Hello from New Zealand

Awesome idea for a tank. If I build another one I think I'd make something similar. Would be cool to watch our lizard while watching television or playing Xbox.

How did you extend the sides to make it taller? Where did you get the glass from? Everything looks so seamless! Such a great job.

Thanks for the comments

Varalidaine":2vm8w7tg said:

How did you extend the sides to make it taller? Where did you get the glass from? Everything looks so seamless! Such a great job.

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The only parts retained from the original TV cabinet are the top, bottom, drawer, and the 2 upright dividers at the bottom (although these were cut down to fit under the new bottom of the enclosure part. The sides are completely new, made out of a 1800x600mm sheet of melamine cut into two 800x600 pieces.

The glass is actually a sheet of acrylic plexiglass that I cut into 2 pieces.

I'm really pleased with how it's all turned out! I got some tiles I like for a great price at a clearance outlet this morning. Fortunately the tile cutter I bought years ago when I tiled a bathroom still works, so that made short work of cutting them to size.



Temps seem pretty good, just with the household 40w Spotlight installed, but it is the middle of summer here, and a hot part of the house. I might try a couple of different bulbs in there to see what effect they have. Are regular household incandescent spot bulbs ok for this, or is something else better to use?

Looks great. You may need to set the lights up on a dimmer so you can adjust the temps seasonally.

Need to vent to a Kiwi. I wanted to name my new dragon Paul Henry. We compromised and his name is Darwin but his unofficial name is Bugger

CooperDragon":285aeavv said:

Looks great. You may need to set the lights up on a dimmer so you can adjust the temps seasonally.

Need to vent to a Kiwi. I wanted to name my new dragon Paul Henry. We compromised and his name is Darwin but his unofficial name is Bugger

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I'll look into the dimmers thanks. Just wondering if it would be better to use a dimmer or keep the light consistent, and use a CHE on a thermostat to maintain a consistent temperature?

I can't imagine why anyone would want to name anything they like after Paul Henry. There must be a story behind that?

If you can get close to the proper temps using a bright white light and then put a CHE or heat projector on the thermostat as a secondary that may work out best.

He's a grumpy bugger (for now) and thinks everything is ridiculous and wants no part of it.

I really like the background. Can you order those online? Do they have other styles?

CooperDragon":1idgytqe said:

He's a grumpy bugger (for now) and thinks everything is ridiculous and wants no part of it.

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Makes sense now 8)

psuaero":1gli7pav said:

I really like the background. Can you order those online? Do they have other styles?

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I'm sorry I don't know if they are available online. I got them at my local hardware outlet, and I can't even find them on their website.

Well we picked up our 6 week old beardy from the breader today, and he seems pretty happy with his new home. He had a good explore before having a snooze on one of the pieces of driftwood.





He tried unsuccessfully to climb the walls, and once shown where the basking spot was has been climbing up and down the big piece of driftwood. (The breeder is "fairly sure it's male) So we have decided to name him Sir Ed after Sir Edmund Hillary, the famous New Zealander who was first to successfully climb Mt Everest.



The breader said he was unlikely to eat for a couple of days until he was settled in, but he has been chowing down on a variety of live food and dandelion, and seems pretty happy to be held, and generally friendly.

Oh, did I mention HE IS SO CUTE!

The kids love him, and I think he's pretty awesome too!

Sir Ed is a great looking little guy (I love the name too). I'm glad to hear he's settling in so quickly. He has a great home now =)

Thanks Cooper.

Sir Ed is settling in nicely. He is eating insects regularly, showing occasional interest in salad, pooping, and generally being active. He seems to enjoy being handled, and will often come right up to the glass and watch me intently until I take him out.

He has been shedding over the last few days, and his face in particular was driving him mad, so I took him out, sprayed him with water, and he seemed pretty happy with me helping remove the loose bits with tweezers. He was definitely happier afterwards too.

Our cat Casper, has pretty much ignored Sir Ed since we got him, but for some reason today he has taken a great interest in him!

My daughter made this funny little time lapse of what we are calling Eddie Vision, because it looks kind of like a widescreen TV, but it's much more interesting to watch.
http://youtu.be/s29nTggCKBU

The time lapse video is fun to watch. It's good to see him moving all over and using every part of the enclosure. It was funny to see him open his mouth to tell off the cat.

Did you end up sorting temps without a heat emitter ? Or did you need one in the end? What part of nz are you in ?
I'm in Wellington and building an enclosure currently - my new boy Casper will be coming home around November
I've read quite a few in nz have managed to have good temps without a heat emitter - expecially with wooden vivs and a Phillips 100w floodlight as their basking light so I was curious how you got one with your viv for heat / lights?
Love your enclosure by the way ! Very creative!

Caspersmama":2vftzcsa said:

Did you end up sorting temps without a heat emitter ? Or did you need one in the end? What part of nz are you in ?
I'm in Wellington and building an enclosure currently - my new boy Casper will be coming home around November
I've read quite a few in nz have managed to have good temps without a heat emitter - expecially with wooden vivs and a Phillips 100w floodlight as their basking light so I was curious how you got one with your viv for heat / lights?
Love your enclosure by the way ! Very creative!

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I have got a 150W CHE on a thermostat, that comes on if the temps drop to low over night, which is pretty much every night over winter. You won't need it in summer, in fact the 100W floodlight might be too hot, but I'd plan to get a CHE before next winter.