Bearded Dragon Habitat & Tank Setup

Tank sizing, UVB lighting, heating, substrate, and enclosure setup guides.

Most bearded dragon health problems start in the enclosure. Metabolic bone disease traces back to weak UVB. Impaction traces back to loose substrate and a basking spot that never gets hot enough to drive digestion. Lethargy, refusing food, and glass surfing are usually a tank problem before they are a dragon problem. Get the habitat right and most of the rest of care gets easier.

The current standard for an adult is a 120-gallon enclosure (4×2×2 feet), a T5 HO linear UVB tube, a basking surface of 100–110°F with a cool side of 75–85°F, and 30–40% humidity. Older advice — a 40-gallon tank, a coil UVB bulb, calci-sand — is still everywhere online and still causes the same preventable problems it did ten years ago.

The guides below cover each part of the setup in the order most owners need them. If you are building from scratch, start with the complete setup guide. If you are fixing one thing, jump to that section.

Start here: the complete setup

One guide that walks through the whole build, plus the shopping list to go with it.

Tank size and enclosure type

Size is the first decision because it limits everything after it — lamp distance, temperature gradient, and how much room the dragon has to move between zones. Adults need 4×2×2 feet at minimum; bigger is fine.

UVB lighting

UVB is how a bearded dragon makes vitamin D3 and absorbs calcium. Without enough of it, bones soften. Use a T5 HO linear tube mounted at the right distance for its output — the calculator below gives the exact height for your bulb.

Heat and temperature

Bearded dragons digest with heat. A basking surface of 100–110°F (measured with a temp gun, not a stick-on dial) and a cool side of 75–85°F let the dragon regulate itself. Night drops to 65–70°F are normal for adults and usually need no extra heat.

Substrate, humidity, and cleaning

Solid substrate for juveniles, supervised loose substrate only for adults, and never calci-sand. Humidity should sit at 30–40%. A weekly spot-clean and a monthly deep clean keep parasites and bacteria in check.