Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Greetings All,

Have been around on the board for quite awhile. To the point, I am building an enclosure
for my Caiman, and Gator. Both are female, and the largest is approx 3.5'. I have started to document (picture wise) my experience in building a suitable enclosure, in hopes to make it an FAQ in which people may reference to see how much time, and space it takes to properly house these animals. I started with building an extension onto my house (not by myself, I had a contactor, electrician, cement layer, ect.) Currently I am finished with insulating, and have began to drywall (myself). I also have plans for the aquatic area, and had a concrete floor built to support roughly 4000 pounds of water. I also have picked up my filteration system, and I'm in the process of selecting lighting and timers, ect.

Just wondering what the community thinks of documentation of such a project? Of course it is ultimately for the animals that may be (in the future) purchased on a whim without any knowledge of space, time, or commitment.

I will post the first three pictures if you have any interest.

Thank You.

n/p

If crocodil gives me the go ahead, I'm going to post. I would like anyone input. Keep in mind this is just the medium step, I will expand on this addition in about 3-4 years. Here are some pictures.

Another of finishing work......

The last for now, I will have more later. Crocodile do you think this would be a good tool for the animals? I can't wait to start posting the pond which should happen within 2 weeks.

Wikd:

Curious...will you be treating the wall to protect it from moisture, splasing, etc.? Is so, what would you use?

Well I thought long and hard about that. I am going to seal the concrete floors with a regular thompsons water seal, as well as the floor material I will be using, as for the walls I was planning on using a vapor retarder primer such as: http://oikos.com/esb/29/vrpaint.html
I am open and appreciate any other suggestions.
Thank you,

Seth

For the walls of your enclosure,you might want to invest in a waterproofing drywall.This type of drywall is used to waterproof walkin showers,This goes behind the ceramic tiles.The drywall is green in color.Instead of tile,you could mortar or grout the walls up about 4 feet,and then combine a waterfall against the wall with the concrete floor.You could plumb you filter to where the filtered water is returned back to the enclosure through the waterfall.These are just a few ideas.
Mike

Thank you Mike, I like the waterfall idea, is this type of drywall also called "Green board"? I have this mentioned to me at "Lowes" hardware, "Home Depot", and the like, does it come in .5" ?
Thank you for your input I appreciate it.

That's the product I'm familiar with. I've also heard it called Masonite.

I have heard it called both those names.It will usually come in the same sizes as the drywall.

I taped and textured the room. I am still thinking about how to heat the room externally. The pond portion will have a thermostat controlled heater. Any advice for a cold winter would be appreciated. (Last year I had massive electrical bills upwards of $500.) I am thinking of just installing a furnace. I stopped by a Home Depot today in search of the vapor retardant paint/primer, they didn't have it, and BTW were very rude. I then contacted a local paint store, which is sizeable, and they mixed up a special paint/self primer for me. This was a bathroom semi gloss paint that is water resistant and mixed with anti- mold/mildew. Two gallons ran approx. $68.00. If anyone is interested I will get the details of the self priming paint I purchased.