Outdoor playpen ideas

[imsarah]

So with the weather warming up lately, I was thinking I'd set up an enclosure for my beardie to spend time outside during the hotter hours of the day instead of sitting in his boring ol' tank inside the house. I want to get a kiddie pool and fill the bottom with sand and put a wading pool in there for him. Thats where my ideas end. Any ideas of what else to put in there for him? I'll need to have a shady spot for him to retreat to in case the sun gets to be too much for him, should I use logs like he's got in his tank, or should I take advantage of the space and put some plants in there?

 

[imsarah]

So I tried BigLots, Target, ToysRus, and Walmart and NOBODY has kiddie pools stocked. I asked the first person I found at Target "Hey, do you guys have kiddie pools?" and she says "Nope, they're not in season yet".... and she tells me this as we're standing next to like, two dozen racks of bathing suits. The whole womens clothing section of the store is almost entirely bathing suits but kiddie pools aren't in season yet? Found pool stuff at Walmart but they were the huge above ground 5ft family size stuff. I want him to have alot of room, but that seems a bit over the top. I'll just have to wait a few weeks I guess. Leaves me time to stock up on the furniture for his vacation suite.


What kind of potted plants should I put in there for him? Are there any plants I should steer clear of? Anything poisonous or unsafe for him to hang out with? I was considering a few fake leafy things, but if he's going to be outdoors, wouldn't it be better and more comfy for him to have real plants? I checked out the garden sections of the stores and I think I'm gonna use a ceramic pot base for his wading pool.

 

[1happymommy]

It sounds like a good idea until you think about the predators. A bird will swoop down and scoop him up in a heartbeat. You may want to build an actual enclosure so he will be safe from raccoons & others. I have seen a few on Craigs list that might work.

 

[xXDragon_AddictXx]

I'm glad you asked this, it's actually starting to get very warm out here too and a kiddie pool is a great idea for a fun play area. I was actually just looking at a rat website the other day and they had a fun, cute looking kiddie pool. I'm guess I'm not surprised that you haven't seen them around, but if you really want one you can probably order them from places online (with a shipping charge :? ).

I would say definitely put some sort of shade in there - I'd probably just use a big half-log myself. As far as things to climb on and under...a big piece of driftwood or something. Mine always loves lying on rocks, too. Maybe even something soft if it wants to cuddle up. It's hard to say, I think they'd think the sand was the best part

Happymommy is right though, I would watch out for birds and stuff. Either build some sort of net cover to go all around and over the pool, or keep it right at your feet where you can hover over it. Good luck..!

 

[imsarah]

Whats a raccoon? haha, the most wildlife I've seen in my neighborhood are stray cats and my dogs pretty territorial when it comes to cats in the backyard. I was actually considering putting a screen over the top of it but that was to keep him from getting any ideas of jumping out, I didn't even consider birds.

I have seen coyotes down by the train tracks in the middle of the night on my way home from the bars and stuff, but he'd be safe inside the house at night. The pool would simply be a daytime enclosure. Yeah, the screen or netting over the top would probably be a good idea.

 

[HowlinGaleDragon]

Ihave an outdoor pen for my dragons its a 4 foot long 4 foot tall Ferret cage, the bars are close together so there is no way a dragon can get out or a predator in, it has plastic layers with stairs going up to it, they love this! I always put a towel over 1/3 of it so they can get shade and they always have awater dish they can lay in. Make sure you check your dragon frequently when outside they can get to hot and die quickly!

 

[dobiegil2000]

Ok, I am totally jealous here. Warming up????? :shock: We here in Michigan just warmed up to the upper teens or low twenties today after a freezing -16 F . :roll: I can't wait until I can think about building an outdoor viv for my guys. I love the pool idea, but I don't want any other critters to get my guys. Can't wait to see what you do.

Robin

 

[imsarah]

Here in California, cold is 45 degrees. At least where I'm at. And that's at night. Lately it's been getting up to the 90s though during the days when I'm stuck inside working. Grrr work.

 

[dobiegil2000]

Hmmmm I have a brother in socal. Time for a trip with my guys. :mrgreen:

robin

 

[fresnowitte]

It sounds like a good idea until you think about the predators. A bird will swoop down and scoop him up in a heartbeat. You may want to build an actual enclosure so he will be safe from raccoons & others.

We live in the country just outside of Fresno, Ca. the weather has been beautiful this last week.
Anyhow we have hawks, large owls, and many other large birds so we had to build a screened in enclosure.

It is actually the pedestal of a 4ftx2ftx2ft viv that we wrapped in hardware cloth, attached legs, and put doors with latches on it. It works great now if I only had 7 more of them so that everyone could go outside at the same time.

 

[imsarah]

Oooh, that is super! Its like a rabbit...er... dragon hutch!

 

[Xine]

Very cool enclosure! Pity bout the hawks. . .id be scared they would still get bitten or something!

 

[wizbee]

Boga has an outside cage too, see it in my avatar? She loves to be outside on a sunny Florida day.

 

[mafu7]

I live in Ohio, and I would love to make a summer outside enclosure for my beardie. My only 2 concerns are obviously predators, but not as much of a problem as fireflies, as it is much easier to keep a hawk out than a firefly. Cuz' here they r even out in the daytime, and don't wanna take any chances.

 

[imsarah]

Got my pool at walmart today. Yay!
Kinda glad I didn't find it sooner, we've been having a bit of a wind problem these past few days.
Gonna head to Home Depot tomorrow to pick up a few bags of sand and a bath for him. Check out the plants and stuff, get some ideas of what he might find comfy. Get some grout to build a new cave for him (I threw out the last one I made cause I decided it was too big for his enclosure and I didn't like the way it came out) Plus I found some great pieces of styrofoam out behind a furniture store so I'll probably spend Sunday and Monday figuring out a new design for a nice vacation home for him.