• 40+ Gallon Front Opening Enclosure
• Infrared, UVA, and UVB Lighting on a Timer
• Over or Undertank Heating on a Thermostat
• Substrate
• Hide, Basking Feature, Food/Water Bowls
• Dechlorinator, Optional UVB Meter

We discourage using slide top enclosures with Bearded Dragons. The do not like to be aproached from above to be picked up, and the hot lighting/heating tends to burn your hands and the edge of the enclosure when you open the top. It ends up being very inconvenient.

(minimum recommendation)

40+ Gallon glass front opening enclosures measure around 36"x18"x18" and are some of the most readily available and easiest to set up. They can be found at online and most major pet stores under the brands ZooMed, Thrive, ExoTerra, Carolina Custom, ReptiZoo and more. The top screen allows for adequate ventillation and promotes a good thermal gradiant. The Thrive screen is very dense so stronger lighting is required. Glass has the benifit of being easy to clean/steralize however it does not hold heat very well. If the top screen is transparent enough, the use of 26 watt compact flourescent bulbs may be possible. If the ambient night time temperature gets cold you may want to consider a PVC enclosure. Prices vary from $175-$350.

*Note: Thrive enclosures have the strongest screen top which is great if you have cats but they will require stronger lighting to penetrate the screen.

(Best Reccomendation)

Most front opening PVC enclosures measure at 4'x2'x2' which is roughly 120 gallons, more than double the size of a glass enclosure. PVC retains heat very well. The are mostly sold online and shipped dissasembled however assembly is usually pretty easy. Brands like Dubia Roaches, Zen Habbitat, and Symton have screen top front openers specifically for Bearded Dragons. Due to the size of these enclosures, compact flourescent bulbs are not advised. Instead run T5 tube flourescents of 24-36". Undertank heaters cannot be used with PVC so an additional infrared heat emitter with thermstat will need to be added to the lighting. Prices vary from $200-$600

*Not all PVC enclosures have screen tops which can make the enclosure too warm and nearly impossible to get a wide thermal gradiant without heavy modification. This includes adding a lot of additional vents, mounting internal light fixtures, and caging off all the lights so the dragon cannot burn themselves. This will require extra scrutiny to ensure you can create a thermal gradient and hot items are protected.   

(Generally not recommended)

Most front opening melamine enclosures measure at 4'x2'x2' which is roughly 120 gallons, more than double the size of a glass enclosure. Wood retains heat very well, almost too well. The are mostly sold at specialy reptile stores. Run T5 tube flourescents of 24-36" to conserve space. Undertank heaters cannot be used with melamines so an additional infrared heat emitter with thermstat will need to be added to the lighting. They cost anywhere from $250-$550

*Most melemine enclosures do not have screen tops which can make the enclosure too warm and nearly impossible to get a wide thermal gradiant without heavy modification. This includes adding a screen top or adding lot of additional vents, mounting internal light fixtures, and caging off all the lights so the dragon cannot burn themselves. This will require extra scrutiny to ensure you can create a thermal gradient and hot items are protected. 

(Generally not recommended)

Front opening custom enclosures vary in size, and with custom materials and sizes comes all kinds of custom problems for heating and lighting. Creating your own enclosure is often costly, takes a long time, and frequently will need to be reworked as time goes on. They cost anywhere from $350-$950 to build

Enclosure Top Screens - The screens on top of the enclosures play a big role in the safety of your animal from other animals like cats that may also live in your house. However, they can also complicate the Infrared, UVA, and UVB lighting by blocking a substantial amount of incoming light. The punched screen top of the Thrive enclosure, while offering the best protection, also blocks the most light so is not suitable for compact flourescent bulbs. You must use a T5 linear flourescent fixture of at least 36 inches long. Additionally, you will need a 75 watt Halogen in a dimmable fixture to tailor the infrared and UVA light. 

Lighting - You are going to want strong UVB lighting with strong UVA lighting. We have found that a combination of fluorescent UVB and halogen UVA lamps work the best when using a 30-40 gallon glass enclosure. The combination of these two generates a manageable basking area easily without the complications and risks of overheating when using a single mercury vapor bulb or underheating of flash heating when using a ceramic heat emitter. Note that not all halogen lights are safe for your reptiles, some have internal reflectors that do not diffuse light well, so they create intense hot spots light a magnifying glass even at a distance.

• A deep dome fluorescent light fixture appropriate for a spiral or straight bulb. Spiral lights can point straight down in a deep dome or tapered fixture, tube lights must lay flat or horizontal and use a reflector to point down.
• A minimum of a 26 watt straight or spiral compact fluorescent desert UVB bulb. These are marketed as 15%, 10UVB or 200UVB depending on manufacturer.

