The petsmart near me, the workers there told me to stay away from the thrive lids, coil uvb bulbs, and directed me towards being bioactive. They are exactly what a petstore employee should be.
I might work at a Pet smart some day, mostly to help with the rodent section. I saw a little boy and his mother (Most likely) impulsively buy a poor Syrian Hamster, all they got were a small two tier cage and SCENTED bedding. As well as an all pellet food blend, terrible.
I love that one of the first things you explain is the importance of uvb and heat, and how the lights in starter kits aren’t enough (honestly the fact that it’s literally alternating between nothing and 0.01 is really something o_o Especially when you consider that 3.0 is the bare minimum!)
i work at a petsmart, and the empty 40 gallon is most of the time on sale for cheaper, i always tell people that they’re going to need a 120 sooner than later but i tend to front load people so they really know what they’re getting into, i have a beardie too
What a great follow-up for your previous video! I was hoping you'd do one of these types of updates. It's always a good day when Chief Sweet comes out with a new video. Thank you for providing trustworthy and educational content to reptile hobbyists everywhere.
A possible alternative to the new screen is to cut out the metal screen and replace with something like window screen (which is fairly cheap but may not work with that style uvb/heat) or maybe even like chicken wire/something with bigger holes, but still got that super wide edge -- but iirc that first lid locks into place, vs.the replacement does not (which thus then cats or such could get in). I've cut off parts of metal screens to replace areas with glass (siliconed in) to allow my plants more light cause omg they do block light (while retaining the rest of the screen for ventilation) but that's tropical terrarium with inhabitants that don't require uvb (like dart frogs). I don't have any diarunal reptiles. I think this is a very well done video, it provides an accessible way to improve care for people that may have already gotten these enclosures. I wish the manufacturer made a bigger enclosure without these issues as a starter for bearded dragons, but as that's unlikely any time soon, providing this type of advice is useful. It generally seems utter ignorance on part of pet store-- they make good money on customers coming back, but settling people up to fail /for their pets to get sick is poor long term business practice, as well as poor ethics in general.
Another amazing vid! Yay! Also I looked at your Amazon stuff and the snake supplies is great, everything about it!! The looks, and EVERYTHING!!!!!❤❤❤❤❤❤
Thank you for the video I’ve been wanting a bearded dragon for a while and have been trying to look for someone who has a simple video to explain this ❤
Anyone else notice that he responds to all the ones agreeing with him but never the one's mentioning why this is a bad idea? A - The wood should be cleaned they do have bugs mites AND other things B - The plastic is different have you heard of food grade plastic? Just keeping y'all safe
So what’s crazy is I have not seen a single comment about any plastics. But I did learn recently from RUclips themselves that they do filter down negative comments and don’t really show creators as much negative ones (like giving us notifications for it) so that’s wild cause you mentioned plastics and I’m wondering what your even talking about comment wise not a bad thing or am I mad by it but it’s crazy cause I’ve not seen one. Wood wise you should actually clean wood from pet stores more than ones outside as mites for reptiles seem out reptiles and many reptile stores are where you get mites and parasites from just because of the wild caught animals being in which every pet store in the United States sells. Including petsmart and petco. Yes lots of captive bred but the reptile industry is lot of wildcaught as well. So make sure to even sanitize stuff bought at reptile shops. It is not as safe as people think. Plastic wise the plastics sold at dollar tree and petsmart are the same kind tho. No difference lots of times you can track that it comes from the same factories overseas as well. Just designed different.
My wife and I are currently doing our research about bearded dragons and stumbled across your channel. Very helpful. Random question though, I noticed a lot of bearded dragon owners allow their pet to roam the house a lot and was wondering how often do they pee/poop? Around the house or even on the person holding them? Something to even worry about?
You could also fix up that background using tile grout and paint, then sealing. That is what I am in middle of doing. Have also seen someone use drylock on it. Easier than starting from scratch and these backgrounds go on sale a lot.
pet smart pet care employee here, before watching the video im going to try my best to correct the kit. 1. Replace reptile carpet with a roll out vinyl or tile flooring 2. Replace UVB bulb with a linear T5 bulb 3. digital hydrometer and thermometer 4. Increase size to at least a 60 Gallon 5. More decor obviously
I might as well be employed by PetSmart. I go there often mostly for crickets. The amount of times i overhear new owners of different critters. I tend to have a list of resources for folks.
I literally bought this today as I'm preparing to get my beardie in about a week. Thank you for making this video I was suspicious about the UVB working> Never going to petsmart again
I recently got a bearded dragon from petsmart 2 days ago it was a baby we named it Chester the mascot of Cheetos because he/she was red I was so happy but he/she didn’t eat just drinks and was shaking from 7-10 minutes turns out he/she was SICK I am mad at petsmart because they don’t take care of them properly and now we have a new one Cheeto I named him/her because he/she was orange and if it was a baby it would be Tiny Cheeto but if a adult than Big Cheeto. I get deja vu from Cheeto eating sand because Chester did too,Cheeto runs away from us, Chester ran away from us,when my dad told me I was sad we had to return them and I knew they would take him to the vet but I don’t trust them having him. Hope your good Chester❤️
Amazing video! This helped so much! But one question, does this set up work for a baby or juvenile dragon? I heard that they like not a lot of hiding places because they are just cute little babies, but I wasn’t sure. Thank you so much!
