Beardie help

[Trogdorpheus]

I keep my beardie on slate tile. Easy clean-up, hold heat well, and it files their claws down a little bit so they're not so sharp when you want to handle them.

I actually have 3 lights in my enclosure. 1 is an energy saver regular bulb for white light, then I have a high wattage floodlight on a rheostat over the basking spot, and then my UVB bulb. This way I can control heat via the floodlight, without changing how much visible light is in the enclosure.

Crickets aren't your only option with a young beardie, contrary to popular belief, and the calcium you need to use is also dependant on the type of UVB you're using. Something else to consider is that if you're not offering a variety of greens/veggies then you may also need to include a multi-vitamin into the mix too.

Check out beardeddragon.org (its a site like this one for beardies) and the caresheets and forums there should be able to answer any question you have.

Edit: Also, as for tank size. I like to say that an appropriate size is to have the Width of the enclosure the length of your dragon, and the length be twice the length of your dragon. Right now, my 18" dragon is in a 36Lx18Wx18H enclosure. 40 gallon breeder tank is pretty much the minimum for an adult dragon.