Hi everyone! I'm a total newbie here....I'm a vet tech and owner of what I call a small zoo....3 dogs, 1 cat and 6 bearded dragons. I'm going to be the proud mom of a bumble bee BP soon! I'm so excited I could pop :-D He's a baby, I'm waiting on updates of his weight and everything. His name will be Severus.

Ok, so I have a bunch of 40 gallon breeder tanks, a 20 gal tank, and a custom made wood cage which was supposedly made for snakes. I'd love to use the custom wood cage because it's a perfect size and I think would be a good choice for him. It has a lock, opens to the front, has a screen top, etc. My tanks don't have locking lids and I would have some issues re-organizing the dragons.

I need some MAJOR help here on what to do for heating. I honestly have read so much about it, but don't really know where to begin. HELPPPP!
Ideally what I would like to do is use a ceramic heat emitter (on the screen top) for his heat source, maybe a low wattage bulb for lighting (?) and of course some type of thermostat for the CHE. It seems most people like using the under tank heaters...which I think may be an issue for me. First off, the cage is on my floor which is carpet. Second, the wood cage seems pretty thick, and the inside is lined with tile which is grouted in. So I can't really see the under tank heater even getting through those layers. I plan on covering the tile with bedding of some sort (carefresh paper stuff? or aspen....help there too please)

So any help will be greatly appreciated. I'm trying to get everything perfect before he comes so it's as stress-less as possible. I REALLY don't want to go with the tub/plastic bin route because I have a cat and I can't imagine him not trying to jump in and I don't like the look either. I had an "ex" friend that had 2 BPs and had a heat lamp for them...they were huge and healthy and just fine....so I guess the CHE could be done, but I want to do what's best! I'm including a few pics of the cage in question, pardon the cramped space as it's being split for 2 males at this time!

Thanks so much, I look forward to seeing your replies. I'll be back with tons and tons more questions, so it's nice to meet you all!
-Lauren