How to build a desert terrarium for a bearded dragon (pogona vitticeps)

I built a bearded dragon vivarium/terrarium from scratch (170x120x80cm). plus the terrarium base and the lighting box. I also installed a full light simulation (morning, mid-day, afternoon and night) plus a watering system for my natural plants. In this video you will get a step-by-step overview of my work.
On my blog you will find more information about tools and techniques I have used to build my dessert terrarium for my bearded dragons.
I hope you will find this helpful and in case of any questions, please comment them on youtube or on my blog.
beardeddragonsi...
It provides you with more details on how to do things shown in the video

[@MrSocK100]

Speechless! This is truly a work of art and deffinetly one of the best dragon enclosures ive ever seen!

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

MrSocK100 Thank you very kind of you. I really enjoyed the crafting of this tank. :-)

[@juniperguinevere]

Great Video! The only thing missing was the beardie introduction.

[@evisceratetheweak1301]

Incredible tank. Very awesome I bet your beardie loves it.

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

sigfan 380 Oh, yes he really enjoys it. Thanks for sharing this video!

[@marieatdimitra]

really great. We're going to try to make something similar.

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

Its called styrodur and its very nice to work with. I have added the link to my blog in the Video description, because I am describing there all the details on how to do this kind of backdrop.

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

Do you mean the paint of the backdrop? No it is flexible tile cement with a bit of high pigmented painting color that you normally use for mixing the right color for your wall. As this is mixed with the tile cement its not just colored outside, but also in depth. All non toxic for the dragon and children :-)

[@LOS_ANGELES213]

awesome im thinking of getting the moonlight for the night

[@erickgt18]

sweet terrarium :)

[@Buzz135]

Congrat... great tank !!!

[@TheUncertainsky]

Are those the temp and humidity gauges in the upper right? The whole terrarium looks great! It just seems odd that you would go through all that work then just simply place those types of gauges there o.O

[@MrGabeguerra]

That's awesome...!!!!!!

[@TheUncertainsky]

I recently got a baby water dragon and am starting to plan a custom 5'x4'x6' enclosure. I will go with glass sliding doors up front and was thinking of doing rock outcrops much like you have on the other 3 walls. What would you recommend I use for the bottom part of the cage as it will need to hold water? Will plywood covered with layers of the cement work or will I need to get liquid rubber and coat it first? And also will the high humidity affect the cemented walls? Thanks.

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

@xXCHRIPODXx Youcan seal the white paint outside, thats not a problem for the bearded dragon, but I wouldnt do the it inside the terrarium because its toxic for the dragon.

[@coleeldridge6469]

1) beardies climb to get closer to the light 2) the 10.0 uvb bulb rays will travel like real life 3) adult beardies wont really try to eat the sand if there fed properly

[@davidsimon6]

you should have a thousands views

[@Bowserking1]

How do you hang up lamps in a regular terrarium?

[@onesiesisters5458]

Thnx

[@TrendSettaRico]

Wow.....simply amazing! This rivals zoo exhibits, this is very nice indeed. I'd love to have one built for my dragon.

[@MrRemmyDog]

What kind of dirt did you use?

[@Reptisaurous]

I was just wondering. Does it matter what type of wood you use? Like can I use plywood or what?

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

No it doesnt matter, you can use any wood you like or what looks good in your tank.

[@g.rodriguez7445]

Do the lights cover the UVB spectrum the Beast needs???

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

Yes, they are all covering the daylight spectrum. But I wont tell my Bartl that you called him Beast! :-)

[@toablackout1]

do your research before commenting :P

[@s379Ox]

Wow that's amazing, good job! I'll pay you to build me one :p jk good job though. I'm sure your BD will love it!!!

[@tomrollings4233]

hi..was it tile cement or grout.. thanks

[@zackfrantz5074]

how much did this all cost to do? and what was the time frame?

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

All costs in total (wood, paint, glas door, light installation, tile cement, backdrop, plants, some tools) are around 1.500 Euros (~2.000 USD). I know it sounds much, but on the other hand this terrarium is in the middle of our living room and we see this dessert terrarium as a Full HD flat screen. This poor little creature has to spend his whole life in this habitat. It took me 1 week of planning and researching, then i ordered the wood and glas door. The construciton itself took me whole week wokring 24x7 :-)

[@rainakrasner1405]

What live plants did you use?

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

All plants are not toxic for bearded dragons, i.e. aloe vera, tillandsia, beaucarnea recurvata. Please google for those names or for non toxic plants for bearded dragons.

[@jackleo4435]

what is the substrate?

