Pygmy Bearded Dragons opinions and advice

[iMomOx3]

As a disclaimer; I've already read a lot of the PDFs regarding beardies as well as the dolittlefarm pygmy bearded dragon specific PDF. There's also a recent thread on central beardies with some great info which I've read posted not long ago. Couple of my questions are more so specific to pygmy's.

Now I've taken care of central beardies before in primary school (over 10 years mind you) as a class pet, now this doesn't make me any sort of an expert as all I did really was powder the crickets, chop some veggies up and feed the dragon but these are very low maintenance pets and I'm sure are great beginner pets to be introduced for the interested mind.

So for my main specific questions:

• Can I have a single pygmy bearded dragon in a 2ft (60cm wide, 30cm height, 30cm depth) enclosure ? This is the only size I'm able to get into my room.
• Say when I sleep, is it safe to have like a towel or something to cover some of the lighting up during the night? This is not so much of an issue as I can sleep through anything and illumination in the room won't kill me.
• What specific bulbs would be best for me for a tank that size? Given the dimensions above and for a single pygmy.
• Assuming I have a tank already , how much is it going to cost me overall roughly to get everything started - bowls, lighting, heating, decor etc.

Also, I am in Melbourne so looking for a cheapish place to source a pygmy dragon from and preferably one that has sort of matured already so a year old dragon woild make it easier for me - one that is eating healthily etc and accustomed to humans.

Thanks in advanced. I've been a long time lurker and have been on these forums since 2010 but never had the chance to have a lizard, now's the time but still limited by size of the tank etc.

 

[KingsReptiles]

that tank size sounds fine. not sure how much cost. i have a uvb coil bulb for day but strips are better, ceramic heat globe for day and night and extra household heat globe for day. you can use moonlight, purple or infrared globes for night as well. there should not be much light at night time unless u use infrared. for day use household heat globe or reptile basking bulb. ceramics work fine for day and night. they need uvb in the day

 

[Evil_Birdy]

Heating for me is the most expensive part. The case for the long uv bulbs is $80 at pet barn, not including an actual bulb. $80 just for the thing that holds it. Food and water bowls will vary depending on the size and what you get: if you get regular pet bowls, or if you get an actuall reptile bowl. You could use an old ramican in your pantry, but is aesthetics important to you?

How adventurous are you? Can you be bothered going for a walk through the bush to find some interesting sticks? If you don't, you can buy them, but they charge you through the nose for a piece of vine or driftwood. You could make a hide out of an old ice cream container, or you could buy one.

long story short, you can set it up for relatively low cost, it just depends on how much you want it to look nice, and how much that matters to you.

 

[iMomOx3]

Anyone know where I'd get a pygmy dragon in melbourrne?

 

[kingofnobbys]

that tank size sounds fine. not sure how much cost. i have a uvb coil bulb for day but strips are better, ceramic heat globe for day and night and extra household heat globe for day. you can use moonlight, purple or infrared globes for night as well. there should not be much light at night time unless u use infrared. for day use household heat globe or reptile basking bulb. ceramics work fine for day and night. they need uvb in the day

Best to have no light in the tank except maybe stray light from the room it's in at night, so NO moonlight , purple or so called infrared (coloured bulbs), these will disturb it's sleep as dragons have excellent colour vision. A CHE or heatmat are the better choices if it's cold in the room overnight and you want to provide night time heating WITHOUT producing light.

UVB at least 10% if they have similar requirements as centrals.

Try GumTree , you might find someone there who has a clutch of young Rankins , or an adult they want to sell.

 

[KingsReptiles]

Best to have no light in the tank except maybe stray light from the room it's in at night, so NO moonlight , purple or so called infrared (coloured bulbs), these will disturb it's sleep as dragons have excellent colour vision. A CHE or heatmat are the better choices if it's cold in the room overnight and you want to provide night time heating WITHOUT producing light.

UVB at least 10% if they have similar requirements as centrals.

Try GumTree , you might find someone there who has a clutch of young Rankins , or an adult they want to sell.

i use ceramic now. try reptiles down under i find it more reliable. they are diurnal so under tank heating will heat there belles and the heat sensor is on their head so they won't feel it and could over heat