Appreciate you

I know! I just rescued mine two days ago from my cousin and it's still in the 40 gal he got when it was a baby, I'm looking for a 120 gal now. Might DIY a custom enclosure tho...but much bigger, he looks ridiculous! This giant dragon in this "tiny" (relatively) tank, no room to play about when I can't take him out. Worst of all, they kept him on newspaper that smelled like it had been soiled for a while! He stunk too! I gave him a warm bath and a nail trim (mindful of his quick) while he cloud gazed. He was much happier to find substrate to dig in, and toys and branches to play on. Still too teeny for a fully grown beardie, but it's home for now till we upgrade. 😊❤🐉

The hobby is changing for the better

Yes it is! Been loving your vids btw

Correct

Yeah there's only a handful of reptiles you should ever use sand for. Personally if you want a more natural floor that can be removed if you need, I would get Excavator Clay. One bag would cover this floor easy.

So true...that what the vet told me when I got my first beraded dragon

Understand where you’re coming from because the hobby was under the belief that sand was bad due to impaction. However we have now solved that issue and have found out through research from vets and advanced keepers that it wasn’t sand but the husbandry like uvb and temps. Sand is perfectly safe as long as your temps are ok uvb is not coil but a t5 like an Arcadia 12% or zoo med 10.0 t5. Also the beardie is receiving proper supplements like calcium and a multivitamin once Month. Most keepers are starting this way thanks to all the advanced keepers and vets pushing the updated keeping methods.

@ChiefSweetsUniverse I know that's why I put without good husbandry. It is still not the best to use and is far better to use a type of dirt substrate but you given your message you seem responsible with keeping an eye on your beardie and making sure it isn't causing any issues:) I'm happy to hear that, I see so many terrible setups and husbandry. It's mainly for people watching the video who are matbe looking to get a beardie or jave one and aren't experienced enough to have sand.

Most of the time the husbandry issue is uvb. That’s why if you set up like this it’ll be fine. Beardies can’t absorb calcium and other nutrients without uvb so they will try and eat the dirt to get nutrients from the soil since they aren’t getting it from there diet. I do mention that a soil mix is better but even straight sand isn’t the worst option. As where the central dragons are located it’s very sandy with clay underneath. But I totally understand what you mean

Yes very true lots of great thermostats out there for sure!

If you actually kept a bearded dragon you would have a point and shoot thermometer

@@Coop0 yeah but a thermostat is essential in case of accidents like maybe a heat wave and your AC goes out. In house temps could reach 95f then a heat lamp could raise basking temps well over 140f thermostat saves that from happening

@@Coop0 a thermostat and p&s thermometer is complete different thing. Both are essential.

Thank you!

Thank you

Thank you

Thank you

Sand is fine as long as you have the proper basking temperature and it’s not calcium sand.

@@ashton5493except, it’s not. It’s been proven to be a risk for many years, and in their native range they don’t live on just loose sand anyways

@@deathcap56 First of all I feel like it’s because most of the time people who own a bearded dragon aren’t giving it the proper care, there is lots of people who would go into a pet store and get a pet with doing little to no research. And since pet stores are the most common places to get pets they are also getting not so healthy animals to begin with and they are probably taking care of the animal improperly and in a way that the pet store told them to. And I know it’s not just sand that they live on but in some areas of their native range it does get pretty sandy in some spots. And they usually do ok if they have the proper care, usually they would eat any type of loose substrate when they are trying to eat their food or if they have a vitamin definitely. But with a proper hot enough UVB basking spot they should be able to properly disgust the substrate just fine. If it does end up being impacted it’s mostly do to dehydration and lack or proper UVB. Also if someone is that concerned about their bearded dragon eating the substrate even if they did have the proper basking spot and good hydration they can feed it on on a plate or rock slate or they can use a different substrate. The guy who posted this video ChiefSweetsUniverse has a whole video on that topic and he explains it in better detail,I suggest watching it if you haven’t already. Either way I feel like if a pet owner properly did their up to date research and are looking into getting a bearded dragon or any reptile for that matter then they should be able to pick out a substrate that works properly for them, as long as the substrate isn’t dyed or calcium sand and their pet is getting it’s basic needs and it’s healthy then they should be ok.

Sand only leads to impaction if you’re feeding them on the gd sand. They don’t just go around eating sand. Biggest problem with sand is making sure you keep it clean and replace it.