We got the Australian sand only, 2 bags. We got proper heat, uvb and offer greens, gut loaded bugs and drops of water on his mouth, and water bowl and he gets calcium and vitamins. He is adopted few days ago by us. He is 3 months old. He’s been licking and eating little stones from the sand. He is still pooping. Is that normal and maybe because he was not used to loose substrate and he is just trying to figure it out? We hand feed him but I’m sure he was not hand fed crickets before so hunted on the ground. He also used to live on carpet. I’m nervous he will get impacted if he can’t figure out not to eat tiny rocks from the sand soon. And that we will have to switch it out. Would you recommend remove the sand till he’s maybe been with us for longer and has gotten more healthy? So he maybe won’t eat the tiny rocks. Or should he be able to pass them out fine? So far he’s pooping. He seams to lick everything in general so maybe it’s cause he was not on sand from the beginning. He’s been cleared by a vet. We do want him to have that enrichment though of sand if he’ll stop eating from it. It’s not much but maybe 6 times he’s been seen nipple a Little stone into his mouth. Love your videos!
Licking things is very normal as they will test out their environment doing that. They have evolved to lick and not ingest sand and rocks but if he’s nibbling on stones he may have been curious if he could eat it. As long as he’s pooping there’s no worries. A lot of times beardies kept on carpet will do this because it’s something so new to them and if you’ve only had him a few days he stay may have vitamin deficiencies as it takes a while for them to build back up vitamins and calcium. Like a month. Hope this helps!
@@ChiefSweetsUniverse yes thank you so much. Yes I think he’s been nibbling the tiny stones out of curiosity. I just hope while he’s figuring out what this nice sand is about and builds up better health that the amount of tiny sones in the process won’t be too many. If he stops pooping what can then be done? Obviously the vet but do you think then the tiny stones will have cause a big problem if he does get impacted? Sorry I’m probably overthinking it but I just really want him to have sand but also keep him for getting a big problem from it.
I live in australia thre is no petsmart that i know of there. No normal pets stores sell lizards either. But they do sell crickets at normal petstores. (You have to go to a lizard/reptile pet store im pretty sure to get a lizard.)
Yo bro I’ve been watching your videos for 2 months now in prep in getting a bearded dragon and I want to say you are the best person when it comes to advice for beadies thank you you have helped me so much i also wanted to ask I’m struggling on substrate as i live in Australia it’s hard to get products like fertilizer free soil and stuff like that so i have this plan so far My enclosures about 5x2x2 and these are the materials so i have: Horticultural charcoal 5l Peat moss 5l Coco coir 30l Jurassic Australian sand 18l Sphagnum moss 150g Play sand 20l Leaf litter Is that a good plan and if so should i mix it all together in certain quantities of course or should i layer it with certain materials or if you think i should get other things and get rid of other things. Thank you so much for helping me and thousands of other people.
I mean- backyard tree limbs being less likely to give your reptile parasites than petstore wood is sound advice IF you live somewhere (like me) were there are basically no lizards, few snakes and no snake species that live in the trees. Here there are plenty of frogs and toads. Plenty of tree frogs that’s going to be your only concern as far as wild animals that could give parasites and illness a ride to that tree (and I don’t know how many parasites and illnesses Amphibians and reptiles share). If you live in Florida though, you’ve got tons of small lizards hanging out in trees, Monitor lizards chilling in trees, giant invasive pythons and Several species of native tree dwelling snake species so Do your research and take that advice with a grain of salt depending on what’s native (or invasive) to your location 😅
@@ChiefSweetsUniverse and also, my friend's bearded dragon start eating sand, is it true that this could mean that it needs some extra vitamin apart from D(he doesn't have one)?
Awesome videos thank you! Unfortunately I didn’t see them before my son and I got our first dragons my petco failed me and everything I got so far is everything you said not to get haha my luck but with the new knowledge I have learned thanks to you will be going to get some good uvb for them tomorrow morning, my son has 40 gallon tank gifted to him, I unfortunately got a 20 gallon tank while at petco plus side has good screen letting lots of light through, thanks again
We all go through that as reptile owners ask many owners in the hobby we’ve all bought the same stuff at first and had to go spend more to get the right stuff it’s a right of passage almost ahaha. Happy to help!
Did you do any uvb measurements with the original bad thrive top screen and the stronger Zoo med 10.0 T5 22" reflector light? I'm trying to get the distance right and am worried the stronger light will be too strong with the better screen at a 9" basking area.
