So, emzotic just posted this video on her youtube channel and like... I know I’m not an expert by any means, but I have several problems with this video. It’s not sponsored, so she’s not being paid to say any of these things. I’m having a hard time deciphering if it’s what she really believes or if she just feels like she has to say things like this out of respect to the company (who, honestly, is using her platform for basically free advertising).
“we also have a thermometer/humidity gauge... so that’s a great way to gauge what the environment is like inside your bearded dragon’s enclosure”
- These “gauges” are actually dial gauges that you can find in any Petco/Petsmart/Petland, and they’re HORRENDOUSLY inaccurate. I’m pretty sure you could submerge them in water and they would say there was 35% humidity.
-She only received one of these in this “kit”, which means that only a portion of the temperature will be measured, inaccurate or not. You need to monitor the basking temperature, the temperature of the rest of the warm side of the enclosure, and the temperature of the cool side of the enclosure, something that is just not possible to do with one shoddy dial thermometer.
-If you want something reliable, get thermometers with probes to go inside the enclosure, or a temperature reading gun. You should also get non-reptile hygrometers as I’ve found those tend to be more reliable than ones marketed specifically to reptiles. Any of these can be found on Amazon, or at Lowes or Home Depot.
“Now this light is very important, this is the light that’s really going to help your reptiles to absorb the nutrients in their food. This is the #1 fluorescent UVB reptile lamp worldwide for desert creatures”
-UVB lamps ARE incredibly important. But so is getting the right kind. Coil UVB lights do not provide adequate UVB absorption area, ideally your UVB light should be in a tube form, and should either stretch across 3/4 of the enclosure or entirely across it to allow for maximum UVB absorption, because, again, UVB is INCREDIBLY important to diurnal species like the bearded dragon.
-I’m also not sure about the truth in this statement but I have also heard that several people have had problems with the lighting in coil UVB bulbs harming their bearded dragons’ eyes.
-The only benefit to this kind of UVB lamp is that it is slightly cheaper than tube lights, but the poor quality of this light is, imo, not worth the extra $10 every 6 months.
-Also, the UVB lamp should never go on top of the enclosure. (this enclosure came with deep dome light fixtures, which rest on top of the screen). Ideal location for the UVB light is inside the enclosure, as the mesh can actually block out some of the UVB rays and inhibit absorption of them, and it may also prevent a bearded dragon from getting close enough to the light for absorption.
-And, on a personal level, my heart kind of ached when she read that quote off of the box, because it’s.. really not the best. And she should know that. If you’re going to claim to know things about these animals and try to teach people about them, you ideally should look into things yourself first, regardless of what marketing schemes you’re being coerced into.
“We also have the Reptirock food and water dishes, in the size “L”. Here are the food and water dishes, um, they are up to you whether you want to use them for water/food or food/water.”
-So, the video context is important here. These were very large dishes, one very shallow and wide (like the one I use for Kyle’s greens), and one very deep and wide. We need to have a discussion about humidity here, because the recommendation to keep water in such a large and deep dish in a desert enclosure can be easily misinterpreted.
-While it is recommended you keep a clean dish of water in your animal’s enclosure at all times, in an enclosure where the humidity should remain under 40%, a dish that large and deep in such a warm enclosure can easily cause humidity to skyrocket, which can lead to bacteria growth and fatal upper respiratory infections. I, personally, use a smaller dish. I believe it’s about 3 inches in diameter and two inches tall, filled only halfway full. I also keep it on the cool side of the enclosure, so that the lower temperature will result in less evaporation, and will keep the humidity in a proper place.
-*disclaimer* This information also CAN vary based on your location/time of year/the amount of ventilation in your enclosure. I’m speaking for my personal location, where, in the wintertime, humidity can drop, so I move my average sized bowl of water closer towards the hot end to encourage more humidity, and I move it away again come the spring thaw, when a high enough humidity is less of an issue. But again, this is information that may vary from location to location. Just use a proper hygrometer to measure humidity, and adjust as necessary.
