Reptile & Amphibian Forums

a few years ago i lurked and asked questions about my waterdragon. after he died from a vets mistake some time agio, i didnt come back to dragons. now i am willing to give them a try again.

i have a tank that was orginaly designed to be a tropicle vivarium, with dart frogs in mind.

it is 2'L X 18"W X 2'H it has malaysian driftwood glued on the back along with greatstuff to make a back ground. it also has a waterfall built into the background.

how long can a young dragon live in this? i do know it wont be much more than a year, i'm fine with that, i plant on up grading anyways

also is there a UVB light out there in a stright pin 55 watt power Compact light? have any of you used the mercury vapor bulbs? is there any danger to the animal if the proterctive coating flakes off just a bit? if it is, how often should i check the bulb to see if the layer has chipped or flaked?

what plants are safe, and in this i mean truely safe and wont effect the animal nagatively. curently i have orchids and bromiliads, with some other epiphytes, wich i know are non toxic.

ashley

rip draca

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Well as far as the viv goes, if he is a young hatchling dragon, he can suffice in there for awhile, a year, probably not. You have to look at his comfortability factor. How much he will snout rub in his smaller space, how to keep correct temps and so on. He can do fine in there for a short time, but I would try going bigger whenever you get the chance, space, or money. I am pretty sure I know what Viv you are talking about, it is originally made for say, newts, dartfrogs, firebelly toads, and then has the area at the bottom for fish and such. As for the UVB, mercury bulbs I have read stories and research on, and if what they say is true, its not only harmful to your lizard its harmful to people standing close to it. I guess its a matter of choice, but personally I would go with a reptisun 8.0 or 10.0. If you live in a warm climate, bringing him outdoors for a couple hours in filtered sunlight he will also absorb calcium, as well as supplementing with calcium with d3, dont do all of these things at once. But if you cant get a good UVB tube, than those are a couple other options in order for him to absorb calcium. As for safe plants; im not sure of the whole list, but I have a dracaena (spelled that wrong I know) and a staghorn fern in my viv, which are both safe plants, check out tricias page for any information you need.
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