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

dessert sand for reptiles like you can find on amazon amzn.to/2l8P2tG

[@amayaleger1350]

Plz post more

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

Once I built my vivarium it will be hard to post more on this topic. But I will post more on differnent bearded dragon related topics. Hope you will enjoy it!

[@neonagasaki8797]

BeardedDragonsInfo 5:28 oh my gosh , how much money do you pay for electric per month?

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

On my blog you find the electical calculation but all the lamps together are around 200W power consumption in total. But the high power consumption lamps are just running around 3 hours per day. So it's less then running a desctop PC and monitor running :-)

[@Mantisboy14]

oh ok I thought that you just had those other lights and not the heat lamps sorry $)

[@isabellaprince361]

DONT PUT ANY KIND OF SAND OR DIRT OR ANYTHING IT CAN KILL HIM

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

Have you ever seen the Australian Dessert where the bearded dragon comming from? Good luck with cleaning the dessert! :-)

[@mrparasitee]

BeardedDragonsInfo yeah, they also survive half the time in the wild, moron.

[@DrMalfice]

mrparasitee The point of a bioactive tank is to simulate the animals natural environment. Many people keep Beardies and plenty of other creatures in Bioactive setups without problems.

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

Thanks, well spoken!

[@NathanCallaway]

Wow that was incredible! It looks like you really spent a great deal of time and patients on this.

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

Thanks, if you like a hobby you don't count the hours. :-)

[@gageharmon6735]

BeardedDragonsInfo What is the cost of making this?

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

The raw material all together around 1.200 USD. Most expensive the lightning and the front sliding door.

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

I am not using any UTH, because my lights are all special reptile lights that imitates real sun light. Even the neon lights. I have three heat zones in this terrarium. On the left side is the sunny place during 12am and 2pm where it gets up to 60 degree celsius. The mid has a warm spot with up to 50 Degree Celsius and the right side is the "cool" area with no special spots and usually gets 35-40 degree celcius.

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

1) my bearde dragon is climbing on cliffs and plants, he has done this always. 2) on the left side, fist cliff there is hot spot with 50 Degree Celsius during luch time with the exact rights distance between lamp and his cliff. Besides this during summer he has an outdoor terrarium with real sun light. 3) What you see in the video is not sand but clay so its not harming him and his digestion. If you want to get more info on my lighting and heating plesae watch my "lighting" video.

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

@henryaustinbratton Thanks, I am really proud of this work and our bearded dragon is enjoying it every day! All costs in total (wood, paint, glas door, light installation, tile cement, backdrop, plants, some tools) are around 1.500 Euros (~2.000 USD). I know it sounds much, but on the other hand this terrarium is in the middle of our living room and we see this dessert terrarium as a Full HD flat screen. This poor little creature has to spend his whole life in this habitat.

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

@henryaustinbratton Thanks, I am really proud of this work and our bearded dragon is enjoying it every day! All costs in total (wood, paint, glas door, light installation, tile cement, backdrop, plants, some tools) are around 1.500 Euros (~2.000 USD). I know it sounds much, but on the other hand this terrarium is in the middle of our living room and we see this dessert terrarium as a Full HD flat screen. This poor little creature has to spend his whole life in this habitat.

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

I would put something to hold water like an old bath tub with a little water pump so you can create a water fall over the your rocks and backdrop. Liquied Rubber or somthing to isolate your walls will be abloslutely necesar before you start with the walls. Plan entough rainforest plants and moss on the wall so they can keep the mositure.

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

Sure its all in-built if you take a look to this video (5:45) you will see all the lamps that are installed and manged with a special ptrogrammable power supply. If you follow the link in the Video Desciption you will be directed to Bartls website :-) where you can find more details about this installation.

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

@GringottsVault I agree, thats why my moonlight stops at 10pm and only starts again at 5am again. In between there is complete darkness. The terrarium is the center of our living room and it does not look like a black whole with the moon light it gives it a bit of a mysterious look. :-) Bartl our dragon can sleep 7 hours in complete darkness.

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

Thanks for the "flowers"! I haven't made a bigger tank just a couple of smaller ones so that Bartl can enjoy the sun in an outdoor terrarium. But I don't think a bigger tank will be much different to the one i made. Maybe a bit more thoughts an the static and weight.

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

yes they are temp- and humidty gauges. They have been there jsut temporarily to configure all the lighting and the right temperature.I have also an automated water system for the plants. Now that evertything is stable i have removed them, so no worries, looks all prefect now. :-)

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

What do you mean with "regular terrarium"? If you mean a glas terrarium than you need to use adhesive hooks, or if you you have a ventilation grid on top where you can hang in your lamp installation.

