Beards should not have sand as a substrate, especially juveniles. Sand, even if it says safe for beards can cause impaction. Children's play sand is fine, and cheap for older animals. I wouldn't go buying sand you get in a pet shop. I have found that newspaper works the best for babies. It is safer to use reptile carpet, news paper or you can even tile the cage (thats great for keeping there nails short). The reason they say sand is not suitable from young dragon is because they tend to be sloppy eaters. Cedar oils are toxic to most reptiles.

Use a digital indoor/outdoor thermometer w/hygrometer for the best accuracy. You can get these for about $15 - $20 U.S. currency. Once you get the thermometer your goal is meeting the required temperature gradients in three different spots:

    * Cool end/night time: 70 for babies under a year, 60 for adults.  

Without the correct temps, especially the high basking temps...all that good food going in will not get digested properly and organ functions will be trying to run on less than ideal capacity. Nutrients are lost and illness sets in. Don’t use heat rocks as beards mainly absorb heat from above.

Humidity levels are acceptable at 40%-50%. This is fairly easy to do with a dish of water and daily mistings. A good humidity level is essential for good sheds.

Basking lights are very easy and inexpensive if you stay away from the pet stores for this one. They need a photoperiod with daylight and nighttime as they would in their natural home. Instead of using the expensive "reptile basking lights", go to your local retail store and get a regular incandescent light bulb, such as what you would use for a lamp.

 

Not all UVB lights are created equal. Some decay very quickly. You need no less than two 4' fluorescent UVB tubes. Short version - UVB helps the ig to process the calcium in their diet. Without the UVB...the calcium does not get absorbed and the result is Metabolic Bone Disease (MBD) and renal failure. The brands to go with:

 

* Reptisun 5.0 or 10.0

 

Many of these can be purchased at http://www.reptiledirect.com for a more reasonable price than the pet stores. Once you provide these lights for your ig...set them in the 6" - 8" range (12" - 18" for the Mega Ray). Any farther and the UVB drops of so much that they don't do any good. A note on the compacts and spirals. These are no good for large lizards and reptiles. They do not cover nearly enough of the animal to benefit them. A UVB meter is an excellent way to keep on top of your bulbs.

 

Some EXCELLENT sources on UVB at the bottom.