I like this RUclipsr and the comment section as y'all are more helpful criticism but with that being said, I keep my bearded dragon in a 40 gallon as an adult however she is very small for a dragon she is full grown and only 15 and 1/2 inches and the cage is double her length and she can turn around and climb without her tail touching but I need recommendations for where I can get a good uvb bulb
I’ve been watching your vids to start learning about bearded dragons! They have helped out a ton! I keep hearing mixed things about the substrate and getting it to make yourself from Home Depot. Do you recommend for older bearded dragons or for babies with the substrate you make? I just got the same tank and the additions like the different screen, UVB strip, etc. also! Thank you!
I use the mixed substrate for babies and adults no issues happen. Happy I helped out! Also lots of advanced keepers and many breeders use the mix of play sand and top soil/ reptisand and reptisoil. It’s up to you on the substrate choice really
@@ChiefSweetsUniverse awesome! I just went a got my beardy today! I just did paper towels for now, but when I go to Home Depot today I think I’ll go ahead and get the substrate to make myself! Thank you!
So I just got my beardie Rex today and I got the starter kit as well is the baskin light bulb that comes with it good enough? Or should I get an upgrade
I personally always recommend going for halogen bulbs because they last a while and simulate daylight the most, you can get them off amazon and most stores like Home Depot for pretty cheap. I’d suggest a 75 watt one but make sure you have it on a thermostat, basking bulbs and halogens especially can overheat easily without one. Exo terra dimming thermostats are my personal recommendation, as they keep a stable temperature (basking temperature is ideal around 105-115F, and a dimming thermostat keeps that in the ideal range by automatically dimming it) but if you want a cheaper option you can use a zoo med Reptitemp digital thermostat on a dimmer (plug the dimmer into the thermostat then the lamp into the dimmer, and let it run for around 30 mins, then dim it until the basking spot is the ideal temperature)
I thought that the calcium with D3 was just synthetic D3. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's meant to supplement D3 when UVB was still very uncommon & had poor technology. You could theoretically use the Calcium with D3 as a substitute without a UVB. They don't necessarily need UVB to metabolize it. I'm in no way endorsing using it without a UVB. Bit this is why most keepers do not use the synthetic D3 anymore. Modern T5HO hoods have advanced so much, your animals are able to synthesize D3 without the help of synthetic D3.
Yes that is true but they thought it would supplement and it doesn’t so it’s basically useless until you have appropriate uvb but when you have appropriate uvb they already synthesize it themselves so again pretty useless at that point.
If you use out side stuff you need to treat it and make it safe for the animals i get all my driftwood and leaf litter from outside i do use all bioactive enclosures with live plants so you will get random insects from lowes dirt or home depot same as plants but ya add springtails and isopods if you want a fun enclosure that keep you involved with your reptile def try bio do your research but i have def enjoyed the live plants and my reptiles seem to absolutely love it and thrive so well. I wanted my reptiles to feel as much as in wild as possible and with the cleanup crew not alot of clean up maintenance
You can change the substrate every 6 months some people do it every 3 but every 6 months is fine. If you go to Pangea but the t5 fixture by Pangea it’s $38. Then buy the Arcadia t5 22 inch bulb for $22. It’s cheaper and it’s the same fixture as the Arcadia pro just sold under a different name
We unfortunately bought this starter kit last week. I have a question about cleaning the tank. We had read about them eating the dirt & causing impaction so we thought the carpet was the best option and easy to clean (my husband used to have a snake that he used that for). How do you clean the tank with that substrate & how often?
i’m only worried about impaction with the soil for babies, is it safe for a ~4 month old beardie? i have him on paper towels at the moment, but want him to start having the liberty of digging and whatnot- any suggestions?
Impaction doesn’t occur unless a dragon is sick or lighting is not good. Very rare to happen. I’ve put babies on substrate at only a week old they have done great.
So I didn't buy this starter kit but I did buy just the tank I plan on using it for a ball python and using a heating pad and thermostat for heating as wheel as a spot to bask to get some uvb should I replace this screen or do you think a snake will be ok
@@ChiefSweetsUniverse Dude, your knowledge and how you explain things allows us new owners to not be scared of this journey. My wife and I just adopted a beardie that her human companion could no longer care for her. She is our first reptile, and we’ve been learning so much from your videos. Our beardie came with a 60gal tank, and I just watched your substrate video earlier too. So I’m excited for that, cuz now, I have the knowledge on what to buy and be cost effective too!
Water dish and food dish is totally fine. Nothing wrong with that at all. If you let them bask in natural sun it has to be direct sunlight for two hours. Like not through a window. Outside under direct sun. That’s why we use uvb and heat bulbs because it’s hard to do that everyday
Where so you find just the tops to replace the top? I unfortunately got one of these kits and have done pretty much all rhe upgrade except changing the top.
I'm about to get my first bearded dragon and I've watched this video and many others from you so many times, but I'm afraid I'm so stupid I'll still mess something up please help 😭🙏
Is it normal for bearded dragons to spend a lot of time on the cool side of enclosure ?? Just recently my beardie only basks after she eats and hasn’t been wanting greens. Help please!
@@meganstoner9035 are the air temps readin this? if so too hot. you do need a temp gun to take basking spot temps and the air temps are read by regular thermometers
The petsmart near me, the workers there told me to stay away from the thrive lids, coil uvb bulbs, and directed me towards being bioactive. They are exactly what a petstore employee should be.