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

Not that it really matters for the bearded dragon, but it’s a nice little "human feature" to have a bit of light also during night. Your tank will look different, believe me!

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

Thanks but i have descirbed how to build this type of terrarium step-by-step on my website. it was the also the first time for myself, so just plan good and carefull and try it!

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

At the time i build the terrarium I had no bearded dragon so i couldn't introduce him. Meanwhile i got my "Bartl" and you will find couple of videos.

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

just look for reptile sand on google. On my webesite where I describe the making of in detail you can also find a link to this product

[@DamonHendrickson]

Overkill? yes.. Amazing? OHH YEA! Very well done. My wife and i plan on doing something very similar for our Burmese python. we are taking the same shape but building it flush to the wall with the majority of the tank portion in another room. With our python we obviously dont need the extravagant lighting system but it is none the less amazing. i have never seen a lighting system done so accurately . probably not necessary to that degree but well worth it considering how cool it looks!

[@jordyn4239]

Awesome how you made that. It's ok anyone that studies bearded dragons know that the chances of a beardie getting impacted by calcium sand or regular sand is slim to none. it's walnut sand that causes impaction. Did you ever make the bigger tank? Your beardie is lucky to have a sweet tank.

[@l3wolves]

always amazing me how people get sucked in to common chitchat on forums. Bearded dragons come from australia where they are found in both desert and open woodland habitats and are often found climbing in search of invertabrates. Thats right they are found in deserts and what is in the deserts (SAND) The biggest problem with keeping bearded dragons atm is incorrect breeding (Too young, Too much when under weight or over weight. Feeding incorrect foods with incorect supplementation. Very nice viv

[@dehydratedwat3r]

too bad this is bad on many different levels. 1, bearded dragons don't really climb, so all those high perches aren't necessary. 2, they need to be within 12 inches of the UVB and need a designated basking spot. they need more width then height. 3.Sand, everyone knows why sand is bad, i dont need to go into that. shame so many people will follow this and in turn harm their bearded dragons more then help due to improper lighting

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

Thanks, very kind of you. Good luck with your terrarium/vivarium.

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

Sorry but i am not sure about your question. What did you mean?

[@KarKrash95]

Just wondering if you have any UTH? I'm trying to make my own as well, but haven't had any real answers if I should have a UTH and lights, or just lights to heat the viv..... Thanks in advance!!

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

Thanks was an awful lot of work but it finally pays off! :-)

[@deliajosefa2509]

my god, this is insanely amazing!!!

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

Thank you!

[@jackleo4435]

BeardedDragonsInfo what is the substrate you used?

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

Many thanks for all the awsomes and amazing comments!

[@Mantisboy14]

I mean that you did a good job on the cage, but i want to ask you is you have any heat or UVB lamps? or stuff like them

[@eridickulous4626]

Hooo boy somebody stop me before I turn my whole spare room into a dragon habitat. This is giving me ideas! I think I want to do something similar to this though. Maybe build an insulated cabinet so she stays warm. Mine will have to be smaller, since my house is a rental lol. Love your idea of the rock shelves, I might borrow that! 😉 I’m inspired, your dragon is going to be in heaven

[@Mantisboy14]

It is awesome and creative but not to be rude but what do you have for your beaded dragon?

[@echosquest]

Did you use any UVB bulbs? if so what kind because it seems all the bulbs in the stores dont give off good rays unless 2-3 inches away and that is too close.

[@chrissis111]

Beautiful job and great video.

[@arianawilliams1379]

Is the lighting information on your blog? I want to create a bio active Viv with natural lighting for my BD I want it to be very natural

[@Sjimbwow]

this is amazing. The lights are stunning! especially that moonlight :o

[@Darkshadow222]

A-MA-ZING! This is the greatest, well done! Wish I had skills like you

[@mreptilenick]

Or u could buy a 20 gallon long for 30$, awesome job though

[@davidsimon6]

I think you did a great job, very very nice work...

[@coleeldridge6469]

Great job on the terrarium

[@300in1Warrior]

You are a badass.

[@MrZinzin28]

Très beau travail ;)

[@Zach-yu6cr]

What's with the carnival music??????

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

Blue Danube (by Strauss) a KZbin audio.

[@parotguy4586]

good job great video

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

many thanks!

[@mathewpaterson6171]

cool dessert man (first slide) but no really nice desert set up

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

What do you mean? Too many plants?

[@mathewpaterson6171]

U wrote dessert like food not desert. Ur build is really nice not just saying that, inspired me to build one too

[@BeardedDragonsInfo]

Mathew Paterson Ahh, i see. Sorry for the typo, but can't change this now. :-)