• A halogen light fixture which points the light downward and is equipped with a dimmer switch or add on dimmer
• A minimum for 25 watt Halogen flood light made for reptiles. This will provide daytime heat in addition to strong UVA lighting (Non reptile halogen lights can create hot spots and burn your reptile)

Our Minimum Recommendation: Zoo Med Combo Deep Dome Reptile Dual Lamp Fixture    +     UL Listed Plug in Dimmer Switch   +  Basic Light Timer

Minimum Options (Can only be used with minimal blocking screen tops on glass enclosures of 40 gallon):

• Exo Terra UVB 200 Intense Compact Fluorescent 26wt -  satisfies our minimum requirements, you will need to also purchase the related housing
• Zoo Med ReptiSun 10.0 UVB Reptile Lamp -  A much better option that provides more uvb light and lasts twice a\ns long, you will need to also purchase the related horizontal housing
• 25W/50W UVA UVB Reptile Heat Bulbs - Use only in 20 gallon enclosures with juviniles. This style of halogen bulb works the best and uses less wattage than an incandescent bulb. Choose 25watt if basking closer than 10 inches, 50 watt if farther. We recommend that you purchase a dimmable lamp housing so that you can adjust the basking spot temperature. (Dimmable Lamp Fixture for use with these bulbs) or use a dimmer linked below on a standard lamp.
• Zoo Med Combo Deep Dome Reptile Dual Lamp Fixture - We recommend using a deep dual dome with the add on dimmer switch

Best Lighting Options (most healthy for your dragon):

• Arcadia Reptile 36" ProT5  w/ Arcadia 14% Dragon Bulb (Must be used for Thrive dense screen tops) - Provides strong UVB light that can peneatrate deep past dense screens.
• Arcadia Reptile 24" ProT5  w/ Arcadia 14% Dragon Bulb - The Arcadia fixture and 14" bulb offer some of the best UVB light you can get for your dragon
• Zoo Med 24" T5 High Output Terrarium Hood - This fixture comes with a 5.0 UVB bulb which is not strong enough. You will need to replace it with the Zoomed 10.0 or Arcadia 14% Dragon Bulb
  
• Arcadia Reptile Halogen Flood Lamp - Must be used with a dimming deep dome light fixture. This is suitable for denser top screens

Accessories:

• UL Listed Plug in Dimmer Switch - Used to convert no0n dimmable light fixtures to dimmable
• Basic Light Timer - A basic 120v timer that has two 3 prong switched outlets to support UVB light and halogen light in one unit and provides a 12hr on/off cycle

Additional Lighting Information:  Lizard UVB Lighting: What you need to know!

Heating

• An under tank heat mat for glass enclosures that is between 1/4 to 1/3 the floor space, or an appropriately sized ceiling heat panel in the case of a pvc or melamine. This will only control the overnight temps so they do not get too low.
• A 50 Watt Deap Heat Projector is also a great heating option, works far better than a ceramic heat emitter.

Our Minimum Recommendation:  Flukers Large Heat Pad   +    BN-LINK Digital Heat Mat Thermostat Controller

 Minimum

• BN-LINK Digital Heat Mat Thermostat Controller - these are your basic on/off thermostat and priced much lower than others you may find in a reptile or pet store.
• REPTIZOO Reptile Dimming Thermostat Heat Lamp Temperature Controller - This is a new dimming thermostat that keeps the temp constant rather than turning on/off like the cheaper ones. This is a feature usually only available in higher end and far more expensive thermostats. 
  

   Advanced

• Wifi Temperature Controller, Wteske Smart Reptile Thermostat with Heating and Cooling - When you want something a little more modern for just a little more money, this on/off thermostat allows Wifi connection, can connect via your phone, can alert you if temps hit a threshold, has 7 days of logging, compatible with google home and alexa.
• Hagen Exo Terra Electronic Day/Night Dimmable Pulse Thermostat (600 Watt) - More expensive but offers dimmable thermostatic control which is much more accurate at maintaining an exact temperature than the less expensive on/off controllers.

Substrate

• Substrate which is safe from impaction and promotes good husbandry

Our Minimum Recommendation: Sani Chips - This removes moisture well, is easy to clean up, and provides a safe bedding for your juvenile to adult Bearded Dragon. Consider using something less ingestible for your babies until they are old enough.

As always, pay attention to your specific dragon. If you find your dragon is eating substrate, consider moving to carpet. A dragon that likes to eat substrate will have issues no matter what substrate you use and impaction is a risk. We find most adult dragons do fantastic on the Pj Murphy Sani Chips.

Hide / Basking

• We are flexible when it comes to the hide as long as it is safe for the lizard and large enough for them to hide inside completely. Be careful when using fish decorations as hides as they may have sharp edges or passages the lizard can get up and into where they can get stuck.
  

Our Minimum Recommendation: Thrive Desert Reptile Corner Hide  or Thrive Wood hide Reptile Decor 

We prefer the non-wood hides like these as they are easier to sanitize. 

Water Bowl

• We are flexible when it comes to the water bowl as long as it is safe and large enough for your beardy to soak in but shallow enough they cant drown.
  

Our Minimum Recommendation:  ZooMed Reptirock Corner Bowl We love corner bowls, the take up less room and come in all kinds of sizes. Its best to see these in person prior buying to make sure they are the right size.

Corner bowls and features take up much less room in the enclosure so they maximize floor space left available for your dragons food bowl or just running around..