Reptile & Amphibian Forums

This is my new enclosure I built for my dwarf caiman. The inside preformed pond liner holds 50 gallons of water with a Pondmaster filter and additional powerhead for good water movement. The plexi doors not only help keep her in, but add additional humidity as well. The doors have a 1" gap all the way around when closed for ventalation. She loves to bask most of the day on the slate.The slate overhangs the inside pond about 8 inches to give her a nice hiding space in the water. When she gets a bit bigger I will upgrade this rubbermaid to the 300 gallon or maybe use the 150 for the water and build a land area around it.

Cheers.

WOW~! Thank you SO much!! I had the same 150 gallon tank and i had NO idea on how to seperate the land from the water. Because of the shape of the tank, it is hard to glue a "shelf" for a land area. This is a great idea!! One question~ what are the dimensions of the pond [/inside] the tank? Thanks for your excellent idea and your great drawing!!

It's pretty easy to do. I just got a 50 gallon preformed pond liner for Lowes for $45. I don't know the measurements of the pond, but all you have to do is trim about 3" off the top of the liner all the way around and then it's a the perfect fit resting on the bottom of the stock tank. Then I just filled in around it with sand leaving about 4" at the top for gravel. You could bring the sand to the top but it would get pulled into the water everytime the little guy gets in/out and make a mess so gravel is allot better. The whole enclosure I think cost me about $400. Pretty cheap for what you end up with.