⁠@@cavi5514They literally go around investigating things with their tongues. (Their reflection, a dot they thought was a bug, etc.) The survivorship bias is strong, with the pro-sand argument.

Thank you

Understandable good you are gonna do it even if you have to do it yourself. I did the same when I was young

Glad it was helpful!

Thank you

Haha every dragon is different

Mine is lazy but also a clumsy ragdoll. He climbs but then also falls off of things 😂

babies are lively

@@nathanjoselin1617 Well mine isn't a baby

He's almost 2 years old

Happy to help!

Happy to help!

Haha exactly

i also learned that when the husbandry is bad or incorrect it will cause impaction with loose substrate 😢

This isn’t really true. Deserts in Australia aren’t like the Sahara for example. They’re much rockier, with more compact ground. Sand like this doesn’t allow beardies to burrow, which is a natural instinct for them. It also increases the risk of impaction or clogged pores.

@@maxburka1110 they actually tested the sand where beardies were and it was 95% quartz sand. With clay and silt making up the rest

because this kind of sand is indeed really dangerous for reptiles and the op just spreads misinformation that can potentially kill your reptile.

Yeah sometimes you need multiple heat sources

If you can make it work and it’s large enough nice

I mean I breed dragons and have put them on sand and substrate right out the gate 1 month out the egg no problem with hundreds of dragons.

Yeah I prefer mixes in all my videos but this is just for people who don’t want to go anywhere else and only shop at petsmart or petco. Agree the Australian sand is the best

I’m sure you do it’s just that lazy people shouldn’t own pets, especially reptiles. So many reptiles live for years in shitty conditions and it’s not fair, yet their owners have no clue. Going to multiple places to get supplies for your set up isn’t that big of a deal. I just personally wouldn’t promote this because it encourages lazy husbandry. Thats all, I’m sure you know what you’re doing but as reptile enthusiasts we shouldn’t promote just anyone taking on a reptile.

Gang! Lets go!

The tank was on sale for $120 so really cheap. Total costs were $400

They can see red at night so if you had it on it would be like sleeping with red light on all night. All lights off at night Yeah you can definitely work off the start kit for sure congrats on the beardie!

So repticarpet will actually cause stress in dragons cause there nails get stuck every now and then and they don’t like it. Sometimes even ripping there nails off

@ChiefSweetsUniverse I've never heard of that and my beardie never had that problem, but I trimmed her nails since we handled her a lot. She was still able to climb since I only cut the very tip.

Repticarpet can cause issues too. Tile or excavator clay is best imo.

That’s actually old hobby knowledge we now know sand is perfectly fine and dragons will just poop it out. However you need proper husbandry like good uvb proper heat to not have impaction but impaction will occur with anything including coco fiber if husbandry is off.

The wood is the basking spot. In the wild beardies will spend lots of time basking in trees and fence posts to absorb heat so giving wood in the enclosure is a great way to make them feel at home

That was old info we now know is wrong make sure you have proper husbandry and your dragon will not get impacted

Bearded dragons also need to dig, they naturally keep themselves in burrows. Keeping them on tiles is neglecting that

As long as its not a colored heat bulb and heat bulb will work as long as theyre the right wattage

Go for a regular heat bulb so it mimics the sun better

That’s what I recommend in all my care guide but this just helps newbs who get one and don’t know how to set up the 40

Thank you

@@ChiefSweetsUniverse your welcom do you think u could do like a ball python tub set up thats fairly cheap

@@Rodeoreptiles yeah plan on doing tons of ball python stuff soon

@@ChiefSweetsUniverse okie dokie

Very nice

The babies will also be fine with a long tube like in the video as well as they will be exposed to the uvb

@@ChiefSweetsUniverse I’m saying for an adult a bulb uvb is fine though you don’t need a long tube for the adult

Will make one

Once they are over 12 months they will definitely need a bigger tank if you can’t afford a 120 gallon tank try to get 75 gallon at least

Haha lepy

It’s calcium sand cause they like to eat calcium so it makes them want to eat it and then it’ll dehydrate them and make em get impacted

Understand where your coming from but research has shown sand isn’t the issue it was how we was keeping them now we are changing it and sand is no longer a issue

Understand where you’re coming from because the hobby was under the belief that sand was bad due to impaction. However we have now solved that issue and have found out through research from vets and advanced keepers that it wasn’t sand but the husbandry like uvb and temps. Sand is perfectly safe as long as your temps are ok uvb is not coil but a t5 like an Arcadia 12% or zoo med 10.0 t5. Also the beardie is receiving proper supplements like calcium and a multivitamin once Month. Most keepers are starting this way thanks to all the advanced keepers and vets pushing the updated keeping methods.

