When you have got a vivarium you need to set it up. This must provide a setting as near enough to the beardie's natural habitat as possible in order to keep it happy and healthy. You need to have light and heat, and as far as possible mimic night and day. You need rocks and decoration to provide somewhere to bask.
Bearded dragons (pogona vitticeps) come from the Australian plains, so they will need a desert like surrounding.
I have chosen a desert background for my vivarium - I had to search around for this as none of the local petshops stocked backgrounds for anything except aquariums. I found a reptile store on the internet. At either end of the vivarium I have place rock like backgrounds - they are good for smaller reptiles to climb on, and good insultating material. My beardies absolutely love these!
Bearded dragons (pogona vitticeps) come from the Australian plains, so they will need a desert like surrounding.
I have chosen a desert background for my vivarium - I had to search around for this as none of the local petshops stocked backgrounds for anything except aquariums. I found a reptile store on the internet. At either end of the vivarium I have place rock like backgrounds - they are good for smaller reptiles to climb on, and good insultating material. My beardies absolutely love these!
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This was my original set up before I got my dragons. I chose a 'Climb and Bask' twisted vine formation which will allow the dragons to bask under the heat lamps. I bought a number of plants to decorate the vivarium, and you will notice I orginally added a cave. The cave had to come out when Fiona took to hiding in there, and wasn't exposed to UVB sufficiently. I later learned beardies do not need hides!
I got a food bowl for their food, and a water bowl. And then I was all set up and just waiting for my bearded dragons!
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What did the dragons think of the set up?
Having had my dragons for some time now I think the set up worked very well. The 'Climb and Bask' was great for them as youngsters, but had to be turned on its side when they grew too big for it. The cave had to come out - the female used to take up residence in it and not come out. She lost ground and didn't put on weight for a while, so I took it out and she became active again. After a few weeks I put it back in, but the same thing happened again! So now its gone permanently!
The poly rock walls are loved by both dragons! The sticky pads on the back didn't work in the heat, so in the end I had to nail them on. The dragons often sleep perched on the wall!
Having had my dragons for some time now I think the set up worked very well. The 'Climb and Bask' was great for them as youngsters, but had to be turned on its side when they grew too big for it. The cave had to come out - the female used to take up residence in it and not come out. She lost ground and didn't put on weight for a while, so I took it out and she became active again. After a few weeks I put it back in, but the same thing happened again! So now its gone permanently!
The poly rock walls are loved by both dragons! The sticky pads on the back didn't work in the heat, so in the end I had to nail them on. The dragons often sleep perched on the wall!
Shrek dozing on the rock wall
One other addition has been a hammock - Fiona enjoys lying in it, but Shrek uses it to rest his backside while he's on the wall. He stayed in this position for over 12 hours so he must have been comfortable!
As you can see from the picture on the left the background has faded considerably which is a shame, but not a lot you can do to prevent that.
As you can see from the picture on the left the background has faded considerably which is a shame, but not a lot you can do to prevent that.
Whilst the dragons enjoy the poly rock walls, they do have a downside. Crickets can hide behind them - particularly annoying as it always seems to be the noisy one in the batch of supposedly silent crickets! But although this does mean there are stray crickets in the vivarium, Shrek and Fiona have not suffered from it at all. I would now advise, however, not using the wall for babies as they could be stressed or bitten by crickets living in the viv with them.
Many bearded dragons keepers have quite sparse looking vivs for this reason, so that there is nowhere for crickets to hide. I personally think you need to balance this with giving the lizards an interesting environment to live in with places for them to bask at different temperatures. One tip is to always leave veg in the vivarium overnight - that way, if there are any crickets left they will eat the veg, not nibble on your beardie!
I also have a max min thermometer in the viv so I can see the temps at both the hot and cool ends at the same time. This way I can be sure the temparature is correct for them.
Many bearded dragons keepers have quite sparse looking vivs for this reason, so that there is nowhere for crickets to hide. I personally think you need to balance this with giving the lizards an interesting environment to live in with places for them to bask at different temperatures. One tip is to always leave veg in the vivarium overnight - that way, if there are any crickets left they will eat the veg, not nibble on your beardie!
I also have a max min thermometer in the viv so I can see the temps at both the hot and cool ends at the same time. This way I can be sure the temparature is correct for them.
The vivarium set up and ready for my Bearded Dragons
Oh, and the one other important accessory? Someone you can call on for advice! The breeder of Shrek and Fiona has only been an email away for all those worries and concerns I have had - from the first baby days to Fiona laying her first clutch of eggs! If you are getting beardies, I would advise you to make sure the breeder or pet shop is somewhere you can go to for advice - saves an awful lot of worry!
Shrek using the hammock!