“So, often times when you see calcium sand, you get people going ‘that is the worst thing you could ever keep your bearded dragon on, it’s gonna cause an impaction.’ And it’s true, almost any bedding can cause an impaction in your bearded dragon or almost any other reptile. So it’s really down to you to be vigilant to make sure that if your bearded dragon is on a substrate which is easily ingest-able and which you think they are ingesting too much of, for example, juvenile bearded dragons will do this a lot where they’re still learning to catch their food and when they eat they get mouthfuls of dirt or different kinds of substrate, it’s up to you to find the right substrate for your bearded dragon.”
-There’s a lot to unpack here. Calcium sand is, genuinely, one of the worst things you can keep your bearded dragon on. ESPECIALLY as a new keeper. Even washed play sand is actually safer (and cheaper) than calcium sand, as calcium sand has a tendency to really, really bind together when it gets moist, which means that if any substrate is most likely to give your bearded dragon impaction, calcium sand is VERY HIGH on the list.
-Yes, a PORTION of a bearded dragon’s natural habitat is sand. But it’s only a portion. The other portions can include things like packed clay or dirt. Not to mention, the majority of a wild dragon’s time is spent either basking on rocks or hanging around high up in cooler, shaded areas. If a dragon does go onto an area with sand, it’s because it’s trying to escape a predator, or it’s going after prey. To use a pure sand substrate will hinder its ability to move around, because they’re not meant to be moving in straight up sand.
-Sand will hold poop. And bacteria. And will smell bad. And is expensive. And will need replaced often.
-Loose substrates can be safe-ish, if done correctly. If done in a way that makes sense in relation to their native habitats. If the other aspects of their husbandry are well maintained. But for new keepers, who will be prone to making mistakes, or to keepers who have trouble maintaining proper temperatures/humidity, it’s a risk that’s not worth taking when there are other, prettier, cleaner substrates.
-To try and dismiss the dangers of using calcium sand by shrugging and going “well, ANY substrate can cause impaction” is completely ignoring the problems around calcium sand and the marketing of products like it for inexperienced keepers.
-Our basic understanding of how bearded dragons interact with their environment, and in this argument, calcium sand does not vary by age. Whether they’re babies, juveniles, or fully grown adults, bearded dragons lick things to understand their environment. They lick EVERYTHING. Adult bearded dragons aren’t more or less prone to ingesting sand when there’s six inches of it all around them, and they’re trying to catch a single cricket.
-You can’t be constantly watching over your bearded dragon to make sure they don’t ingest substrate. It’s unrealistic. Even if you only see your dragon ingest one or two little grains of sand, as soon as your back is turned, they could be gulping it down by the pound and you would be none the wiser. Either use a loose substrate that will allow you to look away for ten minutes because you know it won’t cause serious intestinal damage, or use tile.
-Your dragon isn’t magically special. They may be a special pet, but them being special to you does NOT mean that they have different biology/behavior from other animals of their species. There are rules of thumb for these animals because it’s safer to generalize that most dragons will eat sand than it is to assume that your very special Drogo won’t eat his sand, an assumption which may cause you to end up with either a dead dragon or a very large vet bill.
“We also have the bearded dragon food sampler pack. Let’s take a look inside the sampler pack. First of all we have, oh, very important, we have repti-calcium. We also have ZooMed bearded dragon food...”
-First and foremost... any prepackaged bearded dragon pellet things you can buy, are absolutely worthless. They will likely go uneaten, because it’s just not very interesting or appetizing to bearded dragons, not to mention if you actually provide the proper foods your bearded dragons need (bugs, leafy greens), and dust them regularly with calcium powder and vitamin powder, you won’t need little garbage things like that, because your dragon will get what he needs from his actual food.
-She didn’t also receive mulitvitamin powder, and didn’t make any mention of that missing from the kit.
*********Now, I am not saying she is abusing her bearded dragon. But, I generally disagree with a lot of what came in the kit. I disagree with her not making any mention of what’s actually beneficial/dangerous for dragons vs what she was sent. I disagree with her hoisting this as “the perfect setup for a bearded dragon!” when in reality, it’s the barest of the bare minimum of care for a bearded dragon.
As a side note, as I said before, I am not an expert, and if I got anything incorrect in this little spiel, please don’t be afraid to correct me. I am always learning, and wanting to learn!
