A Comprehensive Review of the 40 Gallon Zoo Med Bearded Dragon Starter Kit

Imagine you’re at a reptile expo for the first time, or maybe your kid dragged you to the pet store because they’ve been bugging you for a pet and you finally caved. As you shop, you second-guess yourself, remembering that you literally have no idea how to care for this kind of animal. Then it does something cute, or the kid tugs on your sleeve, reminding you that, “You promised!” And then the friendly voice of the sales associate reaches your ear — “We sell starter kits for (insert the name of an animal you’ve never heard of before today) over there for a great deal.”

Depending on the contents of the kit, you might grab some reptile food and an accessory or two. Then you bring the animal home and set up the starter kit. That was easy, wasn’t it?

A month to a year later, your new pet is either sick or dead. What went wrong?

The scenario I just described is played out at reptile expos and in pet stores across the globe. Reptile kits hold the promise of hassle (aka research)-free exotic pet care, but they are too inadequate or even dangerous to live up to their claims. Even when new reptile owners do perform their own research outside of the included “care manual,” they end up spending a lot more to correct the problems caused by the very kit that was designed to save money and make their lives easier.

This article discusses top-selling commercial kits for 4 popular pet reptiles, including representation from each of the top reptile supply manufacturers: Zoo Med, Zilla, and Exo Terra.

Pricing info is primarily sourced from Amazon, and information about the kits’ contents is sourced from the manufacturers’ websites.

Before we proceed, let me clarify: There is no hate intended toward the manufacturers of these products. Each manufacturer offers other products that I actually quite like and recommend as among the top performers in their class. This article is only a critique of existing reptile kits.

Zoo Med Reptihabitat Adult Bearded Dragon Kit, $200

This is a very popular product for a very popular pet. I see first-time bearded dragon owners buying these all the time on the forums.

• 36”x18”x18” glass aquarium with sliding screen top
• ReptiSand substrate
• Combo Repti Rock Food and water dishes
• Dual analog thermometer and humidity gauge
• ReptiSun 10.0 compact fluorescent
• Repti Basking Spot lamp, 100w
• Combo deep dome dual lamp fixture
• Bearded dragon care booklet
• Bearded dragon food sampler

• The tank is too small. The minimum recommended enclosure size for bearded dragon is at least 4’x2’x2′, or 120 gallons. Even a juvenile bearded dragon is likely to outgrow this enclosure by the time it’s one year old.
• The sand is fine. Natural sand is perfectly safe for use with a healthy bearded dragon — after all, their natural “substrate” in Central Australia is more or less a thick layer of just sand. For best results, you will need at least 4″ of this sand to allow for natural burrowing behavior.
• No objections to the food and water dishes; it’s actually pretty hard to do this bit wrong.
• Analog thermometers and humidity gauges are notoriously inaccurate.
• Compact fluorescent UVB bulbs have weak UVB output and have a narrow range of influence. A bearded dragon simply can’t get the UVB they need from a compact UVB.
• The Repti Basking Spot Lamp is alright. Some complain that these bulbs don’t very long, but that’s usually because they’re not being used correctly. However it’s true that these bulbs are very sensitive, so you may be happier with a halogen flood bulb from the hardware store.
• The deep dome dual lamp fixture is actually pretty great. It’s wasted on the compact UVB, but if you add another heat bulb, you get a nice large basking spot that enables your bearded dragon to warm its entire body at once.
• The care booklet is a good precaution because most people who buy these kits don’t do a lot (if any) research beforehand. It’s not the best info, but it’s a whole lot better than nothing.
• Commercial pellets tend to dehydrate reptiles, and since bearded dragons are already notoriously chronically dehydrated, this can be a problem. The instructions say to moisten the pellets, but a lot of people don’t read directions. The diets themselves are alright, but should not replace fresh vegetables and live insects.

Finally, this kit does not include a hide, basking platform, or other enrichment items necessary to a bearded dragons’ mental health and wellbeing.

Zilla Desert Reptile Starter Kit 10 with Light and Heat, $66

I’m aware that I’ve ranted for long enough — you probably get the point by now. I wasn’t even going to include this kit for the sake of brevity, but then a reptile rescuer friend of mine posted a picture of two bearded dragons housed in this exact same kit. They both had developed MBD that had been caused because their owner didn’t do any research and relied on the kit instead.

*Heavy sigh* If you thought the Zoo Med bearded dragon kit was bad, spoiler alert: the Zilla Desert Reptile Starter Kit 10 is a terrible choice for any desert reptile. Although the name of this product does not specify an intended species, there is a picture of a leopard gecko on the package, and so we’ll use that as our reference.