That’s actually awesome! Good job for them! There is some petsmart employees who know there stuff!
That is definitely cool.
I might work at a Pet smart some day, mostly to help with the rodent section. I saw a little boy and his mother (Most likely) impulsively buy a poor Syrian Hamster, all they got were a small two tier cage and SCENTED bedding. As well as an all pellet food blend, terrible.
Bio active is the best way to go ever since I did it with my girl she’s loved it never had a problem besides her eating every little bug in her tank🤣
I’m watching despite the fact I do not have or want a bearded dragon but it’s always fun to learn about this stuff
Hope you enjoyed!
Same i rly want one tho lol
Same
I swear this man is out here doing the Lord's work with every video.
Thank you so much!
I love that one of the first things you explain is the importance of uvb and heat, and how the lights in starter kits aren’t enough (honestly the fact that it’s literally alternating between nothing and 0.01 is really something o_o Especially when you consider that 3.0 is the bare minimum!)
Yeah it actually was giving 2.0 with the updated screen but the regular screen it comes with blocks soo much it just blocked all of it haha.
i work at a petsmart, and the empty 40 gallon is most of the time on sale for cheaper, i always tell people that they’re going to need a 120 sooner than later but i tend to front load people so they really know what they’re getting into, i have a beardie too
You a real one for that!
In your opinion would you avoid buying a beardie from PetsMart?
Great videos man! My 7 yr old son has been reading books, watching and researching for months about getting a pet beardy and he loves your videos
Thank you! That’s awesome glad he likes them!
What a great follow-up for your previous video! I was hoping you'd do one of these types of updates. It's always a good day when Chief Sweet comes out with a new video. Thank you for providing trustworthy and educational content to reptile hobbyists everywhere.
That means a lot thank you so much!
i love this man "Guess where i got this thats right outside" that got me dying lol
Haha thank you!
I felt that dang it dollar tree from the soul 😂
Haha same
A possible alternative to the new screen is to cut out the metal screen and replace with something like window screen (which is fairly cheap but may not work with that style uvb/heat) or maybe even like chicken wire/something with bigger holes, but still got that super wide edge -- but iirc that first lid locks into place, vs.the replacement does not (which thus then cats or such could get in).
I've cut off parts of metal screens to replace areas with glass (siliconed in) to allow my plants more light cause omg they do block light (while retaining the rest of the screen for ventilation) but that's tropical terrarium with inhabitants that don't require uvb (like dart frogs). I don't have any diarunal reptiles.
I think this is a very well done video, it provides an accessible way to improve care for people that may have already gotten these enclosures. I wish the manufacturer made a bigger enclosure without these issues as a starter for bearded dragons, but as that's unlikely any time soon, providing this type of advice is useful. It generally seems utter ignorance on part of pet store-- they make good money on customers coming back, but settling people up to fail /for their pets to get sick is poor long term business practice, as well as poor ethics in general.
Thanks for that in the thrive lid. I’ll check mine when I get home.
Happy to help
Nahhh the second “guess where I got this outside”had me😂😂😂
Haha glad you enjoyed
“Snuggly”😂-LOL…you’re Great!! Always love your videos!!!
Haha thank you
Another amazing vid! Yay!
Also I looked at your Amazon stuff and the snake supplies is great, everything about it!! The looks, and EVERYTHING!!!!!❤❤❤❤❤❤
Thank you!
This gives late night cooking infomercial if that makes sense. But i love how passionately you made this set up
Haha I like it
Thank you for the video I’ve been wanting a bearded dragon for a while and have been trying to look for someone who has a simple video to explain this ❤
Happy to help!
Anyone else notice that he responds to all the ones agreeing with him but never the one's mentioning why this is a bad idea?
A - The wood should be cleaned they do have bugs mites AND other things
B - The plastic is different have you heard of food grade plastic?
Just keeping y'all safe
So what’s crazy is I have not seen a single comment about any plastics. But I did learn recently from RUclips themselves that they do filter down negative comments and don’t really show creators as much negative ones (like giving us notifications for it) so that’s wild cause you mentioned plastics and I’m wondering what your even talking about comment wise not a bad thing or am I mad by it but it’s crazy cause I’ve not seen one. Wood wise you should actually clean wood from pet stores more than ones outside as mites for reptiles seem out reptiles and many reptile stores are where you get mites and parasites from just because of the wild caught animals being in which every pet store in the United States sells. Including petsmart and petco. Yes lots of captive bred but the reptile industry is lot of wildcaught as well. So make sure to even sanitize stuff bought at reptile shops. It is not as safe as people think. Plastic wise the plastics sold at dollar tree and petsmart are the same kind tho. No difference lots of times you can track that it comes from the same factories overseas as well. Just designed different.
My wife and I are currently doing our research about bearded dragons and stumbled across your channel. Very helpful. Random question though, I noticed a lot of bearded dragon owners allow their pet to roam the house a lot and was wondering how often do they pee/poop? Around the house or even on the person holding them? Something to even worry about?
