Beware of the dragon

Hello!! It’s been a long time! After my last dragon passed, it took a long time before I was in a place where I could get another one again. Honestly for a while I never thought I’d get one again and they I came across her.

My dads a woodworker for fun, he learned from his father and he can do some pretty amazing things. So for my birthday this year, I asked him to build Ziva a cage that would work for her. 48" long, 26" tall, 19" deep. Ideally I would have loved to have something a bit deeper but the only place I have room for won’t allow for something deeper. I would have gone longer too, but it wouldn’t have fit down my hallway and into my room.

This build works perfect for her. She’s small, neither my vet nor I know why(Been parasite tested, x-rayed, etc), as I got her as an adoption from petco as some guy couldn’t care for her anymore and left her there. (They had her marked as a male)

She’s a strange thing, has an eye issue, tip of her tails bent, she just now hit over 200grams. She’s only 15 inches long from nose tip to tail tip. She LOVES to climb. I’ve never had a dragon who’s loved climbing as much as she has.

I love this cage. The way my dad designed it is so there’s no screen top getting the the way of her UV light.

I just need to find a way to seal the inside so I can offer her a dig area, or perhaps do the whole cage in play sand/top soil mix. Or maybe I’ll fork out the money for the biodudes desert substrate. ?

For now she’s got puppy pads with no added scents with paper towels over them to protect the floor.

He had carved the writing on the cage and did the burn marks himself.

Nice job on the enclosure.

I would not do bioactive with an arid clime reptile. Instead, I'd put the money into tiling the floor (ceramic or vinyl) with LARGE tiles & no grout. My dragon is paper trained, but you can use the pads if you want--tile is still easier to clean/disinfect any leakage/spillage.

If you want a dig box for her, I'd use just that--a plastic dishpan with appropriate substrate. She'll be able to climb into it if she wants. If it's too tall, ask your dad to cut down the sides a bit.
Be aware/prepared she may fling dirt all over the rest of the enclosure.

I do Appreciate the concern, but I’ve done bio active in the past with bearded dragons. I am well aware of the risk that come with it. Thank you for your concern. There is no need to worry or explain to me why it would be a bad idea. I’ve been doing bio active enclosures for years and have read every bit of info in this site about them as well. Considering I do work for my exotic vet, if anything where to happen my vets just a text away.

OK, then you could try to seal the inside with multiple coats of urethane on the walls & floor, and caulk the seams with GE silicone #1. It's stinkier than #2 (I can't believe I just typed that.. :roll: ) but it's a proven material, and allegedly safer than #2.

I would still try to use some type of liner or interior box in addition to sealing. No matter how well you seal the wood & gaps/seams, moisture will eventually find ways to get through.