@@ChiefSweetsUniverse great information! That makes sense you gotta have your husbandry tip top shape and I used to use sand but heard of the impaction horrors but never had any issues which makes sense because my Temps and uvb were good and a good diet but I switched just to prevent it. Thanks for sharing this info!

@@mikesmith2718 exactly! Even lots of vets will tell you they rarely experience impaction. Mostly due to how we have been making husbandry better and better

Very true haha

@@ChiefSweetsUniverse its true! But worth it for the beardies!

Some sand would get I. The water but not the food really.

My condolences

Have many up on my channel!

Just too dark and doesn’t represent the sun like reptiles love. Most people also use it at night during the hours it’s supposed to be complete darkness and the reptiles can see that light throws em off

To get the poop out of the tank you could use a cat litter scooper or you can use gloves and a bag and scoop it out but if you want to avoid cleaning it out of the tank you can just put them in a pat and it should stimulate poop so they poop in the water instead. And yes!! You can use sand for adult bearded dragons as well!!! :))

@@Tina_1234_ thank you so much this helped a lot!! Also sorry one more question, how often should you change the sand like taking all of it out to switch it for some fresh sand

@@BellaSkala you can change if it 2-3 times a year it’s mostly preference but just make sure you clean it out at least once a year (:

@@Tina_1234_ thank you so so much! And should I use the reptisand?

@@BellaSkala yes!! You can use repti sand. You could also use play sand and mix it with repti soil to make a really good substrate

Yes very much you can also buy the foam backgrounds

@@ChiefSweetsUniverse i have sticker background kinda

Nope totally fine in the wild beardies experience rain even in the desert during the rainy season. I’ve kept a water bowl in my beardies enclosures even for babies never had an issue once and this is almost two decades of breeding and keeping.

Thats not enough water for them

@@vvlturesyou technically don’t need a water bowl in bearded dragons cages because if your husbandry is correct they’ll get all water from bugs and veggies please know facts before trying to “Tell” someone how to be a reptile keeper!!!!

There’s no real reason. It doesn’t hurt there eyes. It doesn’t cause any damage it’s just incredibly dim compared to a regular one. And they like it bright

Understand where you’re coming from because the hobby was under the belief that sand was bad due to impaction. However we have now solved that issue and have found out through research from vets and advanced keepers that it wasn’t sand but the husbandry like uvb and temps. Sand is perfectly safe as long as your temps are ok uvb is not coil but a t5 like an Arcadia 12% or zoo med 10.0 t5. Also the beardie is receiving proper supplements like calcium and a multivitamin once Month. Most keepers are starting this way thanks to all the advanced keepers and vets pushing the updated keeping methods.

Yes you can!

It’s actually $6 for a 50 pound bag! Which is even better! Lol

@@ChiefSweetsUniverse SHEEEESH

Yeah totally fine

@@ChiefSweetsUniverse thank you! I’ll go back to reviewing some more of your videos!

Make sure your uvb is good. Coil is bad you want a t5 linear like Arcadia or zoo med

@@ChiefSweetsUniverse ok thank for the advice

Happy to help!

That’s the reason primarily. They can see red and it would disturb sleep for those who sleep at night and also strain eyes of those who are active at night. As night animals like darkness. Better alternative is deep heat projector or ceramic heat emitter so that way it produces heat but no light.

Yeah you can do that

It’s 36 inches by 18 inches by 18 inches. This is the biggest tank petsmart sells unfortunately. I did recommend larger size but there’s no way you’ll find it at petsmart

I have the ones from the shop, but my dragons looked sad so I'm working on my tanks.. so hard to do

How did you make your tank

The coil uvb? If so it is extremely weak uvb and beardies get metabolic bone disease with it. Also shortens beardies lifespans. Beardies need high uvb and mini coils produce around 0.6-1.0 uvb. Minimum for a beardie is 3.0. I show tests in my longform video of this on the channel.

@@ChiefSweetsUniverse yeah I used a diff heat lamp,warmer and that white lamp thing idk.. uhm? Ig there fine?

Calcium sand. Other sands are fine

I’d say let them get used to the enclosure for two weeks. So no handling first getting them for two weeks then you can try once a day maybe 15 minutes and go up from there

@ChiefSweetsUniverse okay cool. What about humidity levels? I live in south Georgia so it's super humid here all the time.

