Is a fish tank good for bearded dragons

Question

the lids have parts of black and will cover the ligh what should i do?

Answer 1

1) Depends on how big it is

2) How much floor space does it have? The more floor space, the more air circulation...

Just make sure it's no less than 50 gallons, and make sure it has big enough air circulation.

Answer 2

i would go to the pet store and ask their opinion, they definitely need the light and lots of air... i actually accidently killed a lizard like that and i felt terrible obviously, now i always check with a pet store but make sure they really know what they're talking about too sometimes they don't and can sell you the wrong stuff or give you the wrong information too.

Answer 3

To Rumplestiltskin: Unlike some other reptiles, beardies shouldn't be in a mesh sided vivarium as it is too difficult to keep the temperature high/constant enough for a desert animal even though beardies still need ventilation.

Tank cover:

You *need* a screen cover over the tank.  The plastic/glass covers do not allow enough air through and you CANNOT have any plastic or glass between the UVB bulb and the beardie as UV can't pass through anything but about 12" of air.  Beardies need to climb a lot (and are good at it) and the screen makes it easier to set up the lights as you can almost always rest the fixtures on the screen (unless you have a ceramic heater or mercury vapor bulb).

Tank size:

A 40 gallon *breeder* (36x16x18inches) works unless you have a GG or other large beardie. 70 gallons and up works. 55 do NOT as they don't have enough space front to back to comfortably turn around.  Every single dimension of the tank/enclosure should be at least the full length of the beardie-otherwise movement (especially turning around) is extremely uncomfortable for them. 55 gallon tanks aren't wide enough front to back for any beardie older than a couple months even though the total area is good. Either go with a 40 gallon "breeder" (36"x18"x16") or a tank that is at least 70 gallons as everything else will make it difficult for a beardie to turn around in. Even 40 breeders are too small for a single German Giant adult. Even for babies never use anything smaller than a 20 gallon long as smaller tanks (and 20 talls) get too hot quickly without giving enough space for the babies to get out of the heat. A lot of beardies have been killed this way. If a beardie keeps it's mouth open it's too hot-doing so right under the basking light is one thing, doing so anywhere else in the cage means that you have an emergency on your hands (it's either too hot or it's sick and needs to go to the vet's).

Lighting/heating:

For any size tank, you'll need a UVB specific tube style bulb (within 12" of the basking spot) like reptisun 10.0 (a 36" tube style is good for a 40breeder tank).  Thebulb needs replacing every 6-8 months...even if it doesn't burn out as UV output degrades rapidly.  You'll also need a basking light and an undertank heating pad on one end of the tank. NEVER use 'hot rocks' as they regularly cause serious burns because the beardies can't tell they are too hot until long after it's too late. You need to set up a temperature gradient in the tank that *ranges* between 75 and 85 degrees so that the beardie can choose what temperature it wants. The basking area should have options (ie: a branch for resting at different heights) between 95 and 105.

Answer 4

No, a fish tank isn't a good idea because there wont be good air circulation. A vivarium would be a better option, its like a terrarium (which is like a fish tank) but the "walls" are made of a mesh material so there is a good amount of air circulating through the enclosure.