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Her new improved home

good looking pond but where can the gator get out to sun?

kcaiman - You don't see the rock on the left for him to get out of the water?

I think it's great - even has basking area away from the light (on the right) giving differing temps...

One question though - are the plants real? They look great! I hope you took pics of putting it together - I would love to see how it was put together and the underlying structure.

Mr. F

sorry i thought that rock was just over hanging the water.

I wish I would of took pics during the build but this was a rescue from a poor owner so the build was fast. No the plants are not real but I'm in the process of adding real. I thought of this ahead time during the build so there is already areas built in to hold the plants. The lower cabinet hasnt been built yet so I will put in a photo that shows the understructure some what.

Heres the pic

Man cloes condo is no joke. That is bad as hell. How much did all of that set you back? I also have an american alligator which is just a baby right now and stays in a 250 gallon rubbermaid tub with a 150watt heatlamp and an inclanation so he can get out of the water with some driftwood that he can climb on too.

To tell you the truth I lost count on the cost. Best guess would be $1000.00. My experience with crocs has taught me to do it right or pay later. If you know what I mean. The waterfall you see in the pic houses the 200W submersible heater by having a pond above the main pool it keeps little inquisitive gators from biting heater or cord. The pump sits inside a pvc box with 4 layers of filter media inside the main pool. The electric cord is shielded several layers of built up rubber in case Cloe decides to bite it. Because the enclosure is so large I have several different lights and air heaters. These include UV-A and UV-B light, 150W Basking spot, ceramic heater for heating the general air temp, and a night basking light that mimics moon rays. All lights are controlled by timers. Now for the temperature monitors. All are digital monitors with battery backup. These monitor water temp, general air temp in 3 places, basking temps, and humidity in 2 places inside the enclosure. At the bottom of the pond I installed a 3.5in. standard shower drain with a ball valve for ease of draining. It takes about 5 mins to drain entire pond. All Acylic is duraplex high strength. The side panels of enclosure slide up and out for ease in cleaning and removing Cloe. One more thing that I would like to add is a water level sensor that would automatically add water as evaporation occurs.

Man that is a nice chunk of change but I guess I still expected more than that considering the list of items. It's really nice. When I get a permanent home I will do the same for my gator. that is why I am keeping him small for the time being. so by the time I am able to do it for him he will be smaller and I wont have to worry about taking up a whole floor of my home for him (lol).