Do BDs like to climb?

[Ranger]

I am doing some preliminary research into getting a BD. One book I read mentioned that BDs like to climb, and in the wild are often seen on fence posts, etc. Yet many of the cages that I have seen them in are short, which I suppose is to get them closer to their lights. My questions are: what is the ideal cage height? And do your BDs climb?

Thanks for any feedback!

[Patrick Long]

My beardies LOVE to climb. The run all over climbing up and down. As long as you can achieve a heat gradient You can go as tall as you like! I have seen huge enclosures 48 inches, and I have seen enclosures about 20 inches.


http://www.jmherp.com/shop/dragoncare.html


Check that out. Hope it helps!

[West Coast Jungle]

they like to climb up on a perch to bask. Dominant males will usually want the highest spot.

[Crazydude]

It depends on the Animal,

My Dragon usually doesnt now, but when she was a baby she acted like she was aboreal. Now she doesnt like to go much hugher then a quick jump up or down.

Some love to climb though, others love to dig, and some are just plain lazy and want to sit around like Mine.

With dragons in almost all cases though, the bigger the better, The more room you can give an Adult, the happier they will be, Babies can get stressed in larger enclosures, so if they are under 10", i wouldnt put them in anything bigger then a 20L or so, and over that anything can really go because by that point they are eating good, and growing good ext. They do grow fast.

As for height of an enclosure, Id offer no lower then 24", because depending on the lighting you use, shorter can limit basking/climbing space. If you use a florecent UVB, like a repti-sun 10.0 (make sure its a tube, not compact/coil), then you want him 8" or so away from the bulb, so in a 20" enclosure he only has 12" of climbing, if the bulb is on top the enclosure, if inside its different. With a MVB, they need to be at least 12" away, with stronger ones further, so you need more space.

They like to climb up on a perch to bask. Dominant males will usually want the highest spot.

Ive also heard that some like to bask almost vertically to aid digestion, no sources on that as for articles, just theory.

And for the male, in the wild yes, personally im a fan of the 1 dragon per enclosure, so unless they see another outside i wouldnt expect that behavior.

Raul, do they do this out of habit if housed alone, or just when they have "Subjects"?

Ben

[West Coast Jungle]

It depends on the Animal,

My Dragon usually doesnt now, but when she was a baby she acted like she was aboreal. Now she doesnt like to go much hugher then a quick jump up or down.

Some love to climb though, others love to dig, and some are just plain lazy and want to sit around like Mine.

With dragons in almost all cases though, the bigger the better, The more room you can give an Adult, the happier they will be, Babies can get stressed in larger enclosures, so if they are under 10", i wouldnt put them in anything bigger then a 20L or so, and over that anything can really go because by that point they are eating good, and growing good ext. They do grow fast.

As for height of an enclosure, Id offer no lower then 24", because depending on the lighting you use, shorter can limit basking/climbing space. If you use a florecent UVB, like a repti-sun 10.0 (make sure its a tube, not compact/coil), then you want him 8" or so away from the bulb, so in a 20" enclosure he only has 12" of climbing, if the bulb is on top the enclosure, if inside its different. With a MVB, they need to be at least 12" away, with stronger ones further, so you need more space.


Ive also heard that some like to bask almost vertically to aid digestion, no sources on that as for articles, just theory.

And for the male, in the wild yes, personally im a fan of the 1 dragon per enclosure, so unless they see another outside i wouldnt expect that behavior.

Raul, do they do this out of habit if housed alone, or just when they have "Subjects"?

Ben

Its part of breeding and pecking order, some males can be more dominating than others. But even as hatclings you can start to see difference in personality with some dominating higher perches for basking and being more agressive feeders then others.