Building my first enclosure.

[JerryH]

Hello, I'm interested in getting my first bearded dragon and would like to build my own enclosure rather than buying one as I have the tools and materials readily at hand. I have a 24x12 sheet of plexiglass and I was thinking of making it 16 or 18" deep. I have more ideas but was hoping that I could get better advice from some people who really know what they're doing rather than my own "I think's". I've been looking around here and come to the conclusion that floor tiles are commonly used on the floors of the vivs, so I'll be using some brown slate tiles I have left over for the base of the viv and would like some ideas on lighting and heating and ventilation if necessary. I know it seems that I'm kinda cutting corners and putting this on you but I want to do this right without blowing a ton of cash on it.
Thanks for any help,
-Jerry

 

[Jiffy]

Hi.
I cant really be of any help, but wanted to point you to a link that may help you to get some ideas.
viewtopic.php?f=34&t=66704&st=0&sk=t&sd=a

 

[JerryH]

Thanks... I stumbled across the crossfire enclosure site and was thinking of kinda going with a smaller scale version of it. I'm just not sure if 12" will be too low? And on what kind of/wattage of lights I should be going for. Keep in mind this will just be temporary, I have a whole bunch of 27x48" sheets of tempered glass I'll be using to build a viv for the beardie when it gets bigger, I'd just like to experiment with making my own false rocks and such so I can make a killer viv for my 2nd one. I'm also kinda cramped for space at the moment but that will change over the next few months.

 

[norbertbd]

12" is way to shallow for an adult; they need a minimum of 18" deep and 24" is recommended.

The 12" will keep you for up to 5-6 months in age, and that totally depends on the dragon. Some grow really quickly to 14-16". What you don't like to see is the tail having to be really bent in order to turn around.

Hopefully this helps.

 

[JerryH]

Ya, I asking about making it 12" tall. I was going to make it 18" deep. I was just wondering because I have a 24x12 sheet of plexiglass that I'd like to use to start the beardie in.