Zeus' Custom Enclosure

[Mike89]

This is a custom enclosure my Dad and I build for Zues. This pic is about 2 months old, he has grown 3.5 inches since then.

[ace13]

really nice setup but if i were you i would get that sand out and put in newspaper or repticarpet

[spike]

Why does everyone think that sand is bad for beardies. In the wild they are only surrounded by it. Is it something to do with the articial sand.
What if it was real sand taken from the desert, that was sifted through flyscreen to remove all large pebbles and baked at over 200degrees celcius for 15mins??


By the way i think that is an awesome setup. Do you have anything that can get Zeus higher to the lights?

[ace13]

well in austalia the whole place isnt just soft sand its mainly rocky dirt but the sand that most people put in their cages are loose so when the bearded dragon eats something they usually get some in their mouths, thats also why they usually live longer in captivity cause they

i was also thinking about that cause he doesnt look like hes close enough to the u.v

[Pooka]

Beautiful enclosure, I really dig it. The cabinet its set on looks like they completement one another also. Anyway, functional wise I have a few thoughts if your interested.

1) The UVB tube is not at an optimum range, this could be solved one of two ways. Either 1, find a way to rig the ligh inside the enclosure so the animals can bask closer to it. 2 get a mercury vapor bulb. MV bulbs porject UVB further, an excellent choice and one I highly recommend is the megaray external ballasted bulb. You can find info about it at reptileuv.com it would replace one of your current heat lamps in a hood and produces very little heat and tons of UV. I'm sure Zeus is getting UVB right now but you could certainly improve that exposure with my suggestions, look around and see what you think about them.

2) The sand. I have not decided any one way about the whole sand causes impaction debate. I have heard both sides of the story and neither side totally convinces me. I like the natural look it provides though and would suggest maybe feeding zeus from a bowl all the time to minimize risk of impaction. I feed both Skittle and Pooka from a bowl and have had no problems other then its a bit labor intensive when they demand crickets because I have to crush the back legs of the crickets to keep them from being able to hop out of the bowl. But worms and veges don't escape

Anyhow, Looks good, thanks for sharing.

[Sterling]

I am strongly against sand. I used to use it so I know, it's dusty, dirty, and causes impaction. The dust can irritate their eyes and sratch them up. The sand is never clean because when they poop it is watery and spreads through the sand and when you scoop out just the solid poop, you think your getting it all, but your not and your beardie begins to live on its own toilet. How disgusting! And just because your food is in a bowl or you feed outside your cage does NOT mean that they do not get sand in their mouths. Beardies lick their environment ALL the time, its what they do when exploring and get bits and bits of sand in their mouth. That sand does not pass through and builds up in their intestinal track and causes impaction. Killing your dragon over time. People have came to me or to the forums telling us how their beardie died from impaction and took it to the vet and spent tons of money and it just died. Now I would think if you cared enough about the well-being of your animal and the safety, then you would not use a substrate that causes contreversy AND impaction. People who say sand is bad, aren't saying it just because they dont want you to use it! There are reasons, wether you believe them or not.

But that is a nice enclosure! You did a great job! It would look JUST as nice with newspaper, paper towels, shelf liner, alfa pellets, and indoor/outdoor carpet.

ALSO, beardies DO NOT, let me repeat, DO NOT! live on sand in the wild! They live on hard, compacted clay!, they may encounter sand but they do not live on it! People use sand because they hear beardie, they think desert, they think SAND! Not a good idea...

[ace13]

i was at petsmart once and they had two baby beardies in a cage with black calcium sand well i was watching them and i noticed one was just sitting there on the ground twitching so i told one of my friends (the manager) and when he checked him out he had it all up in his mouth they took him in the back and he died the next day after that they put repticarpet in and they havnt had one die anymore ;D

[Mike89]

Thanks for the advice, I will look into the MVB. Zeus is fed in a seperate platic tub with no substrate, but if it is that much of a risk i'll change to shelfliner or reptile carpet.

Thanks again
-Mike

[Sterling]

Yeah, you can get the Power Sun MVB's for $33 + s&h on www.reptiledirect.com. And that is very good priced, usually at expos or petstores they are $40-80. So it is usually cheaper to order stuff off line.

You will make a smart descision changing to a safer substrate, keep up the good work! ;D

[ClementeDragons]

Every one has there own opinion on what substrate to use, I have been over this topic allot of times on different forums and with other breeders. There is a risk of using sand; futureCROChunter did a good job at explaining that. I use dust free screened play sand for my substrate and it is working great. I have asked my favorite breeders (dragons den, and dachiu are the well known ones) what they recommend and use for substrate, they use screened play sand. One thing I recommend is when you feed your dragon’s lettuce give it to them on a paper plat so they will not take in any sand with their veggies. You can also put the crickets in a small cup to minimize the sand intake.

Screened play sand is capable of passing through your dragon if accidentally eaten.

Great looking cage I like it allot

[spike]

Hmmmm..... it is a tough question. FutureCROChunter has a good point. Is there anything worng with the playsand?. What if it was regulary chaged i.e once every fortnight-month?

[Pooka]

spike said:

Hmmmm..... it is a tough question. FutureCROChunter has a good point. Is there anything worng with the playsand?. What if it was regulary chaged i.e once every fortnight-month?

Well you have pretty well heard Steves and Dereks pros and cons point of views. I suggest you do some research on them both and make an educated descsion for your self. People have keep succesful captives on sand and others have lost captives within days to it, its your call. Best of luck

[Sterling]

I personally, just dont want to the risk! Like Pooka said, some people have had success with their dragons on sand AND some have not! I just think that if dragons have died on it and it has been proven that sand causes impaction, why take that risk of your animal dieing? Just so you can have a nice enclosure that looks nothing like its natural habitat? I dont know...

[Patrick]

Yes there is pros and Cons of sand and i do not have a Beardie but have read about them!!! Research as much as possiable!

But Really Nice Enclosure !!!!!!!!
your Beardie looks really Happy!

Patrick