Happy to help! Juveniles and babies will poop and pee once a day when they are older they do slow down and poop every other day or so.
You could also fix up that background using tile grout and paint, then sealing. That is what I am in middle of doing. Have also seen someone use drylock on it. Easier than starting from scratch and these backgrounds go on sale a lot.
Oh yeah totally can do that
Thanks for the very comprehensive video!
Love this review can’t wait to get mine
I don't have a bearded dragon, nor one of these kits. Still thought this video was amazing though! Great content!
Glad you enjoyed it!
If you really wanna make things easy put your lights on a timer there cheap and sooo worth it. And always have a thermostat installed also
Oh yeah buddy I love my timers. My fav is actually the bn link not even reptile timer just general purpose. Works better. Cheaper as well
pet smart pet care employee here, before watching the video im going to try my best to correct the kit.
1. Replace reptile carpet with a roll out vinyl or tile flooring
2. Replace UVB bulb with a linear T5 bulb
3. digital hydrometer and thermometer
4. Increase size to at least a 60 Gallon
5. More decor obviously
Yes correcting the lighting is the main thing then you can work from. There
I might as well be employed by PetSmart. I go there often mostly for crickets. The amount of times i overhear new owners of different critters. I tend to have a list of resources for folks.
I literally bought this today as I'm preparing to get my beardie in about a week. Thank you for making this video I was suspicious about the UVB working> Never going to petsmart again
Happy to shed light on this
@@ChiefSweetsUniverseunlike the that uvb bulb
Actually tree limbs should be cleaned. They do have bugs, mites and other things.
I don't remember where i heard this from, but can't you bake the wood at the lowest setting of an oven to cook all the bad stuff out?
@SnazzzyGecko Yes, 200 degrees for 2 hours and let cool on the oven. You can also use Ammonia and water and soak them in a bathtub. Dry it thoroughly.
@@DallasStorm43 thats a very useful lifehack thank you
@@SnazzzyGecko Most welcome
The Petsmart that I’m near, had dead bearded dragons
I recently got a bearded dragon from petsmart 2 days ago it was a baby we named it Chester the mascot of Cheetos because he/she was red I was so happy but he/she didn’t eat just drinks and was shaking from 7-10 minutes turns out he/she was SICK I am mad at petsmart because they don’t take care of them properly and now we have a new one Cheeto I named him/her because he/she was orange and if it was a baby it would be Tiny Cheeto but if a adult than Big Cheeto. I get deja vu from Cheeto eating sand because Chester did too,Cheeto runs away from us, Chester ran away from us,when my dad told me I was sad we had to return them and I knew they would take him to the vet but I don’t trust them having him.
Hope your good Chester❤️
Thank you for this video. I am planning to get a beardie soon. I wonder what should I name them?
Happy to help! How about argyle
@@ChiefSweetsUniverse Thanks for the suggestion! 😃
Amazing video! This helped so much! But one question, does this set up work for a baby or juvenile dragon? I heard that they like not a lot of hiding places because they are just cute little babies, but I wasn’t sure. Thank you so much!
This works for babies as well! They do like lots of places to hide as babies adults don’t care really though
@@ChiefSweetsUniverse Ok thank you so much! You just earned a new subscriber! 😊
Ty so much I am getting a bearded dragon pretty soon my mom doesn’t like them so she told me everything you said not to do
Happy to help!
This is the right beginner setup
love the videos. Glad to see your growing so much
Thank you! Yes it’s crazy going to be at 100k soon!
Thank you for helping with this video
No problem, glad it helped!
We got the Australian sand only, 2 bags. We got proper heat, uvb and offer greens, gut loaded bugs and drops of water on his mouth, and water bowl and he gets calcium and vitamins.
He is adopted few days ago by us. He is 3 months old. He’s been licking and eating little stones from the sand. He is still pooping.
Is that normal and maybe because he was not used to loose substrate and he is just trying to figure it out? We hand feed him but I’m sure he was not hand fed crickets before so hunted on the ground. He also used to live on carpet.
I’m nervous he will get impacted if he can’t figure out not to eat tiny rocks from the sand soon. And that we will have to switch it out.
Would you recommend remove the sand till he’s maybe been with us for longer and has gotten more healthy? So he maybe won’t eat the tiny rocks. Or should he be able to pass them out fine? So far he’s pooping. He seams to lick everything in general so maybe it’s cause he was not on sand from the beginning. He’s been cleared by a vet. We do want him to have that enrichment though of sand if he’ll stop eating from it. It’s not much but maybe 6 times he’s been seen nipple a Little stone into his mouth.
Love your videos!
Licking things is very normal as they will test out their environment doing that. They have evolved to lick and not ingest sand and rocks but if he’s nibbling on stones he may have been curious if he could eat it. As long as he’s pooping there’s no worries. A lot of times beardies kept on carpet will do this because it’s something so new to them and if you’ve only had him a few days he stay may have vitamin deficiencies as it takes a while for them to build back up vitamins and calcium. Like a month. Hope this helps!
