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Adopted Water Dragon

Wow, what a great project!

You probably already know this, but I think it's a good idea to let whatever you use to seal the wood cure for longer than necessary if it will be around heat. The heat can let out toxins.

I LOVE DIY projects like this. I have gotten a lot of inspiration (but don't have the money or the commitment time yet) from Poision Dart Frog owners. THe folks over at DendroBoards sure have some cool stuff as far as fake back drops you may want to check out.

They are also really experienced with this kind of thing and can probably answer all your questions about which brands do what.

Good luck, and keep us updated! I can't wait to see how it turns out. Also, that's one lucky dragon to be in your care now! Congratulations to the both of you! :cheers:

*Edit: Congratulations to the both of you as in you and Tara. I re- read that and it sounded like I was saying congrats to you and your water dragon! :bird:
 
Thanks Jess! I'm a member at a dart frog board (Dendroboards I think) so I'll have to check that out. I have been looking at YouTube videos of a variety of dragon habitats and getting good inspiration there. I'll be sure to take pictures as I progress, and thanks for the tip on the extra long drying time. He seems to be doing okay for now in his 20L, especially since I decked it out. But I'd like to have him into the big viv in no more than 4-6 weeks. I don't want his nose to get bashed up if I can help it.
 
I'm not good at DIY stuff but I have seen people use marine paint for racks and vivs so I would use that, it will hold up better with the high humidity.

Good luck building, I can't wait to see it done and congrats on your new dragon. I had a rescued one about 10 years ago she was a great lizard.
 
So we ended up getting Rustoleum as the Home Depot did not have marine paint. I checked and a lot of people use it on boa cages, so I think it'll do for the water dragon viv.

I put the primer coat on today after sanding the interior surfaces. My father in law is going to help us drill and cut out the inner sections of the doors this weekend and we will be replacing those with plexiglass.

We were looking at ideas for ventilation. It will need to be well-ventilated but able to hold humidity at the same time, so I am thinking a low vent on one side and a high vent on the other. We found a type of semi-rigid plastic mesh used for covering gutters that seems like it would work well for our purposes.
 
Put the second coat of black paint on it today. Now that I am looking at it, I am considering the possibility of doing a fake rock background out of great stuff foam. I think it would look really nice and I could add basking ledges so he'll have a place to sit.

One slight problem I am having is how to mount the heat lamp. I'd rather not put it on top, because it is so tall, so I am considering the possibility of mountain one inside the viv, towards the front, but facing a basking area on the back wall. But how to mount it?

I am wondering if I could use a clamp lamp coupled to a closet "clothes bar" that I mount along the front of the upper part of the viv. Then I could mount the UV light along the back, directly over the aforementioned basking area. My UV light is the kind designed to mount under cabinets, so it already has screw holes ready for mounting.
 

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I would keep the light as far away from the ledges and vines as possible to keep him from trying to jump on it, and even then I would make sure there is a metal cage around it or something. As for a clamp light, I would use a 2x2 instead of a curtain rod. The 2x2 would be easier for the clamp light to stay clamped onto since it doesn't have rounded edges and would give it less slip over time.

If it was me I would put the light towards the front and off to one corner point it at the basking ledge, and if its possible try to use the wood frame of the front door to help hide it (if thats possible, hard to tell not seeing the thing in person) from view from outside.

Those are just some of my thoughts. Im sure some of them you have already thought of, just throwing them out there.
 
Allalaskan said:
I would use a 2x2 instead of a curtain rod. The 2x2 would be easier for the clamp light to stay clamped onto since it doesn't have rounded edges and would give it less slip over time... If it was me I would put the light towards the front and off to one corner point it at the basking ledge, and if its possible try to use the wood frame of the front door to help hide it (if thats possible, hard to tell not seeing the thing in person) from view from outside.
Click to expand...

Good call. Tara does not like the idea of the light being in the viv at all, but I can't see any easy way to cut out and screen a hole in the top without taking the entire thing apart, and since some of it is glued I really do not want to do that. I think we will have to go with the light in the viv. If I keep it a good deal away from him, I don't think it should be an issue.
 
Probably a misting system or fog of some type. I've looked at plans for waterfalls and they are rather complex, plus, since water dragons poop in the water nearly every day, that would quickly become a pain in the rear to clean. So probably mist.
 
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