Bearded Dragon - Housing

Question
Hey there, thanks alot for reading this. I have a question about bearded dragon housing. I recently purchased a 60L glass tank which i was going to use for tropical fish before i realized that they weren't for me and i emptied the tank then gave it a good clean, i recently noticed a local pet shop near where i live is selling bearded dragons and i became really interested in owning one. I was wondering if the tank i was going to use for my fish would be suitable to house one, i know they grow large and it will outgrow the tank in a few years but that isn't a problem as ill buy a larger tank when i need to.
   The tank i have now is 60L and is all glass. The glass is about an inch and a half thick, it has a plastic lid which can be tightly secured down and it also has a florescent bulb at the top.
    If i cant use this tank is there anyway i can modify it so it can be used for a bearded dragon? Thank you for your time.

Answer
Hi James,  I need to verify the size of your tank, length, width and height are more useful then volume when it comes to judging tank sizes for reptiles. You said the glass is an inch and 1/2 thick but that is unusually thick glass for just a 60 litre tank. That is the thickness found on a 60 gallon aquarium. Also, a bearded would outgrow a 60 litre in just a couple months, not years. If your tank is 60 gal. that will house a bearded comfortably for its entire life.

Reptiles need a thermal gradient in their tank, a warm end and a cool end in order to regulate their body temperature. The warm end for beardeds needs to be about 100F or 39C, quite a bit warmer then many other reptiles. In a smallish tank of only 20 inches length it's tricky to provide this "hot spot"  without overheating the whole tank and losing the thermal gradient. If your tank is 24 inches long then that is a bit easier and you should be able to house a small bearded more safely for a short time, they grow rather quickly.
The plastic lid that comes on fish tanks is not practical for reptiles but if you can remove the fluorescent fixture from it then that can still be used. You will need a metal screen lid to accomodate the heat lamp that beardeds need and the fluorescent fixture can be used for the ultraviolet B lighting that it also needs.
I've included a couple links that should give you everything you need to know about their care. They are really quite personable lizards and have a lot of pet quality, I think you would probably enjoy having one.  


http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=17&cat=1796&articleid=2730


http://www.biology.lsa.umich.edu/research/labs/ktosney/file/BDcare.html