5 Signs Your Bearded Dragon Enclosure Is Too Small
Bearded dragons are pretty simple little guys. They don’t need too much to be happy, just a steady supply of fruit, veggies, and protein, some UV light to warm up under, water, and a nice hide to chill out in. They don’t really yearn for wide open space as long as all their needs are met. However, a bearded dragon in an enclosure that’s too small will stress, which can lead to serious health problems. Beyond that, it can make your little friend miserable, when they really should feel cozy at home.
In this article, we’ll talk about some key signs that it’s time to give your beardy a bigger enclosure. Let’s talk about it.
Can a Bearded Dragon Habitat Be Too Large?
Short answer: no. There isn’t really such a thing as an enclosure that’s too big. Beardies do just fine in large spaces. However, if you put your beardy in a gargantuan enclosure, you might notice that it doesn’t really use all the space you’ve given it.
Beardies are primarily driven by their basic survival needs. And if those are met, they don’t have much drive to “explore”. Having a huge enclosure also means more cleaning work for you. So while it’s a nice thought to give your beardy the biggest space possible, it’s really not necessary.
Our main concern is whether our beardies have enough room to stay happy long-term.
How to Tell If Your Bearded Dragon Habitat is Too Small
If your beardy’s enclosure is too small, you’ll definitely notice something is wrong. Beardies don’t need a ton of space, but when they don’t get enough, they will quickly stress. This is what you should look for as your beardy grows larger.
1. Measure It!
The simplest way to guess what size of habitat your bearded dragon needs is just to measure. As a general rule, your beardy’s tank should be at least twice as long as your beardy, and as wide as your beardy is long. To be on the safe side, it’s good to go bigger than this.
If you get a baby bearded dragon, be warned that they grow quickly. So while a juvenile might only need a 40 gallon tank, it might outgrow it in six months to a year. By the time your beardy is an adult, its enclosure should be roughly 4’ long x 2’ wide x 2’ tall, just to be safe. This is a great size enclosure and will give your pet plenty of room.
2. Improper Temperature Gradient
A sure sign your bearded dragon’s tank is too small is if you can’t establish a proper temperature gradient. Bearded dragons, being reptiles, need to use the ambient temperature to regulate their body temperature. So they need a hot side with a bask to warm up under, and a cool side to cool off when they’re too hot. Your basking area should be set at 100-110°F during the day. At the same time, the cool side of the tank should be between 75-85°F.
So if you notice your beardy only hangs out on the cool side of the tank and never uses its basking area, chances are there’s not enough room in the tank to create both a “warm” and “cool” zone.
3. Cage Surfing and Nose Rubbing
Beardies have a couple dead giveaway behaviors that signal when they’re stressed from lack of space. One is cage surfing, or circling the tank quickly with their bellies pressed up against the walls. They may pace back and forth, pressing up against the glass. This may also present itself as nose rubbing, which is exactly what it sounds like. Your beardy will rub its nose against the glass, as if it’s trying to burrow out of the cage.
Both of these behaviors are signs that your beardy is not having a good time. But they can also cause cuts and bleeding, infections, and other stress-related conditions like lethargy and low appetite.
4. Hiding and Aggression
This can tie in with having an improper climate in your beardy’s enclosure, but it may also be stress-related. If your beardy spends all its time hiding, it is almost definitely stressed.
Beardies can also wear their stress on their skin. If your beardy is displaying ovals or stress marks (which look like tiger stripes) on its belly and limbs, this means it’s agitated. If it displays aggression by presenting a large black beard, that’s another pretty sure sign that it’s not having fun.
Aggression displays are definite signs of stress. This can be caused by a lack of space, but can also happen when your beardy sees its reflection in the glass of its enclosure. Naturally, this will happen more often if its cage is too small.
5. Not Enough Room for Furniture
Last, you’ll know your enclosure is too small if there isn’t room for all the furniture you need. Bearded dragon enclosures need a few things. You’ll need at least one hide (in fact some owners use both a dry and a humid hide), as well as a water dish, a basking area, branches/scenery, and both a UVB and basking light. If you can’t fit all of this into your pet’s enclosure without it feeling cramped, that’s a sure sign that it is cramped.
Can I Keep Two Bearded Dragons in the Same Enclosure?
Short answer again, definitely not. Bearded dragons are primarily solitary creatures with very territorial instincts, and will definitely stress each other, if not fight. Putting these animals in close proximity is a bad idea.
The one exception is if you have to temporarily house a breeding pair of bearded dragons. In this case, the amount of room you need to house a male and female is roughly double that of the enclosure we described for one adult. You’ll need a glass aquarium roughly 8’ long by 2’ wide by 2’ high. As you could probably guess, aquariums like this are tough to get, expensive, and (go figure) take up a ton of room.