TheBeardedSaint
Hatchling Member
My Beardie is getting a bit to big for her current tank, even though when we were sold her they said the tank could hold 3 of them which now was obviously bullshit, so I've decided turn an old pantry cabinet into a tank for a fraction of the price with a custom background to give it some looks.
I'll try an dot point this so I don't just go off topic which i seem to do when writing these types of things. P.s I'm just posting this everywhere I've posted it on reddit and a couple facebook groups.
•Bioactivity - Because Bearded Dragons are arid I can't really use Springtails and Isopods since they love humidity, but I was thinking if I could put at the bottom of the tanks floor a layer of moist coco fiber and then put a clay mixture on top of it, I'm not sure whether or not the SpringTails and Isopods would be able to dig through the clay to get to the moist patch I will most likely put some mesh over the coco fiber to separate it from the clay and make sure if my Bearded dragon digs she wont mix it with the clay.
With my Dragons substrate I was thinking of going to this spot that has some really nice red clayish dirt and using a kitty litter clay mixture so that is has a red tinge.
•Plants, since this is gonna be a desert it's probably mostly gonna be Air plants and succulents so what are some nice looking and safe ones.
•Waterfall? (Please tell me I can do one) - I don't know why but I just really love waterfalls and was wondering if I could maybe put one into my Beardies tank, maybe? I've seen some other posts on this and a lot of people say it would raise the humidity up too much. I know there is really no reason to give a Bearded Dragon a waterfall it has no real use to them but I was just wondering if i could make one.
•Background - So I've done a choppy background for her old tank, just roughly cut foam glued and grouted, I wanna do a different one that looks more natural and real I'm thinking of using the popular sprayfoam method but instead of putting coco fiber on it some of that red dirt but I think it would look to coarse. This one I had the idea of I haven't seen anyone do it and I don't think I will be able to do it but maybe there is an alternative, It's a sort of flat background I guess it doesn't have any ledges nothing sticking out, so what my idea was, was using one of those paving molds for it, but paving would be to heavy and weigh down the tank a lot so I'm not sure if theres anything you can do to achieve the same thing without using paving I thought of using the sprayfoam in the mold and then cutting the expanded bits and just grouting over it so it looks the same but I'm not sure.
•Cabinet, So this one really mostly what I'm gonna be doing is quite simple I think? Silicone the inside of it so it's water tight Adding a nice large substrate barrier around 6 inches tall A light Hood for the top so it doens't have a bunch of cords sticking out from the top Adding a pretty large vent to the cool side of the tank and a smaller one for the heat side. Background? And putting the doors on last but I'm not sure how I'm gonna be doing the doors, I'll have to take the cabinets ones off but I wanna have doors that open outwards instead of sliding doors so it's not covered in fingerprints.
I'll try an dot point this so I don't just go off topic which i seem to do when writing these types of things. P.s I'm just posting this everywhere I've posted it on reddit and a couple facebook groups.
•Bioactivity - Because Bearded Dragons are arid I can't really use Springtails and Isopods since they love humidity, but I was thinking if I could put at the bottom of the tanks floor a layer of moist coco fiber and then put a clay mixture on top of it, I'm not sure whether or not the SpringTails and Isopods would be able to dig through the clay to get to the moist patch I will most likely put some mesh over the coco fiber to separate it from the clay and make sure if my Bearded dragon digs she wont mix it with the clay.
With my Dragons substrate I was thinking of going to this spot that has some really nice red clayish dirt and using a kitty litter clay mixture so that is has a red tinge.
•Plants, since this is gonna be a desert it's probably mostly gonna be Air plants and succulents so what are some nice looking and safe ones.
•Waterfall? (Please tell me I can do one) - I don't know why but I just really love waterfalls and was wondering if I could maybe put one into my Beardies tank, maybe? I've seen some other posts on this and a lot of people say it would raise the humidity up too much. I know there is really no reason to give a Bearded Dragon a waterfall it has no real use to them but I was just wondering if i could make one.
•Background - So I've done a choppy background for her old tank, just roughly cut foam glued and grouted, I wanna do a different one that looks more natural and real I'm thinking of using the popular sprayfoam method but instead of putting coco fiber on it some of that red dirt but I think it would look to coarse. This one I had the idea of I haven't seen anyone do it and I don't think I will be able to do it but maybe there is an alternative, It's a sort of flat background I guess it doesn't have any ledges nothing sticking out, so what my idea was, was using one of those paving molds for it, but paving would be to heavy and weigh down the tank a lot so I'm not sure if theres anything you can do to achieve the same thing without using paving I thought of using the sprayfoam in the mold and then cutting the expanded bits and just grouting over it so it looks the same but I'm not sure.
•Cabinet, So this one really mostly what I'm gonna be doing is quite simple I think? Silicone the inside of it so it's water tight Adding a nice large substrate barrier around 6 inches tall A light Hood for the top so it doens't have a bunch of cords sticking out from the top Adding a pretty large vent to the cool side of the tank and a smaller one for the heat side. Background? And putting the doors on last but I'm not sure how I'm gonna be doing the doors, I'll have to take the cabinets ones off but I wanna have doors that open outwards instead of sliding doors so it's not covered in fingerprints.
