fake rock design

Our beardie is not here yet. We are building a 4x2x2 enclosure. My husband will get started on it next week. I got started on the foam rock structure, but only have used tooth picks to hold it together for now. Next week I'll get liquid nails and once the wooden structure is together, I'll do finishing touches and make sure it fits before grouting. And the basking spot WILL be level by then! Its been a thorn in my side.


The highest foam piece is 24"tall and the green tape on the ground shows a the inside part of the tank. I plan on painting the enclosure walls blue. I also was thinking about taking down the big wall on the left and doing something where the green tape is on the wall. So onto the questions...
1. Does this look like enough room for an adult to eventually run around in?
2. The cave entrance is about 3.75" wide, How big should it be?
3. The cave inside is 11" long, mainly 9" wide but narrows in the front to around 7.5". Is this big enough?
4. The basking spot is 10.5" tall. The socket and a big ol' CF bulb is about 7" tall which leaves about 6.5" between the rock and light. The normal bulb should give him slightly more space. The care sheet says there should be a 6-8" clearance but I had thought I read where people talked about 10". I'm guessing the difference is more based on the temp than the actual distance. yes?
5. hmmm. I had one more but can't remember. I'll add it once I remember!

I was going to just downsize the rock on the left, but i keep forgetting there will be a vent there. This still give an idea of where i want to put plants and logs


Any and all input is appreciated! thanks!

I think it looks great and very creative. remember after you put a few layers of grout on, the rock will be a few cm taller and the cave opening will be slightly more narrow. I would personally try to open up the cave just a little more if you want an adult to be able to lay his/her head in there. But if you are happy with it than that's fine too.

No glue means I can keep playing with it! What would you suggest as a good sized opening?

It's hard to say for sure. Adult dragons can have quite a range in sizes, some get much larger than others. I would try to make it big enough for an adult dragon to fit his/her head in. So maybe 4-5inches? But what you have really does look great the way it is. I just know how it feels to put in all that work only for them to outgrow it lol so I'd like to save you from making the same mistake I did. As far as the actual height, I think it'll be fine to be that distance from the basking light as long as you can get the temps right. It seems he/she will have lower and higher options to choose from by the way you have designed this which is great.

I bet this is going to look amazing when it's all said and done. You will have to post pics of the finished product up for us to admire

I posted to get feed back so I would not end up with some useless rocks when my beardie is an adult, so your experience and thoughts are appreciated!

I redid the cave slightly for a 5" entrance and took down the towering left side. I'm still working on how to have a focal point utilizing the rule of thirds, but I think I am close to being done with the design. Just a few more spots to carve out to make them a bit more rock like, and I'll move on to filling in holes with "great stuff", carving away the access and then grouting it all. Then comes the part that makes me nervous: the painting. My younger sisters have all the painting genes. I normally beg them for help but one is about to have a baby any time now and the other is in the early morning sickness stages.

the green tape is at about 24" and is showing the third of the way into the enclosure.

My plants look more like aquarium plants... but you get the idea. The tall plant in the front is perfectly on the first third line when looking straight on. (sorry, my pic is off.) it could make a great focal point if i can find a tall straight plant with a small foot print because that is not a huge passageway.

I'm planning on doing the 2 pieces separately so it will be easy to take in and out of the enclosure. There should be enough room to account for the grout's thickness.

That is going to look amazing. im not the greatest painter myself lol. I mixed acrylic paint into the actual grout to get a natural rock color. Other than that I didn't even attempt any fine details. I think the added plant ideas you have on the sketch will really bring things to life. Even if you were to make little mistakes with the paint I think they will minor it out. Good luck with things, I hope it turns out just as you vision.

Thanks! I hope so too. I'm trying to keep my expectations low so no matter how it turns out I'm excited about it.

I have finally made it all the way through the viv sticky. One thing I noticed was that not everyone had a full blown cave. Many just had it set up as a shelter from the 'sun'. I am contemplating 2 entrances to the cave. There is a spot under the ramp in the back that would be easy to leave open.... and save me some trouble with using the foam spray to fill in the many gaps. It would be a 4" entrance and the front would be 5". It would be facing the top basking spot, however, I am sure I can use plants to minimize any issues.

I also am realizing how high the basking spot is at 10.5" tall. My beardie leaped down from his basking spot in the 20l (about 6") to attack the crickets I put in. He is 7" at what we think is 6 weeks old. If we are going to move him into his big viv in the next 4-6 weeks, how long will I have to worry about him getting hurt if he jumps off this spot? When do they move from jumpy baby to lazy adult? I am hoping just putting him on the floor before putting food in will keep him safe.

My dude still jumps down from his branch to get his crickets (often squashing a few of them) at 6 months old and 18" long. His branch is probably a good 12-14" above the substrate, but his substrate is a soft soil/sand mix (bioactive) so less concern about hurting himself jumping onto a hard surface.

ETA: Also wanted to say, looks great! I'm working on something similar for my guy as I know he would like a place to burrow into.

Very nice, leaving a simple open area is a good idea. My dragon rarely uses her hide ever and seems to prefer a simple open shady area when she wants to "hide". It never hurts to provide as many options as possible for them to decide what they like best.

Every dragon has his/her own unique personality so it's hard to say when or if your little guy will stop being a jumper though they do generally calm down as they get older. My female was very jumpy (she would literally climb her styrofoam wall and leap down 24/7) until recently at about 6 months old. Even though she's calmed down a lot she still gets a wild burst of energy from time to time and jumps around. As suggested you can try out a more cushioned substrate, I simply stacked a few layers of paper towel under her "jump spots" to absorb some of the impact. This seemed to help me a lot

Looks like its turning out nice!
Be careful on light placement and monitor temps to avoid a meltdown. Styrofoam burns really well and the fumes are highly toxic.

Thanks for all your input! As far as the jumping goes, I guess I’ll just have to keep watching and see what he ends up doing. I will be using slate flooring, but I like the idea of extra cushion. We have some extra linoleum that we are currently using for his 20l substrate that is nice and squishy. I’ll leave some in there until I’m confident in his lack of jumping.

For the hid, I think I will leave the back area off and grout the wall separately. I’ll start off with the wall in place, and after awhile I’ll remove it and see how he likes it. It’s still pretty cave like, so I hope he will enjoy it.

As for the temp, its a good thing I took the top of the wall off near the basking area. The light would have been much closer to that than it will be to the basking ledge. I have 3 thermometers with probes coming. I was thinking of carving a small area for the probe and wire to rest in the basking area. I’ve read about others having issues with keeping their probe there and wondered if this would help. I just need to decide where to put the other 2.