Phoenix17June2009
Gray-bearded Member
Yesterday we went to a reptile show- my husbands first and while we were there he got inspired to revamp our viv. Its still only a consideration currently but I had some ideas that I'd love suggestions on.
So- for those that don't know me, I'm Jordan. I have one beardie Phoenix, and he is going on 7 years old...wow...can't believe it...um.. anyway, he's amazing. He is very social, loves to be snuggled, and is just a lover in general. I couldn't ask for a better lizard!
So sorry, on to the viv! He currently resides in my first build which was of melamine. As some of you know, its not the best...actually I'll never use it again...what a mistake on my end.
We have a desk that we aren't using...actually P man's viv currently sits on top of this desk hah! I use the drawers to keep his supplements/business cards from vendors etc.
My husbands thought was to take this desk and turn it into a viv. That way the viv comes more of a visualally pleasing part of our home.
The desk is 6ft long, 3 wide and we would make the viv 2 high. His first initial thought was to put a divider so we had 2 vivs and could get a second beardie. At first I thought it was a great idea and then I remembered that 4x2x2 was the minimum recommeneded size (is this still the case??).
Keeping in mind that last time I researched this stuff the minimum was 4x2x2 I have since come up with some other ideas of what we could do with that extra space.
Obviously one end would be the "hot" end where his basking light would be. I would add some additional flurescent lighting along the back so that there aren't any "dark" areas.
thoughts for extra space:
Phoenix LOVES water..I mean..to the point he gets upset when I take him out of the bath and will leap back to the sink lol.
1. create a small area, with a "pool" type thing. Naturally I'd have to find something short so that it wouldn't contain a ton of water and I'd also have to sort of "close it off" from the rest of the viv so that humidity wouldn't be a huge issue. I was thinking use maybe a foot of the enclosure for this...I'd also like to put a bulb over it so that it stays a descent temp but I'm not sure if this would work as far as causing humidity because I know we want that relatively low.... :study:
Bad idea? Good idea? Other thoughts...let's here em!
2. He loves to dig- he's always loved to dig so the other idea I had was to create a small area that he could go and dig in. Nothing huge and before its mentioned he is not fed in his enclosure. He is always taken out and fed outside for easy cleanup. I realize they still "taste" things so it does still concern me some that he could injest it and I'm not sure its worth the risk... :silent:
Any other ideas??
Is it still accurate that 4x2x2 is the minimum?
The more I think about a 6ft enclosure the more excited I get hah!!
Also if this is way over the top please, say so... don't worry about offending me because I don't think its possible lol... I just want to make sure that if we do this, first of all, its for the best of my baby and secondly that is functional.
So- for those that don't know me, I'm Jordan. I have one beardie Phoenix, and he is going on 7 years old...wow...can't believe it...um.. anyway, he's amazing. He is very social, loves to be snuggled, and is just a lover in general. I couldn't ask for a better lizard!
So sorry, on to the viv! He currently resides in my first build which was of melamine. As some of you know, its not the best...actually I'll never use it again...what a mistake on my end.
We have a desk that we aren't using...actually P man's viv currently sits on top of this desk hah! I use the drawers to keep his supplements/business cards from vendors etc.
My husbands thought was to take this desk and turn it into a viv. That way the viv comes more of a visualally pleasing part of our home.
The desk is 6ft long, 3 wide and we would make the viv 2 high. His first initial thought was to put a divider so we had 2 vivs and could get a second beardie. At first I thought it was a great idea and then I remembered that 4x2x2 was the minimum recommeneded size (is this still the case??).
Keeping in mind that last time I researched this stuff the minimum was 4x2x2 I have since come up with some other ideas of what we could do with that extra space.
Obviously one end would be the "hot" end where his basking light would be. I would add some additional flurescent lighting along the back so that there aren't any "dark" areas.
thoughts for extra space:
Phoenix LOVES water..I mean..to the point he gets upset when I take him out of the bath and will leap back to the sink lol.
1. create a small area, with a "pool" type thing. Naturally I'd have to find something short so that it wouldn't contain a ton of water and I'd also have to sort of "close it off" from the rest of the viv so that humidity wouldn't be a huge issue. I was thinking use maybe a foot of the enclosure for this...I'd also like to put a bulb over it so that it stays a descent temp but I'm not sure if this would work as far as causing humidity because I know we want that relatively low.... :study:
Bad idea? Good idea? Other thoughts...let's here em!
2. He loves to dig- he's always loved to dig so the other idea I had was to create a small area that he could go and dig in. Nothing huge and before its mentioned he is not fed in his enclosure. He is always taken out and fed outside for easy cleanup. I realize they still "taste" things so it does still concern me some that he could injest it and I'm not sure its worth the risk... :silent:
Any other ideas??
Is it still accurate that 4x2x2 is the minimum?
The more I think about a 6ft enclosure the more excited I get hah!!
Also if this is way over the top please, say so... don't worry about offending me because I don't think its possible lol... I just want to make sure that if we do this, first of all, its for the best of my baby and secondly that is functional.