I use to have a water dragon and he past on at a very young age and i never had the chance to give him a homemade enclosure. I have since purchased a new dragon and it is about time to build him a new enclosure. All help is greatly apperciated
Hey Piro, Here's a picture of my WD's enclosure, I built it myself from a local store (like Home Depot). It works out much cheaper than buying one and you have the added satisfaction of having built it yourself.
Thanks that looks awesome i was think of making one out of one of my old dressers once im done i will attempt to post some pics. Thanks alot for the pic. :mrgreen: P.S. Looks AWESOME
Hi Piro, I can't remember exact costs because it was about 2 years ago. The cost of the vivarium was only about £40 in parts from a B&Q store. (Home Depot if you're in the USA). The best thing to do is decide how big you want your vivarium to be. Then go to the hardware store and see what are the largest sheets are that they sell of your chosen wood. I used melamine which is basically vinyl covered chip board. Work out on paper how many sheets you'll need and then draw a plan on paper how each sheet should be cut. Don't forget the width of the blade when you're planning, usually about 5mm. I only needed 2 sheets at a cost of £12 each for a 3 x 2 x 2 enclosure. The vents were about £10 for the pair and are used to control ventilation, you need to have a good supply of fresh air otherwise the air will become stagnant and bacteria will grow. The glass cost me £7 for the 2 sheets. Make sure you measure up for the glass after building the enclosure. The hardest thing for me to find was the runners for the glass in brown. I think I took the last ones. The more expensive part of the enclosure was the electrical equipment. I have a very narrow display flourescent tube at the very front that you can see in the picture which gives a nice light in the viv. I also have a UV light at the back which is situated right in the middle because it needs to be quite close to your animal. The roof is no good. I also have a ceramic heater suspended at one end which is controlled by a thermostat. I'd say that all of the electrics came to about £150. Then you have to buy all your furnishings, the nice large bits of driftwood cost me about £20 each! Of course there are cheaper ways of doing things but my theory is that I'ing but the best for my animal. It won't be long before I'm building him a larger one because there are many more things that I'd like to do in my next viv. It will be much taller so he can climb more. It will also have a large water pool at one end of the enclosure with a pump, filter and waterfall. I will also set up an automatic misting system in there for him to keep the humidity up. At the moment he has to be sprayed several times a day. Hope that's helpful. Any other questions then please ask.
DragonDreams, that is one of the nicest enclosures I have seen ( for whatever you put in it, it seems perfect) what is on the bottom, looks like a second compartment? What do use it for? Gonzo
I have all the electrical connections down there, along with their calcium and vitamins. I used to have a humidifier down there to, but found out if i turn the heater up in the aquarium that it keeps the humidity at 70% which is good considering the size of the cage. It has 2 AWDs in it right now. I am trying to find a grown male to buy that I can afford to breed to mine (mine are females). Thanks for the compliment. Oh I intend to add a foot to the back of the cage, I want to put in a fake rock wall with a built in waterfall and take out the carpet on the back wall. To make it look more realistic.
so is that a fish tank ate the bottom ? and a water heater inside? how do u go about cleaning the water
The same way you clean any aquarium, it has a high powered filter intended for a 55 gallon tank, and I change the filter once a week and do a 1/4 water change at the same time. There are goldfish in it, so if the tank wasn't healthy they would be the first to let me know.
I got them from a local DIY store here in the UK called B&Q. They were in the plumbing section. They do open and close by sliding so you can chose how much you want them open.
wow dragondreams that is the nicest cage i have ever seen!!! would you build me one?? pleaaassssseeee!!! lol
ere you go http://www.vivaria.nl/vivarium/design_options.html http://www.leopardgecko.co.uk/documents/diy/project1.htm i built mine, it's 6ftL, 3ft deep and 5ft high, as soon as i get new rechargables for my digi ill post pictures of it. get your wood cut at the local hardware store to the size you want, or just tell them what your building the size ect, and they should be able to work it out for you and cut it.
You know that cage is wonderful I love it!! I have a water dragons he is about 9 or 8 months now and me and my dad are going to build him a cage and I was wondering how you made that one? Could you tell me how to make one of them things. If my water dragon had a cage that big I'd he'd like it, so that is why I want to know how to build one. It's also like a lizard mansion it's BIG BIG BIG!!!