Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I just finished this 6x3x2.5 cage for my CWD, Katrina. It is very nice...but i need some thoughts of what to put in it etc. So far she has a large, fake, ficus tree...some driftwood, and a bowl of water. Not very much.

It is being lit by 2 MVB's and one regular heat bulb.

Any creative help would be appreciated!
Hunter

Where is the pond???

bottom right of the cage for now until i make a more, permanent, pond.

He is in a big cage, but he is rubbing again. What can i do to stop it? Im putting silvadine on it...but that can only help so much. It is raw

OK, 6 ft is fine. But 3.5 x 2.5 is astill on the very small side. Also such a "Cage" is not the best choice. How do you keep humidity up? How Tenmps?
A classical terrarium made of mainly glass and wood would be a beter choice.
Also you do by far niot have enough lights. get a luxmeter and measure intenisties. You should aim at 20-100000 Lux at the basking area and mostly 5-10000 lux within the upper half.
For that you do need metal halides.
Also your cage lacks the importan horizontal branches WD pprefer for sitting on. Their diameters should vary from the same size as the lizard body up to 10" and preferably you should add a lot of these.
That covers only the most important points.
Look at an old Pic of one of my basilisk cages to get an idea, how such an enclosure should look like

Ci@o

Ingo

I am measuring between 50 and 200 nm of UVB throughout the cage. Metal halides...as in for coral tanks?

I am adding in the horizon branches tomorrow...they are baking.

Thanks for the help.
Hunter

50-200nm? What unit is this? Should be mW or J.
At what wavewelngth did youmeasure? Do you know, that only wavelengtghs from 295 to 305 nm are effective for Vit D3 synthesis? Everything above is not.
And yes, metal halides as for coral tanks. But not the 10 000 or 20 000 K version used for these but the 5500-6000K variants.
These are the ultimate light sources for herps and already widely distributed among european herpers.

Ci@o

Ingo

I apologize, i meant mW/cm2...wow, do not know where i got nm from.

As far as reptiles needing 295-305 mW/cm2, my reading does not comfirm this.

I have honestly never heard of using metal halides for a reptile, wow, you learn something new everyday.

As far as humidity, she has a humidifier OUTSIDE her cage, which keeps her between 70-87% throughout various parts of her caging.

Hunter

Here you got me wrong.

I really meant wavelength in nm. Effective wavelength width for D3 conversion is very narrow.

Just to get the idea, look at this:

Lehmann B, Genehr T, Knuschke P, Pietzsch J, Meurer M.(2001)UVB-induced conversion of 7-dehydrocholesterol to 1alpha,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 in an in vitro human skin equivalent model.
J Invest Dermatol;117(5):1179-85.

With respect to UVB Intensities, I guess 20-60 mW/cm2 should be a reasonable range -but measured in the narrow peak range depicted above.

Ci@o

Ingo

Can I jump in here? Sorry, I don't know much about all those measurements. I guess my 'lil babies are lucky to still be alive after 2 and a half years, lol.

Anyway, I am wondering about the wire mesh sides?? Owie, that must hurt on the nose! They nose rub because they want to get out. If you cover the lower part with something, it probably won't happen.

Also, all those leaves and stuff! Wow! How about removing all of that and putting in some great climbing branches, vines and shelves?? The size is good, btw. Maybe if you didn't crowd him with all that foliage, and gave him some places to climb around on and to?? How on earth can he pick a comfy basking spot?? you do have one, right?

And I don't care how great your uv measurements are, if they are not within a certain placement of the reptile, he just won't benefit at all. And with all that foliage . . .

Ok. Just my two cents. Sorry for interrupting.

No problem in jumping in. He has 3 comfy places under mvb's to sun. He uses two. And has stopped banging his nose...i added a plastic border around the bottom. He hate some yummy mice, earthworms, and dandelion last night

the foliage is attached to a tree whcih he climbs on regularly, but i can cut it back with no problem .

Hello. Do you have a website or anything with photos of your animals/enclosures? I've always loved your photos and information, and would love to be able to see more. Thanks very much

Ummmm, whom are you referring to?

Hm...I guess I should start to collect Pics and descruiption of technical stuff for an online album.
So far I do have nothing like that. I admit that I neglected that -so many things to do, so little time.
Still so many colour slides, so few digital images as well....
Anyhow, I of course included Pics and descriptions in my books and papers, but sadly -for you guys - thats all in german. Just one article on G. grossmanni housing should be available in the english edition of Reptilia (Reptilia 41: Kober, I.: Rock Wall in the Living Room) -but that paper does not include light technology questions. Some pics of my rainforest tanks you may also find in the english Reptilia No19 but all the rest is german.

Sorry

Ci@o

Ingo

hello, i just saw the pic of that cage and it's awsome, what are the dimensions? i have a chinese water dragon but he's only 1 foot now. what kinds of plants did you put in there and how does he get heat. any help would be appriciated, thanks.

He's finally stopped with all his nonsense, and is climbinb like a big boy, except when he is moody. Just as a precaution, i took a swab, and had a culture grown. it came back positive, so we did a week of baytril orally, and he is back to normal. thanks all