Viv Revamp- need ideas/suggestions

[Phoenix17June2009]

Yesterday we went to a reptile show- my husbands first and while we were there he got inspired to revamp our viv. Its still only a consideration currently but I had some ideas that I'd love suggestions on.

So- for those that don't know me, I'm Jordan. I have one beardie Phoenix, and he is going on 7 years old...wow...can't believe it...um.. anyway, he's amazing. He is very social, loves to be snuggled, and is just a lover in general. I couldn't ask for a better lizard!

So sorry, on to the viv! He currently resides in my first build which was of melamine. As some of you know, its not the best...actually I'll never use it again...what a mistake on my end.

We have a desk that we aren't using...actually P man's viv currently sits on top of this desk hah! I use the drawers to keep his supplements/business cards from vendors etc.

My husbands thought was to take this desk and turn it into a viv. That way the viv comes more of a visualally pleasing part of our home.

The desk is 6ft long, 3 wide and we would make the viv 2 high. His first initial thought was to put a divider so we had 2 vivs and could get a second beardie. At first I thought it was a great idea and then I remembered that 4x2x2 was the minimum recommeneded size (is this still the case??).

Keeping in mind that last time I researched this stuff the minimum was 4x2x2 I have since come up with some other ideas of what we could do with that extra space.

Obviously one end would be the "hot" end where his basking light would be. I would add some additional flurescent lighting along the back so that there aren't any "dark" areas.

thoughts for extra space:

Phoenix LOVES water..I mean..to the point he gets upset when I take him out of the bath and will leap back to the sink lol.

1. create a small area, with a "pool" type thing. Naturally I'd have to find something short so that it wouldn't contain a ton of water and I'd also have to sort of "close it off" from the rest of the viv so that humidity wouldn't be a huge issue. I was thinking use maybe a foot of the enclosure for this...I'd also like to put a bulb over it so that it stays a descent temp but I'm not sure if this would work as far as causing humidity because I know we want that relatively low.... :study:

Bad idea? Good idea? Other thoughts...let's here em!

2. He loves to dig- he's always loved to dig so the other idea I had was to create a small area that he could go and dig in. Nothing huge and before its mentioned he is not fed in his enclosure. He is always taken out and fed outside for easy cleanup. I realize they still "taste" things so it does still concern me some that he could injest it and I'm not sure its worth the risk... :silent:


Any other ideas??

Is it still accurate that 4x2x2 is the minimum?

The more I think about a 6ft enclosure the more excited I get hah!!


Also if this is way over the top please, say so... don't worry about offending me because I don't think its possible lol... I just want to make sure that if we do this, first of all, its for the best of my baby and secondly that is functional.

 

[CooperDragon]

I'd use the entire enclosure to create some nice zones of heat and UVB. You could have one area of high temperature and high UVB, another of medium temperature and no UVB, low temperature low UVB, etc. That's enough space to create a nice variety. I'd do something along the lines of what Taterbug has. https://sites.google.com/site/thelizardmadness/photogradient

I wouldn't put a pool in, but you could set up a drinking bowl with a drip system. Some people have taken half a pop bottle and suspended it over the dish, put a small hole in the top to create a constant drip, and then just fill the half pop bottle and empty the bowl as needed. That will create some movement and allow for an interactive water source.

Some people put dig boxes in the tank, but I think it would take up a lot of space and become fairly messy. I wouldn't do it just because of the maintenance it would require. I'd go with a bioactive substrate if I wanted to create a more natural substrate that allows for some digging/burrowing.

With the amount of space you'll have available, I'd put in plenty of climbs and create levels for variety.

 

[Taterbug]

That's a nice foot print, and you could certainly go higher than 2'. A big part of this is space to mount the lights and having more open space overhead. I wouldn't do more than one dragon (but I'm also inclined to have one dragon in one huge cage over two in smaller ones) and have a 4x2x4 that some days I think isn't big enough. If Pheonix is active and agile you could make lots of enrichment for a setup that size (even if you stick to 2' high) but if he isn't or you go higher work up to it so he has a chance to build up his climbing skills

For water.... It would depend on your setup and how you are managing heat and humidity. Heating the water... I would keep it on the cool side for two reasons... one is that especially with a larger surface area will increase the evaporation and second is that cool water can be a natural way for reptiles to thermoregulate. If you have lots of ventilation or a typically dry house you may not have any issues with humidity. IF you do something sizeable having a drain would be a good idea, though it may take some planning you could set something up so that it drains out a pipe on the back or bottom of the setup and you can empty it into a bucket. I find large tubs/dishes a bit inconvenient to clean and were I ever to add one I would ideally have a drain in it. Zoos do this sort of thing and make it attractive by making it out of cement or something, though a tub would be fine too.

I use a bioactive substrate and while pepper isn't much of a digger I like the setup. However it WILL work against you if you have a big water feature and you'll want to plan both accordingly. Pepper's water dish is full of leaves and dirt by the end of the day. I'm planning to do a dripper setup myself.