Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am almost done building the cage for my new water dragon. It is 150cm high, 100 wide, and about 50 deep. I attached cork board to some areas but made a rock wall for the rest. The rock wall is made out of styrafoam, tile (cement?), and painted with outdoor paint. Now I am wondering, will the paint hold up to the high humidity? Should I cover it with a sealant such as epoxy harz or something? I'll test it by putting a dried painted rock in some water, but I was wondering if anyone here had experience with this. Also, will the cork mold and rot? What about the bark?

Anouther thing, My lights burn out really fast. The last one only lasted 2 weeks. I think it's the water from the humidity. Is there any way to water proof bulbs to keep them from frying?

Hiya!

Just recently nosing around on this forum, but, been playing with herps and cage design for a long while... Outdoor paint is a good option. Water dragons, though, are usually very active and will destroy the foam/tile paste under it in very short order. Epoxy the bejeezus out of it! A nice option is to use epoxy with a textural filler, so that you end up with something the dragon can grab onto (cured epoxy, when wet, is wicked slick); there are some epoxies out there already mixed and designed to be non-skid. Check with a marine store to see what they have. Unfortunately, when you use the textured stuff, you're probably not going to see the paint job you did under it (though you can also get epoxies that are tinted, or even by the tint yourself and color your batch as you want to)... Just something to consider.

On the light issue... What kind of lights? Mercury vapor bulbs are extremely sensitive to fluctuations in voltage. We pretty much had our circuitry in the apartment maxed, so, any the flourescents used to flicker incessantly. With that, the HgV bulbs would die mighty quick. If it is just a normal incandescant, I'm not real sure... Try the fixture in another location?
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Justin, Julie and the menagerie...
(Bobbing igs, snapping macklots, exploring ball, hungry kings, hyper grey rat, quacking tribs, hissing roaches, wriggling worms & chirping crickets)
Vermont Herpetological Society Online
www.vermontherps.org

Exterior paints, even oil-based, probably won't hold up well to the conditions necessary for a Water Dragon cage.

I'm not sure what product it is that you covered the styro rocks with, but it may have already been water and scratch resistant enough for your dragon.

A clear coat of epoxy is probably a good idea at this point. Envirotex is clear and solvent free but will be expensive. Bondo makes some clear epoxies that will be cheaper but will need to be used with a respirator and a lot of ventilation. The cure time may also be weeks.

You should also be concerned about moisture getting behind the cork bark. That could cause a lot of damage. The cork should hold up very well, however.

As the previous poster said, MV bulbs are very sensitive to flucuations in voltage. They are also very senstive to flucations in temperature. So senstive that even installing then at a slight angle can cause the ballast to heat up and wear out quickly. High humidity cages also case these temperature changes.

Some of the standard incandescent bulbs designed for reptile use also seem to have very short lifespans.

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I am almost done building the cage for my new water dragon. It is 150cm high, 100 wide, and about 50 deep. I attached cork board to some areas but made a rock wall for the rest. The rock wall is made out of styrafoam, tile (cement?), and painted with outdoor paint. Now I am wondering, will the paint hold up to the high humidity? Should I cover it with a sealant such as epoxy harz or something? I'll test it by putting a dried painted rock in some water, but I was wondering if anyone here had experience with this. Also, will the cork mold and rot? What about the bark?

Anouther thing, My lights burn out really fast. The last one only lasted 2 weeks. I think it's the water from the humidity. Is there any way to water proof bulbs to keep them from frying?

thnx for the detailed replies. Where can I get a textured epoxy? Online? Ive checked around where I live and they dont have much of a selection. Also, How can I make sure that moisture doesnt get behing the cork boards? Lots of silicone?

Anouther question: I picked up some sticks from the woods today, whats the best way of disinfecting them? Ive heard of bleach, vinigar and baking. They are too big and wont fit in the oven, so baking is out. I have some regular vinigar. Could I just mix that with water in the bathtub and soak the wood for a while? If I were to use bleach, what kind should I use and how should I do it? do you have any other suggestions?

Thanks again you guys are really helpful.

Sticks? The most common approach that I know of is the bleach and sun routine. Not exactly an option here in Vermont during the winter, so, we have to cut our sticks into manageable-sized pieces and bake, or plan our soakings for the summertime... Grab a saw, slice the sticks, number them, bake them, use a double-ended screw to reassemble them later. The added bonus? Moving is easier that way, too...
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----------====================----------
Justin, Julie and the menagerie...
(Bobbing igs, snapping macklots, exploring ball, hungry kings, hyper grey rat, quacking tribs, hissing roaches, wriggling worms & chirping crickets)
Vermont Herpetological Society Online
www.vermontherps.org

PS
Textured epoxies: Check out TAP Plastics, online. I vaguely remember their having some goodies like that... That was where I got a chunk of fiberglassing matierials for my car, at one point, and where I will get the remaining materials when I start building my boat... Their epoxy is nice, but, any marine-grade epoxy should work well. Just make sure you apply the epoxy (if applying over wood) in the morning, before the wood has warmed up and started out-gassing... We ruined part of a terrarium with that, as it made the floor porous (which was what the epoxy was to prevent in the first place... OOPS!!!) and water seeped under the epoxy, ruining the wood underneath... We were *NOT* amused (though we can laugh about it now).

With fiberglassing, I have even contemplated making terraria out of cardboard (light, insulated, rigid once the glass is added, waterproof when cured, cheap materials), but, I need to build my framework before I tackle that one again... Tried to rush the project and blew it...
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----------====================----------
Justin, Julie and the menagerie...
(Bobbing igs, snapping macklots, exploring ball, hungry kings, hyper grey rat, quacking tribs, hissing roaches, wriggling worms & chirping crickets)
Vermont Herpetological Society Online
www.vermontherps.org

Im kinda deciding against epoxy now because it will ruin the paint. I spent 20 euros on paint alone and I dont want to have that go to waist. I asked the guy at the hardware store and he told me to get a water proofer for tapestries. I bought a can of that. Dont know if it will work. Anyone here used stuff like that before?