Need some help with bearded dragon set-up

[Frostt]

Hey there! I'm not sure where exactly to post this- but i think the lizard discussion area would be best. Anywho, i'm hoping to get a centralian bearded dragon eventually, but i have a few questions about the setup.

The tank i'll be putting it in is a 4ft long tank, 45 gallons.
I have a heat mat of one side of the tank, and it's right by a window. (Like, directly in front of, but it doesn't recieve super harsh sunlight)
Will that be enough for heating and UV needs? I don't really want to buy any bulbs or anything.

Secondly, the tank is currently housing a common garden skink that my neighbours cat brought in. I filled the tank up with garden dirt and it's healing up happily in there. Will it be alright to just dig out the dirt and hose the tank before putting the beardie in? Or will i need to deep clean the whole thing?


Thank's!

[sattva]

Have you read this? Bearded Dragon Care Sheet (http://www.reptilesmagazine.com/Care-Sheets/Lizards/Bearded-Dragon/) I would clean the heck out of it just to make sure... But then again I no nothing about these guys... You'll have to wait until the bearded people chime in...

[dannybgoode]

Uv doesn't penetrate glass and a heat mat is no good. Also if your tank is 4' but only 45 gallons its not tall or deep enough.

As am absolute minimum you need a 4'*2'*2' 5'*3'*3' is even better.

They need a heat source they can bask under so a good halogen bulb or multiple bulbs to provide a wide enough basking spot that needs to be at 42-45c.

They need powerful in Viv uv - a 39W Arcadia HO T4 14% Dragon really as a minimum or a 55W 12% D3 Flood.

A good earth / sand mix for substrate, so cork tubes as hides and some branches for climbing.

Ignore 99% of the care sheets on the internet because the vast majority of them are ****.

BD's are one of the most mis-kept reptiles because the same **** just gets copied and pasted and people don't consider the natural environment they're found in and stick them in boxes that are far to small aha completely lacking in enrichment.

Edit: all heat sources should be switched off at night - they experience very substantial night time temperature drops in the wild and it is good to replicate this.