Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am looking to get a water dragon and had some questions. I have researched this topic to death, but am getting a lot of opinions and just wondered what you all thought. I have snakes and turtles, so I am pretty familiar w/ reptiles.

1) How do you feel about the Apogee Reptariums? Do they hold humidity well? Is the 175 gallon big enough for an adult w/d or do I have to go with the 260 (36x36x72 I believe.)

2) What kind of lighting and/or ceramic heat lamps do you recommend? What kind of cycles (ie 12 hr on/12 hr off?)

3) What kind of substrate is recommended?

4) The w/d I have my eyes on is a juvenile and is about 8 inches long from head to tail. How long would he be comfortable for in a 30 gallon terrarium until I had to move him into a big permanant home? (I lack the funds to get a huge tank right away and already have an empty 30 gallon sitting around collecting dust.)

5) Finally, what is the recommended humidity level and how do I keep it up? Spray tank daily? Fogger?

Thanks for any advice you may have.

Jason

Well, no those Reptariums probably wont work for a Water Dragon, because the humidity needs to stay around 60-70. Also, there not big enough for a Adult water dragon, Normally you can house 1, or maybe 2 in a 360 gallon enclosure, 6H x4w x 2d, at least. Most of us here build our own, cause its actually normally cheaper then even those reptariums. My enclosure cost a total of 130 dollars, and its 360 gallons, with glass doors. Lighting, well, since they need such large enclosures, flourecent lights normally wont cut it due their range. So alot of us use ZooMeds Powersuns, they are expensive, but they normally last a year or so, and their the only light you really need. Make sure you get the 160 watt flood ones. Um, but there designed for large enclosures like that, so be careful, there very powerful. Flourecent lights only have a rang eof about a foot, the powersuns give you 6 feet at least. So thats your best bet, plus its cheaper then buying 4 flourecent 30" lights or whatever. There about 40-50 dollars each. Lets see.... I guess you could put him in a 30 gallon...but youd most likely end up with him rubbing his nose against the glass, some goes with those reptariums i believe. They like to go up to glass, or mesh, and rub their noses against it, and it wears down the nose and can cause severe problems. MBD is also a major problem with water dragons, normally though, if you vary their diet, use a powersun, and suppliment their food, you should be PERFECTLY fine with that.
If you need further help, feel free to e-mail me at Bryan@mplionhearts.com or post here.
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www.mplionhearts.com

There are advantages and disadvantages.
DisAdvantages:
1.The 260 is smallest size I would recommend for one waterdragon and the largest size that they make.
2.Crickets can eat holes through the mesh.

Advantages:
1.Most "snout rub" injuries are from a startled WD impacting the side of the cage and the softer solar netting prevents this from happening.
2.There is better air flow through the cage preventing baterial and fungal problems.

As far as humidity is concerned, it depends on where you are, if you live some place dry like Arizona for instance, then you do not want to use this type of cage unless you have a humidifier running in the same room. Where I live, in Maryland, the average humidity is such that the humidity added to the room from their water source is more then suffcient.

Thanks for the advice. How do you go about building your own enclosure?