• 10 gallon glass aquarium with screen lid
• 2 reflective dome light fixtures
• White spot bulb
• Night black incandescent bulb
• Analog temperature/humidity gauge
• Brown terrarium liner
• Setup guide

This kit also comes with a nicely visible disclaimer: “Does not include UVB lighting which may be required for some desert-dwelling reptiles.”

What’s wrong?

• A 10 gallon tank is much too small for an adult leopard gecko, which require at least a 40 gallon for adequate housing. But if we grit our teeth and assume that this is for a juvenile leopard gecko less than 12 months old, it might work as temporary housing.
• The “dome” light fixtures are adequate. They’re not even domes — more like trumpets?
• The white spot bulb might work as a heat source, depending on how hot it gets. Leopard geckos need basking surface temperatures of 94-97°F.
• The night black incandescent bulb is unnecessary. Unless your room gets colder than 60°F at night, nighttime heating is overkill and potentially even harmful.
• Analog temperature and humidity gauges are notoriously inaccurate. This is basically useless.
• The terrarium liner/carpet is not great, considering that sand and/or soil mixes are affordable, perfectly safe, and more natural substrates for leopard geckos. Plus, delicate gecko claws can catch on the fibers, and reptile carpet tends to become a nasty breeding ground for harmful bacteria.
• The setup guide is likely as vague as the kit’s intention, but hey, at least Zilla’s giving their customers some kind of direction…?

In the end, this kit might work for meeting a leopard gecko’s needs in the short term, but there are some serious changes that need to be made to render this thing anywhere close to functional.

How do we fix it?

• Keep the aquarium and screen lid — for now. It will need to be upgraded to at least a 40 gallon breeder after the gecko turns 12 months old or gains its adult pattern.
• Keep the lamp “domes”. Although leopard geckos technically don’t “need” UVB to stay alive, they do need it to thrive. So add a 26w Zoo Med Compact Fluorescent Reptisun 5.0 UVB bulb ($25). If it doesn’t fit the fixture, you will need a new fixture, too.
• Keep the white spot bulb, and check the temperature of the basking spot. You will need a higher wattage bulb if the basking temperature is too warm, and a lamp dimmer if the basking temperature is too cool.
• Toss the night black incandescent bulb. Even if your room gets cooler than 60°F at night, you will need a lightless heat source like a ceramic heat emitter or deep heat projector, not a colored heat bulb.
• Replace the temperature/humidity gauge with a digital probe thermometer/hygrometer ($15).
• Replace the terrarium liner with paper towel ($5). I don’t usually condone paper towel substrates, but they can be useful for monitoring health in juvenile reptiles.
• Toss the setup guide and read ReptiFiles’ leopard gecko care guide instead.

Bare minimum, this kit requires the following additional purchases to make it suitable for a leopard gecko:

• 2 small hides ($10)
• Food dish and water bowl ($10)
• Calcium powder with low vitamin D3 ($10)
• Multivitamin powder ($10)

Additional decor is recommended, if you can make it fit in such a tiny space.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, a “super cheap” $66 leopard gecko kit becomes a ~$150 expense. While $150 isn’t horrible, consider that this is what is required to get this enclosure up to barely adequate standards, and that $150 will be essentially wasted when you have to replace most of this stuff to upgrade the gecko to an adequate adult enclosure.

Bearded Dragon Setup Review! Zoo Med 40 Gallon ReptiHabitat Bearded Dragon Kit!

FAQ

Is a 40 gallon terrarium big enough for a bearded dragon?

A 40-gallon breeder is the absolute minimum size you want to use for an adult bearded dragon. Ideally, they should be in at least a 55-gallon tank. You also don’t need nocturnal heat unless the temp in your home is routinely below 65 degrees. Never ever use nocturnal light.

Is Zoo Med sand good for bearded dragons?

Vita-Sand® is great for many desert species like bearded dragons, uromastyx lizards, leopard geckos, and sand boas.

Is Zoo Med excavator Clay good for bearded dragons?

Zoo Med Excavator clay and the BioDude Terra Sahara substrate are both completely safe (with the exception of crushed walnut shell, bark and calcisand, most loose substrate is), so are far better options.

What wattage basking light for bearded dragon 40 gallon tank?

A 100-watt bulb is appropriate for a 40-gallon tank. Bearded dragon owners must also be conscious of nighttime temps. If the room that the enclosure is housed in does not fall below 65°F, no additional nighttime heat source is needed.