@@ChiefSweetsUniverse yes thank you so much. Yes I think he’s been nibbling the tiny stones out of curiosity. I just hope while he’s figuring out what this nice sand is about and builds up better health that the amount of tiny sones in the process won’t be too many. If he stops pooping what can then be done? Obviously the vet but do you think then the tiny stones will have cause a big problem if he does get impacted? Sorry I’m probably overthinking it but I just really want him to have sand but also keep him for getting a big problem from it.
I bought top soil from Home Depot and as soon as I got my bearded dragons he ate a stick from the soil. Now he’s not eating and no poop yet.
Make sure he’s hydrated feed lots of romaine lettuce and he’ll poop it out
Also make sure your basking zone reaches the optimal temperature for proper digestion (38-42c)
@@julianto4361 forgot to mention this thank you! That is exactly right!
Your supposed to use a strainer to get all unwanted things out of the soil
Drives me NUTS that they can still sell this !
It is crazy!
Wow I have that thank and have one for 3 years now and he’s doing fine
Hey do you think you could do a video over uvb requirements for leopard geckos or ballpythons
Yes making those videos soon!
@@ChiefSweetsUniverse thank you!!!!! I can not for the life of me find somebody that breaks it down for me
I live in australia thre is no petsmart that i know of there. No normal pets stores sell lizards either. But they do sell crickets at normal petstores. (You have to go to a lizard/reptile pet store im pretty sure to get a lizard.)
Rocks from outside
Yes 😊
Yo bro I’ve been watching your videos for 2 months now in prep in getting a bearded dragon and I want to say you are the best person when it comes to advice for beadies thank you you have helped me so much i also wanted to ask I’m struggling on substrate as i live in Australia it’s hard to get products like fertilizer free soil and stuff like that so i have this plan so far
My enclosures about 5x2x2 and these are the materials so i have:
Horticultural charcoal 5l
Peat moss 5l
Coco coir 30l
Jurassic Australian sand 18l
Sphagnum moss 150g
Play sand 20l
Leaf litter
Is that a good plan and if so should i mix it all together in certain quantities of course or should i layer it with certain materials or if you think i should get other things and get rid of other things. Thank you so much for helping me and thousands of other people.
This all looks great you can leave the coco coir and sphagnum moss out. Other than that looks to be a reallly good bioactive mix
I’m only watching this cause I have a bearded dragon very helpful
Nice! Thanks
I love your humor 😂
Thank you haha
Do we have to change the soil out if we put it in there? Also what uvb light should I use? Great video and thankyou for the tips
Change the soil every 6 months and the best some of the best is the zoo med t5 10.0 24 inch 24 watt or Arcadia 12% t5 24 inch 24 watt uvb
Love the shirt dude wheres it from, heaps of useful tips man 🤟
I mean- backyard tree limbs being less likely to give your reptile parasites than petstore wood is sound advice IF you live somewhere (like me) were there are basically no lizards, few snakes and no snake species that live in the trees. Here there are plenty of frogs and toads. Plenty of tree frogs that’s going to be your only concern as far as wild animals that could give parasites and illness a ride to that tree (and I don’t know how many parasites and illnesses Amphibians and reptiles share). If you live in Florida though, you’ve got tons of small lizards hanging out in trees, Monitor lizards chilling in trees, giant invasive pythons and Several species of native tree dwelling snake species so Do your research and take that advice with a grain of salt depending on what’s native (or invasive) to your location 😅
man, u make such a good vid
Thank you
@@ChiefSweetsUniverse and also, my friend's bearded dragon start eating sand, is it true that this could mean that it needs some extra vitamin apart from D(he doesn't have one)?
Awesome videos thank you! Unfortunately I didn’t see them before my son and I got our first dragons my petco failed me and everything I got so far is everything you said not to get haha my luck but with the new knowledge I have learned thanks to you will be going to get some good uvb for them tomorrow morning, my son has 40 gallon tank gifted to him, I unfortunately got a 20 gallon tank while at petco plus side has good screen letting lots of light through, thanks again
We all go through that as reptile owners ask many owners in the hobby we’ve all bought the same stuff at first and had to go spend more to get the right stuff it’s a right of passage almost ahaha. Happy to help!
Did you do any uvb measurements with the original bad thrive top screen and the stronger Zoo med 10.0 T5 22" reflector light? I'm trying to get the distance right and am worried the stronger light will be too strong with the better screen at a 9" basking area.
i live in Missouri and when my friend went to Colorado he got rocks so i could take them when i get one
Very nice! They have awesome rocks out west for sure
Could you make a list of links or something for the products
Yeah here you go www.amazon.com/shop/chiefsuniverse/list/323CO6UW1752W?ref_=aipsflist_aipsfchiefsuniverse
I just brought the same kit but where do I get the lid with bigger holes and where do I get the uvb not the bulb. I need help I'm in Houston Tx
Petsmart and petco will sell the lids as well measures 36.5 x 18.5 inches petsmart now sells the uvb it’ll be the zoo med reptisun 10.0 24 watt t5.
