Can I put an adult bearded dragon in a 20 gallon tank?

Question

My beardie, Yukon, has a 40 gallon tank currently yet i have 3 and now 4 leopard geckos who would much love his cage. He VERY RARELY uses the second half of his cage and sticks to the basking side.

Could I move him back to the 20 gallon or would it be too small?

Answer 1

No.  Mine is in a 75 gallon and I still think it is too small!  They need a cool end and a warm end, plus a basking spot.  Impossible for large lizards in a 20 gal.  Get a separate tank for the geckos....they tend to stress when kept together anyway...most reptiles do.

Answer 2

it all depends how big it is.but if all you have is 1 beardie you should be fine.you will still need to thermoregulate your lizard,hiding spots ,etc.

Answer 3

no it needs plenty of room to roam around

Answer 4

No, Bearded Dragons need lots of room to roam - just because you don't see him move doesn't mean he just sits there all day. He would be very stressed if you halfed his space like that.

Just buy another 40 gallon for your poor Leo's that are in that small enclosure. Why get more lizards when you don't have enough room?

Answer 5

Bearded Dragon Care

Enclosure Size

A 55 or 60 gallon size for an adult BD. Babies can be housed in 10 gallon tanks then moved up as they grow.

Cage Furnishings

Dragons should have branches or rocks to climb and a hidebox to hide in. I typically make the basking site a spot on a raised branch or rock so the dragon can move both horizontally and vertically to thermoregulate.

Any cage furniture should be carefully secured so it can't fall and injure the dragon. If you use a particulate substrate, make sure the animal can't burrow under any cage furnishings and have them come down on the animals either.

Answer 6

No. Bearded dragons need a lot of room. A small cage may cause stress, which may lead to health issues, that can be costly.

Hope that helps!

Answer 7

Adult Bearded Dragons need a minimum of a 55 gal. reptile tank (reptile tanks do not hold water and provide more floor space, than a fish aquarium).

If you are going to cause the animal stress by moving it into another enclosure, I would always recommend moving it UP in size, never down.

You will eventually need the larger tank for the Beardie.  Why not buy it now, so the animal won't be stressed by frequent relocations into other habitats?  Yukon will happily grow into the space.

As for not using half the space in its current habitat - I would say that is indicative of a problem with providing proper warm and cools sides.  Are you sure the basking area is in fact warm enough, and the cool side is not too cold?  Are you providing a good source of UVB, and using a UTH heat pad as well?

Does he have a moisture hide?

Temperatures should never be monitored with strip thermometers (these can be inaccurate up to 20 degrees!).  Use a good digtial thermometer, or a therm. gun, and measure the temperatures on the floor or the cage, or on the basking limb/rock, where the animal actually resides (allow all lights and UTH pad 1/2 hr. or more to reach top temperature, before taking temperature measurements and making adjustments).

The only thing I can't stress enough is please do not keep your Beardie on sand/loose substrate, and especially not your Leos!!!  You will find a ton of sites telling you to use play/repti sand, but one quick call to your vet can cure of that notion BEFORE you have to take an animal in for treatment due to impaction.

Another drawback to sand is bacteria.  Scooping the f***s free from the sand does NOT remove bacteria.  Sand is a great media for bacterial, mold, and fungal growth.  Unless you plan to change ALL the sand every 1-2 days (ignoring the impaction factor for a minute), the sand will NOT be sanitary.

I have provided a few links below you might find informative.  Though they do mention the use of sand, again - I STRONGLY DISAGREE.

I hope this has been helpful