Iggys New home, spoiled lil dragon but hes really dark

[shepp55]

i just built Iggys new home and its made of plywood and pine, substrate is Luanboard, its 25''tall, 36'' deep and 50'' long...a couple of shelves, viewing window 3 closed sided and on screen sided lid that kinda looks like a triangle with the tip cut off...lights are placed on top, one is 100w halogen, one is a Powersun MVB 100W and i also have a reptisun uvb 10.0 mounted lengthwise in the enclosure. he has 2 different basking spots, 2 different water sources, one will be pumped in kinda like a fountain soon to give him fresh water through out the day, he has fake silk vines and rocks and branches...needless to say he's spoiled. but i love him. the only thing i'm worried about is his color. it may just be moving in jitters or the fact that he's shedding right now and its his head and body, not just the tail...but he's generally dark right now. he will lighten up when i mess with him, and sometimes while he's in his home, but for the most part he's been staying dark. should i be concerned? he's got alot of hiding places and warm spots, i have his lights on a cycle that his halogen comes on first at 7am, then his mvb at 10am then his reptisun uvb at 1130. the mvb cuts off at 430pm then the reptisun uvb at 6pm and his halogen at 9pm. just trying to mimic mothernature the best i can. i do still mist his tank throughout the day so water collects on the silk leaves but it dries quickly and there's been a few times that i'll put him in one of his bathing dishes and he plunges his head in and starts guzzling water. i know they get dehydrated while shedding, but that seems like hes realllllly thirsty. he is still eating and he's only about 9'' long, and already eating his greens which suprised me... does anyone have any suggestions? oh, and his temps in his basking spots are 105 when top is uncovered, 110 when i have the screen covered with a sheet. just curious what everyone thought, any changes i need to make or additions...i will have pics up as soon as i figure out how lol. thanks guys

Much love from Iggy and me

 

[Goonie]

[Moved from General to Enclosures]

 

[suzuki4life]

what the temps of the gradient?

 

[mikem83]

Thats great you got him a new viv. Thats a great feeling when you know they have much more space. I was a bit worried reading your post however. Im not sure how much of your viv has pine, but as far as i am aware it is toxic. Also i would be careful with the flowing water because it may raise the humidity levels in the tank too much.

 

[shepp55]

the inside is LUAN (not sure how to spell it, but its that laminate dark thin plywood. i used plywood to build the exterior stuff and the legs are pine, but he has no access to that. not sure if the plywood is pine or not, and honestly when i built it i wasn't even thinking about the plywood. i'm pretty sure the LUAN sheet is okay to use tho, i've used it before with waterdragons. i'm now worried that i may be hurting him. he seems happy, and his appetite and activity has greatly increased... i'm gonna have to check on the plywood and luan tho. the other wood i used was oak for the framing of the lid and parts of the "box" part of the tank. i don't know how to post pics...but i will as soon as i figure it out.

 

[shepp55]

this is his new home, finally figured out how to add pics

 

[mikem83]

Thats a really cool looking viv. About the pine thing again im really not sure in your case if it will be a problem, you said the pine is mainly on the legs of the viv. When i build mine i just used oak plywood because i was aware of the pine issue. But another thing to consider if that beardies do get relocation stress (putting them in a new environment, or changing things in their enclosure), so that may be why he is so dark. Relocation stress will fade away with time but you are doing a good job and keep up the good work. As long as he is active, eating, and pooping your doing a good job. The best advice i can give you is research everything you can and be sure to ask many questions especially on this site. It helped me a great deal. Good luck!!

 

[shepp55]

so far everyone that has seen pics and heard my story thinks that the viv is just fine. thankfully. the LUAN is mahogany veneer, and thats mostly inside, and what he's actually near. he seems so happy now too, very active, very bright now in colors, he gets dark when he's hungry, but even his appetite has increased, so i think he's doing good. i think the next viv i build will be completely luan. its pretty strong, and really light lol. this viv weighs a TON haha!

 

[Mustashio]

That is an awesome viv! my hubby is currently building Tashi a new viv and it is similar to yours. I had a few questions about placement of the lights and evertything for ours and your picture answered all my questions. Especially the dome on the top. Great job!

Can you post some pictures of the inside a bit? I'm curious about the shelves inside! And of course we always like to see pics of everyones beardie babies!

~Jill

 

[shepp55]

yeah i can do that, im not home at the moment but i will when i am. the viv is seperated in 3 places, the top...the middle, and the legs. i attatched the shelves by tac nailing them to the rim of the middle and putting posts on the far outside of the shelf for added support. its also a good thing to tac any vines to as well. ill get some more pics up soon tho. thhanks for all the compliments, i kinda just winged it when i made it. but he loves it so im happy. :-D

 

[Mustashio]

Here are a few pics of Tashi's new viv. We love it so far, but had a little cricket mishap. It seems the bamboo placemats have a tendency to turn average crickets into "spiderman" crickets, as my 5yo son said. Totally overlooked the fact that the little buggers could climb the bamboo and thus, out of Tashi's reach. It was hilarious in hindsight. You should have seen my hubby and I trying to play cricket hunter before they could escape! Poor Tashi was like "Here comes food...wait! There they go!" My hubby loved the look of the bamboo though and didn't want to part with it, so he went and bought some more plexiglass to cover the inside of the enclosure. I don't know who is more spoiled...the Dragon or his Daddy!!

 

[Mustashio]

Oh, and none of the pictures really show it well, but the vent is simply screen that runs at the top of the entire length of the back of the viv. So it is like 3in x 48in. He's been in it for the last 2-3days and we are playing with temps a little bit with the dimmer switch, but it seems to be in range.