You can also order an Arcadia 12% or 14% off Amazon/Pangea Reptile, make sure you check Reptifiles for the distance for whichever you get though
I like this RUclipsr and the comment section as y'all are more helpful criticism but with that being said, I keep my bearded dragon in a 40 gallon as an adult however she is very small for a dragon she is full grown and only 15 and 1/2 inches and the cage is double her length and she can turn around and climb without her tail touching but I need recommendations for where I can get a good uvb bulb
I’ve been watching your vids to start learning about bearded dragons! They have helped out a ton! I keep hearing mixed things about the substrate and getting it to make yourself from Home Depot. Do you recommend for older bearded dragons or for babies with the substrate you make? I just got the same tank and the additions like the different screen, UVB strip, etc. also! Thank you!
Also what are your thoughts on Cyprus mulch?
I use the mixed substrate for babies and adults no issues happen. Happy I helped out! Also lots of advanced keepers and many breeders use the mix of play sand and top soil/ reptisand and reptisoil. It’s up to you on the substrate choice really
@@ChiefSweetsUniverse awesome! I just went a got my beardy today! I just did paper towels for now, but when I go to Home Depot today I think I’ll go ahead and get the substrate to make myself! Thank you!
what length UVB lamp would you recommend for a 40 gallon?
Zoo med 10.0 t5 24 inch or Arcadia 12% t5 ho 24 watt
Great video! Do you know if lilac leaves are safe for bearded dragons? I know they're good for tortoise's.
Yeah they are fine for beardies
@@ChiefSweetsUniverse Thank you!
So I just got my beardie Rex today and I got the starter kit as well is the baskin light bulb that comes with it good enough? Or should I get an upgrade
I personally always recommend going for halogen bulbs because they last a while and simulate daylight the most, you can get them off amazon and most stores like Home Depot for pretty cheap.
I’d suggest a 75 watt one but make sure you have it on a thermostat, basking bulbs and halogens especially can overheat easily without one. Exo terra dimming thermostats are my personal recommendation, as they keep a stable temperature (basking temperature is ideal around 105-115F, and a dimming thermostat keeps that in the ideal range by automatically dimming it) but if you want a cheaper option you can use a zoo med Reptitemp digital thermostat on a dimmer (plug the dimmer into the thermostat then the lamp into the dimmer, and let it run for around 30 mins, then dim it until the basking spot is the ideal temperature)
my bearded dragon wont eat anything but crickets that i give him do you have any advice
I’d try discoid roaches, silkworms, mealworms and black soldier fly larvae
Do we need to put any of those little clean up critters in there? How often do we need to change the substrate?
You don’t have to at all. You can if you want to though depends on if you want to
I thought that the calcium with D3 was just synthetic D3. Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's meant to supplement D3 when UVB was still very uncommon & had poor technology. You could theoretically use the Calcium with D3 as a substitute without a UVB. They don't necessarily need UVB to metabolize it. I'm in no way endorsing using it without a UVB. Bit this is why most keepers do not use the synthetic D3 anymore. Modern T5HO hoods have advanced so much, your animals are able to synthesize D3 without the help of synthetic D3.
Yes that is true but they thought it would supplement and it doesn’t so it’s basically useless until you have appropriate uvb but when you have appropriate uvb they already synthesize it themselves so again pretty useless at that point.
If you use out side stuff you need to treat it and make it safe for the animals i get all my driftwood and leaf litter from outside i do use all bioactive enclosures with live plants so you will get random insects from lowes dirt or home depot same as plants but ya add springtails and isopods if you want a fun enclosure that keep you involved with your reptile def try bio do your research but i have def enjoyed the live plants and my reptiles seem to absolutely love it and thrive so well. I wanted my reptiles to feel as much as in wild as possible and with the cleanup crew not alot of clean up maintenance
Exactly man! Bioactive is so much fun and it looks great!
just discovered you but your really good
Thank you
The way he said “it’s not gunna check on fire, I’ve done this” so fast 😂 ik there was Karen’s that came at him about that
Haha you are exactly right
Whatever it is that you are using to cut the branches from trees, can you PLEASE add that to your Amazon store so I can buy it? Need it asap. 🙏
Oh great idea! I will do that!
@chiefsweetsuniverse how often do you need to change out the substrate?
Also that Arcadia pro light is over $100. Are there any low budge recc’s??
You can change the substrate every 6 months some people do it every 3 but every 6 months is fine. If you go to Pangea but the t5 fixture by Pangea it’s $38. Then buy the Arcadia t5 22 inch bulb for $22. It’s cheaper and it’s the same fixture as the Arcadia pro just sold under a different name
Hi there! What is the screen that you use to replace the one on the thrive tank? Thank you!
It’s a exo terra 36x18 or a thrive 36x18 replacement screen
Where would you recommend placing the Hygrometers if I install a landscape background in my tank?
I usually get the ones with probes when I have tanks like that
We unfortunately bought this starter kit last week. I have a question about cleaning the tank. We had read about them eating the dirt & causing impaction so we thought the carpet was the best option and easy to clean (my husband used to have a snake that he used that for). How do you clean the tank with that substrate & how often?