There is no misinformation 😂 sand is fine. Linear t5 uvb is much stronger than anything on the market. 40 gallon is ok for a baby. They do like climbing.

That’s what I always say but no one usually does lol

@@ChiefSweetsUniverse it's a real shame. Hopefully it changes eventually

So you do want a thermostat in case temps get too hot like say you have AC and your temps are normal with it on. Then AC goes out bam it’s 89f in your house the heat bulb is turning the tank into a oven but with a thermostat it’ll keep it from happening shut it off when it reaches to hot a temps and when it gets back to basking temps it turns back on. That’s why most keepers have thermostats. So it’s actually wrong about what most people believe about sand. Sand is perfectly safe and bearded dragon actually don’t kick sand up when they taste stuff also if they accidentally ingest it they just poop it out. Same as in the wild. This is all scientifically backed research from the world’s leading vets who specialize in bearded dragons. The info hasn’t reached the whole hobby yet but it will in the future.

@@ChiefSweetsUniverse yeah, I meant like to have it to monitor your temp, sure you should have one. But I've seen from personal experience the bulb going on and off just because it's hot or something affects their health. I had a bulb that the cord kept getting tripped over and the light would shut off and it was one of those that wouldn't turn on until the bulb cooled down. (So annoying) and it pretty quickly affected his sleep, he kept trying to sleep during the day and wanted to be up and run around at night. It was weird but I also think he was sick when I got him, he ended up dying shortly after we got him from PetSmart, unfortunately. ://

100% I’ve done it no issues

@@ChiefSweetsUniverse Thank you! I've got another question or two. Feel free to answer when not busy :) I will eventually find all my answers in your videos anyways, but one question is I live in Canada, and it generally gets cold in my room (not cold to me, but to others, especially a reptile it could be a little colder than preferred). Is there anyway to keep the terrarium's heat at an acceptable degree without having all the bright lights on at night? I plan on getting my first dragon soon, so I've been researching a lot. Just figured I'd ask a professional

@@Swish_Clip oh yes ceramic heat emitters at night work great for keeping it above 60f if it’s too cold

@@ChiefSweetsUniverse Alright. I'll have to invest some money into one of those! Now most likely my final question or second to last is terrarium size. Tomorrow I'm going out and getting a 75 gallon tank, and my dragon will be a baby when I get them, so I know that's more than enough, but will I still have to upgrade to a bigger terrarium once the dragon is an adult? I tried looking it up. A lot of people say 75 gallon is the minimum, and a lot of people say 120 is. Do I try 75, and if the dragon is stressed I get a bigger one? Or should I just get a bigger one once the dragon is a year old? I've been having troubles finding a 120 gallon that's in stock, so 75 is the biggest I can get at the moment (which I'm positive is fine for a baby if it has enough hiding spots and such) And sorry for all the questions. I'm a big 'need to know everything' kind of person.

No, they need an absolute minimum of a 4 foot by 2 foot by 2 foot tank, preferably larger

No you want a 4x2x2 as adults will get almost two feet long themselves so you want at least double there size for an enclosure

Ok thank y’all

4x2x2 tank size I have a full setup guide with links to enclosures

At 12 months they will need a 120gal but if you can’t afford a 120 try to get at least a 75gal

Understand where you’re coming from because the hobby was under the belief that sand was bad due to impaction. However we have now solved that issue and have found out through research from vets and advanced keepers that it wasn’t sand but the husbandry like uvb and temps. Sand is perfectly safe as long as your temps are ok uvb is not coil but a t5 like an Arcadia 12% or zoo med 10.0 t5. Also the beardie is receiving proper supplements like calcium and a multivitamin once Month. Most keepers are starting this way thanks to all the advanced keepers and vets pushing the updated keeping methods.

@@ChiefSweetsUniverse Sweet gig! I had no idea about that, so it’s nice to know now, thank you for the clarification! :)

@@namelessxwx yes the stigma around sand is still there for sure but we know why and it’s a easy fix

I was told to keep my baby beardie on a solid substrate until he is a medium sized juvenile, so like 16 inches long. Although I take the point that sand is a fine substrate for adults, using any loose substrate for a baby is not a good idea. This is because of what OP said, that they lick absolutely everything as babies

Ahhh true.

They live on sand in the wild. It is not bad just a popular myth that is dying out finally.

Let’s go!