Reptile & Amphibian Forums

i built my ig a new enclosure and i want to see some examples of how i can set it up.please post your pics.one more thing.Why do they sell hot rocks if they are so bad
i never thought about it
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My herps:1.3leopard geckos,1.0 green iguana, 0.0.3 chinese water dragons, 2.2 fire belly toads, 0.0.1 green tree frog, 0.0.1 egyptian toad, many tropical fish, 1.1 purebred German shepherds

The pet industry sells lots of stuff that's bad for everything. Hamsters, parakeets, dogs, ect. Pet products are not to be trusted period.
What could the reason be?

$$$$$$
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"The serpent crams itself with animal life that is often warm and vibrant, to prolong an existence in which we detect no joy and no emotion. It reveals the depth to which evolution can sink when it takes the downward path and strips animals to the irreducible minimum able to perpetuate a predatory life in its naked horror."
Alexander Skutch

I just got done building my ig terranium and I need idea of how to set up the shelving and basking areas and whatnot for him. And where can I get big branches and stuff for cheap? Cause dont I have to dissenfect branches that I get from the wild or something? Whats the deal?

Please post pics.

Hi guys,

Here is a link to a web site I did for my iguanas a really long time ago:

http://www.geocities.com/heartland/5844/cujoang.htm

If you scroll way to the bottom, you'll see a cage I built for Cujo when he was young. I used branches found outside that I tried to sterilize by letting them soak in a swimming pool (it was end of season and since we were getting ready to shut it down for the winter, I tried to use make a sterilizing bath out of it by adding a ton of chlorine to the water). I then rinsed them thoroughly and let them dry in the sun.

This didn't work, though, because I ended up finding little bugs in Cujo's terrarium (naturally, once the branches were all installed in his terrarium). It wasn't a MAJOR deal in this case, because I only found one or two ants and a few little flies which died after a couple of weeks, then the branches were okay. But this is just something to keep in mind. Large branches are very hard to sterilize. You need to be able to *completely* submerge them in a sterilizing solution (bleach) or bake them in a 250F oven for several hours.

The configuration of the cage, though, works really well. You want to provide plenty of climbing areas and plenty of resting areas as well. Igs can't rest comfortably on branches that are set at too much of an angle. You also want to set up a basking ledge, i.e. about 12" below a full-spectrum fluorescent bulb and with a basking light pointed at the ledge. If you look at the middle ledge, you will see that there is a food dish there. I cut out a hole in the ledge so that the bowl sinks, so it doesn't get knocked over and makes it easier for the ig to eat. it's also more natural for the ig because he doesn't have to go down to the ground to eat.

Anyway, I hope this gives you some ideas! There are a lot of thing to consider when setting up a home for an iguana. For example, this terrarium worked well for about 2 years, but as Cujo got big, he eventually destroyed all the plastic plants and made a mess of his walls and floor. For large igs, it's really better to sacrifice beauty for practicality. Wire shelving works equally well, too.

Julie