I’ll make a video on it. But usually you grab the poop and the dirt around it and continue that process. After about 6 months replace the whole thing
i’m only worried about impaction with the soil for babies, is it safe for a ~4 month old beardie? i have him on paper towels at the moment, but want him to start having the liberty of digging and whatnot- any suggestions?
Impaction doesn’t occur unless a dragon is sick or lighting is not good. Very rare to happen. I’ve put babies on substrate at only a week old they have done great.
Are these the same bulbs used for turtles? I have 2 red eared sliders with extra bulbs and im lookin to start a bearded drag enclosure
Yes these are the same ones used for turtles
It looks like you put the substrate a bit higher in the back than in the front of the tank, is there a specific benefit for that?
Oh yeah just to allow for deeper digging. That’s really all. No real reason just in case the dragon wants to dig more
So I didn't buy this starter kit but I did buy just the tank I plan on using it for a ball python and using a heating pad and thermostat for heating as wheel as a spot to bask to get some uvb should I replace this screen or do you think a snake will be ok
I think you’ll be ok as ball pythons will be fine with low uvb.
Will it work with the stackable bracket that I bought with the different screen?
Awesome guide Chief!
Thank you
@@ChiefSweetsUniverse Dude, your knowledge and how you explain things allows us new owners to not be scared of this journey.
My wife and I just adopted a beardie that her human companion could no longer care for her. She is our first reptile, and we’ve been learning so much from your videos. Our beardie came with a 60gal tank, and I just watched your substrate video earlier too. So I’m excited for that, cuz now, I have the knowledge on what to buy and be cost effective too!
I was told no food or water dish should be left in the tank, and no heat lamp should be in there and to instead let them bask in natural sun light.
Water dish and food dish is totally fine. Nothing wrong with that at all. If you let them bask in natural sun it has to be direct sunlight for two hours. Like not through a window. Outside under direct sun. That’s why we use uvb and heat bulbs because it’s hard to do that everyday
I got this one at Petsmart and I am only 10 years old and my lizard died and I never knew why thanks for letting me know
Sorry to hear that but glad I could help!
Damn i wached this too late i just bought a starter kit but is it possible to buy a different screen?
Yes you can buy a different screen
The local PetSmart were I live actually recommended I stay away from starter kits
Oh very nice!
Hey think you could do a ball python one cause I have one at home and I was wondering on how I could spice up her enclosure
I did one kind of similar but all the way ruclips.net/video/nwBTIz-65Io/видео.htmlsi=U58PIxjpTTbbVnA7
i make my beardies hide out of a cut out of nike shoe box. That hide was 50 bucks!!
So do I need to upgrade the UVB or can I use this one it comes with?
Upgrade the uvb. Teh one it comes with just doesn’t put out strong enough uvb. Its close but not hitting above minimum
Where so you find just the tops to replace the top? I unfortunately got one of these kits and have done pretty much all rhe upgrade except changing the top.
You can find them at petco or petsmart or even on Amazon. But look for a Zilla 36x18 inch screen top
how do you clean the tank
Pooper scooper and replace substrate as needed.
It’s not as annoying as bleaching and power washing a carpet
How often do you change substrate?
Once every 6 months
Should i clean the top soil i bought from lowes
You can bake it at 250f for an hour or two
That nike shirt 🔥
Thanks!
What’s the UV light?
im worried about the soil tho i heard its only for tropical lizards and it can harm the bearded dragon
It’s just dirt really won’t hurt them. Used it for nearly twenty years
Does this go with Leopard geckos
I will definitely
I'm about to get my first bearded dragon and I've watched this video and many others from you so many times, but I'm afraid I'm so stupid I'll still mess something up please help 😭🙏
No you got this I believe in you!
I wish I had watched this video a week ago. I'm going to get me a leopard gecko, and I thought this kit was a good idea 😢😢😢
The main focus of this video was the bad screen of the tank. You didn't tell us what's the name of the new screen you used!!
It’s the thrive replacement screen. I thought I did say it in the video.
Is it normal for bearded dragons to spend a lot of time on the cool side of enclosure ?? Just recently my beardie only basks after she eats and hasn’t been wanting greens. Help please!
It may be too hot on the basking spot. Check temps and see if it’s above target temps
@@ChiefSweetsUniverse the temps on the basking spot are between 90 and 100.1 and the cool side was at 78 I believe.
@@meganstoner9035 are the air temps readin this? if so too hot. you do need a temp gun to take basking spot temps and the air temps are read by regular thermometers
@@ChiefSweetsUniverse I used a temp gun to get those temps
Another thing abt rocks don’t throw them in a fire pit learned that when I was 8
Haha same
Why am I watching this I don't own a beardie anymore 😢
Hopefully it helps in some way if you get another
Could a 4 ft x 1.5 x 2 work for a beardy it’s a glass tank
Yes!
Someone must just launch a kit that works for reptiles
I hope I will be able to one day
@@ChiefSweetsUniverse you should do it you a wickenswicked reptiles
That’s the one that my mom bought for my baby😮😢
i bought that one