Enclosure upgrade in the works. YAY!!!

[Lpsouth1978]

I was surprised when arriving home the other day to find that Yoda's enclosure was missing one thing... YODA. We hunted for about 20 minutes before finding him fast asleep under the table in the hall. Since then He is constantly trying to escape his home. I have had the mesh top on it ever since his escape, so he has no way to get out now. This got me thinking that he has outgrown his current enclosure, a 40B, so I started looking for a larger replacement.

Yesterday I found a 125g aquarium, that had sprung a leak, on craigslist and jumped at it. The owner was only asking $100 and other than the leak it is in great condition. I will be cleaning it out tonight and cutting tiles to fit the bottom of the tank, no more repticarpet, yay. I still need to get some more logs and such, but the tank is tall enough that he should not be able to get out anymore. I am hopefull that having SOOOOO much more room will keep Yoda from wanting to escape all the time. I guess only time will tell.

I will try to post pics once it is clean and set up.

 

[CooperDragon]

That should be a very nice improvement over a 40b. Do be sure to clean it thoroughly and disinfect it with steam or F10SC before use though. You may find that you need to change the lighting to adjust for the larger space too. What do you have in place for lights?

 

[Lpsouth1978]

That should be a very nice improvement over a 40b. Do be sure to clean it thoroughly and disinfect it with steam or F10SC before use though. You may find that you need to change the lighting to adjust for the larger space too. What do you have in place for lights?

We thoroughly cleaned and disinfected the tank today. We then cut some tiles to line the bottom of the tank. Once we got it in the house, and warmed it up, we moved Yoda to the new enclosure. He really seems to enjoy it.

As for the lighting, I set it up with a 160W MVB on either end of the tank. This gives him a choice of where to bask, while keeping the middle of the tank cooler for him. I plan to get some more wood and a hide for him tomorrow.

 

[CooperDragon]

I'm glad he's enjoying it. I suggest using an MVB on one side but a plain halogen flood on the other so you can provide an option that is heat without UVB. I have external basking areas and one is a flood light and the other is an MVB. Darwin likes to move between rooms and basks under each about 50/50 over the course of the day so I think they like having a high heat/low UVB area as well as high heat/high UVB and some low/low areas too. You could use the second MVB as a portable light for time outside the tank perhaps.

 

[Lpsouth1978]

I'm glad he's enjoying it. I suggest using an MVB on one side but a plain halogen flood on the other so you can provide an option that is heat without UVB. I have external basking areas and one is a flood light and the other is an MVB. Darwin likes to move between rooms and basks under each about 50/50 over the course of the day so I think they like having a high heat/low UVB area as well as high heat/high UVB and some low/low areas too. You could use the second MVB as a portable light for time outside the tank perhaps.

Thanks for the suggestion. I got him a 150W basking bulb and put it on the opposite end as the MVB. As you suggested, he constantly moves from one basking spot to the other. He is MUCH more active in his new home than the old one and seems very happy. Now for the pictures. It is very simple, just some branches to climb on and a food dish.

 

[JessPets]

That looks AMAZING!

 

[CooperDragon]

Yeah that looks fantastic. I'm glad to hear he's enjoying his new home and is utilizing the range of basking options =)