’t to pricey.
Thanks

• This topic was modified 3 years, 8 months ago by Zelma Freedline.

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[Zoodulcis]

This should be sufficient in size. Make sure the heating and lighting are sufficient. It’s a bit pricey, so you will want everything to be perfect.

[ABMoore22]

T5HO is the correct bulb. And honestly the best option in my opinion. As long as this has a good heat bulb as well. Its a good size, I’d say this is great if you wanna pay for it.

[Zelma Freedline]

So the cage arrived yesterday and was very simple to put together. The only problem I’m having is getting the heating right. It says do not use more than a 100 watt heat bulb. This is only keeping the cage at around 90 degrees. The cool side is around 70 degrees. My question is, how do I up the temperature without adding more bulbs?, since it says no more than one bulb. It also says ceramic heat emitters are not allowed since it could get the cage to hot.

[Zoodulcis]

Huh, this is a conundrum. I was a bit concerned about that when I saw the photo. Having the cool side be 70 is OK for now. I think if it was me I would experiment with a slightly higher wattage bulb, regardless of what the manufacturer says. Do this only when you know you will be home all day…no jaunts away from the place for even an hour. Inconvenient, but you want to be sure he’s safe. Is the top solid, or screened?

[Zelma Freedline]

The top is solid. The cage is so friggin hot when I open the doors on it. I measured the temperature with a heat gun and at the top of his log it reads about 104–108. He is never in his log anymore though, or on his hammock. He has just been staying under his hammock all day. It seems like he is either to hot and trying to find a shady place or to cold and trying to warm up. I don’t known which one yet. His hammock is on the side with the heat bulb and he is under the hammock rather than on it. I also have a smaller 75 watt incandescent bulb I just bought. I am going to switch them around tomorrow and see if he moves around more. I don’t know what else to try. If you look closely you can see him under his hammock. The crack in the side is cause I had the bulb setup wrong.

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[Zelma Freedline]

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[Zoodulcis]

Sounds like the problem is being too cool any longer, just the opposite. I now would not recommend changing the bulbs at all. Keep experimenting the way you have been to see what works. With a solid top, which is unfortunate, you may have to actually use a lower bulb at some point. A very small fan pointed at the enclosure might help to wick away some excess heat as well.

[Zelma Freedline]

Here’s an update. I now used a 75 watt bulb instead of the usual 100 watt heat bulb. He seemed more active today. He was running around his cage and climbing on his hammock. He was still laying under the hammock a little though. The cage reads 87.4 degrees and his basking spot it around 105-108 degrees. But he never lays on his basking log. If he wants to lay down he lays at the bottom. He did the same thing in his old cage. Is it a problem since his basking spot is hot enough but he never lays there? He doesn’t seem to interested in crickets at the moment but he loves super worms. It also seems like he doesn’t like eating in the new cage, as soon as I open the door to feed him he runs out of the cage onto my floor and eats the super worms there but no crickets. He will run all the way across my floor to get a super worm. Am I doing something wrong?

[Zoodulcis]

The setup sounds as if it is OK. His preference for superworms may just be he prefers the taste, or it may be that they are an easier meal, so less energy spent acquiring them. Higher in protein, too. I would not worry at this point. But just in case, let’s make sure his diet is well balanced and complete. What are you gutloading his food items with? What supplements (vitamins and minerals) are you dusting his food with? What veggies are you presenting to him?

[Zelma Freedline]

He usually loves crickets and just quit eating them about 2 weeks ago. I gutload his food with fruits and veggies that he usually eats like peppers, carrots and greens. I’m dusting his food with ZooMed Reptivite with D3 3-4 times a week. As for his greens i give him Collard Greens, Turnip Greens and Mustard Greens. I also give him dandelions. He gets raspberries and other fruits and veggies every week to mix it up a little. He also doesn’t eat his greens as much since he quit eating crickets. He just doesn’t seem interested in anything other than super worms.

[Zoodulcis]

That is informative. I think he may be going for protein. Gutloading with fruits and vegetables is insufficient. The link below will provide a number of different sites where inexpensive high protein gut loads can be purchased. Worth a try.

https://www.chameleonforums.com/threads/gutload-high-protein-or-not.19105/

[Zelma Freedline]

The cricket orange cubes, are they any good? Just asking cause the local petstore has them. If they are good enough to gutload crickets with I will just go there instead of waiting. My mail has been very unreliable.

[Zoodulcis]

I think you would be wasting your money. The protein content of that product is 3.2%. Compare that to Mizuri, a much more expensive product that has 30% protein. The orange cubes are mostly water. Protein is expensive, so in this case you do get what you pay for. Try to find a product with a protein content of no less than 15%.

https://www.chewy.com/mazuri-better-bug-gut-loading-food-8/dp/218018?utm_source=google-product&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=f&utm_content=Mazuri&utm_term=&gclid=Cj0KCQjw9_mDBhCGARIsAN3PaFMXNANu0039oiGKFnPxCbQq2AfM88rAC27NdoiCFHMmAhwfFGZLNhgaAi8EEALw_wcB

[Zelma Freedline]

Something else that has me puzzled. I bought him a log to bask on, I’ve had it for about a week. If that log is in his cage he will not move or eat, but if I remove the log he will move around and eat. The time I got him the log is the same time he quit eating crickets. Once I removed that log he ate just fine. Now the log is removed and he is eating everything but crickets. He is eating his greens and super worms. He is also eating mealworms and dandelions without the log being in his cage. Just to see what happened I put it back in and he ok immediately went back under his hammock.

[Zoodulcis]

Huh, that’s pretty weird. What kind of wood is it? I would keep it out of his enclosure for now.

[Zelma Freedline]

It is some type of driftwood that I bought online. I gave the log to my nephew for his and his loves it. So now the only this in that big cage is his rock and his hammock. It looks bare. I can’t seem to put anything else in it, if I do he will go into hiding.

[Zelma Freedline]

Another update. I used to have his bedding as crushed walnut shells,when I got his new cage I went to the local petstore to buy more of it to do his new cage, but they were sold out. So I used aspen chips instead. Geesh he must not like that stuff. He would not eat anything at that time. I then figured I’d try something different to see what he does. So I bought a bag of reptisoil and he seems to love it. He is now eating crickets again and his greens along with everything else. He is finally eating normally now.

[ABMoore22]

Glad you found what he likes! Sounds like your guy doesn’t like any type of wood, log or chips. Does he have sores on his feet/nails, or red near them?

[Zoodulcis]

Yes, that is a very good question from AB. Walnut chips are particularly bad for reptiles, due to the sharp edges. I’m guessing that is the nature of the question about cuts, sores, rash etc. on bottoms of feet. The belly should be examined as well. But it’s good that you now have something making him happy. You are very concerned for his wellbeing, which I think is admirable.

[Zelma Freedline]

Everything on him looks normal. No stress marks or rash on his belly. The only thing is his claws or nails?, are a little long they need clipped. Other than that he looks normal.

[Zoodulcis]

Huh, long claws might explain avoidance of rough wood surfaces, but not a soft substrate like aspen. I got nuthin.’

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