Green Iguana Society Message Board

[ Green Iguana Society Message Board ]

thinking of a new pet these days...

Posted by Brian on 11/2/2009, 5:33 pm
97.120.64.190

I'm changing around my iguana cage thats all tiled up to a more... water dragon type of environment. I've considered a spinytail iguana but they are bitey little things.

The walls/ceiling of this contain radiant heat panneling that heat this cage - as well as the light box etc at the top. I'm taking out all of the tile and the old material that the tile and will probably have to take out the inside wall and redesign this cage.

The idea is to make a waterfall environment that wont rot. You make a general 'form' of one out of wood... and some wooden cliffs along the wall etc. And basically plaster away over it until you have a landscape. Pop in waterlines and stuff too.

ok time to find money.. and someone that can paint it when its done.

Post a Response

Re: thinking of a new pet these days...

Posted by Christy P on 11/3/2009, 6:54 am, in reply to "thinking of a new pet these days..."
24.171.23.85

Aren't you ambitious! You sound like me...always wanting to try something new!

Post a Response

How about a kitten?

Posted by Billybob on 11/2/2009, 9:30 pm, in reply to "thinking of a new pet these days..."
71.57.172.30

I know you have a background in the trades.

You can alter that enclosure for anything. Kittens are fun, they purr and have fur.

Just a thought.

BB

Post a Response

I want a kitten

Posted by Mindy on 11/2/2009, 9:47 pm, in reply to "How about a kitten?"
76.170.3.112

If only it weren't for the iguanas. I can just see it now. Heh.

Mindy
Oggie, Paquita, Drago, and Reno

Post a Response

Re: I want a kitten

Posted by teo on 11/3/2009, 5:21 pm, in reply to "I want a kitten"
69.247.242.246

C'mon Mindy - what would you rather have - kitten or handsome Drago;))

Post a Response

Re: I want a kitten

Posted by Mindy on 11/3/2009, 5:40 pm, in reply to "Re: I want a kitten"
76.170.3.112

Hmm... I dunno... Drago did a colossal poop on the area rug in the living room this morning before I could get him to the tub. He should know better!! ;)

What is it about Oggie that she always goes into the bathroom and waits? Is it possible for iguanas to care what we think of them? Man, we had it so easy before we adopted/fostered igs after Oggie. If only we knew..... ;)

Mindy
Oggie, Paquita, Drago, and Reno

Post a Response

Re: I want a kitten

Posted by teo on 11/3/2009, 6:26 pm, in reply to "Re: I want a kitten"
69.247.242.246

big boy, big poop;))i can just imagine what came out of his 15 pound body;))
i think its possible, Mud usualy gives my hubby the biggest tude, because he talks bad about him(you know that 'i am sick of your lizard...")My hubby loves him too, we are just tired if breeding season...

Post a Response

Re: I want a kitten

Posted by Mindy on 11/4/2009, 1:02 am, in reply to "Re: I want a kitten"
76.170.3.112

That's funny. :) I totally understand that feeling.

Mindy

Post a Response

Re: thinking of a new pet these days...

Posted by Nannette on 11/2/2009, 8:28 pm, in reply to "thinking of a new pet these days..."
173.30.7.207

Why not buy a waterfall at the garden store, or get one of those waterfalls that's meant to be a statue http://www.statue.com/cascading-waterfall-fountains.html and incorporate it into the enclosure? Even a wall waterfall would be pre-assembled.

Link: http://www.statue.com/cascading-waterfall-fountains.html

Post a Response

Re: thinking of a new pet these days...

Posted by Brian on 11/3/2009, 9:19 am, in reply to "Re: thinking of a new pet these days..."
97.120.64.190

too small and cheap looking. :)

Post a Response

Re: thinking of a new pet these days...

Posted by Eric on 11/2/2009, 6:49 pm, in reply to "thinking of a new pet these days..."
71.229.180.8

If you don't want it to rot, don't build it out of wood. Like I've said before, you don't see a whole lot of wooden ships or zoo enclosures these days.

Before I rebuilt the front doors of my current enclosure out of acrylic, the humidity warped the wood so much that I to stand on one leg and use a leg and both arms to slide the door.

Post a Response

Re: thinking of a new pet these days...

Posted by Brian on 11/3/2009, 9:20 am, in reply to "Re: thinking of a new pet these days..."
97.120.64.190

plaster over it all. wont rot.

Post a Response

Re: thinking of a new pet these days...

Posted by Adam on 11/2/2009, 7:23 pm, in reply to "Re: thinking of a new pet these days..."
32.170.208.240

If you seal it very well with Kilz or something of that nature and brace it properly you can prevent warping all together. May equal a heavy enclosure, but 4 HD casters with locks can solve that issue.

Post a Response

Just re-read that post....

Posted by Adam on 11/2/2009, 9:17 pm, in reply to "Re: thinking of a new pet these days..."
32.170.205.107

...I forgot to mention that properly sealing the wood will also prevent rotting. I've built many "Fly pens" over the years that never warp or rot, and the whole frame is wood on those. It takes some knowledge of wood working, but it's not hard to do. The fly pens had to hold up not only to the weather, but to chicken manure, stalls being filled 2-3 feet deep with corn schucks at times and being washed regularly.
I think the main thing most people forget is to seal the ends of wood as well, and to use a finish blade rather than a rip saw so that whatever you seal it with can penetrate and work. It's very agitating having to put 4-5 coats on the ends of a piece of lumber when the rest takes in 1-2 coats.

Post a Response

Re: thinking of a new pet these days...

Posted by Adam on 11/2/2009, 6:00 pm, in reply to "thinking of a new pet these days..."
32.170.128.133

I think you've mentioned that particular enclosure before, could you post pics? It would be easier to grasp the idea of radiant heat panels if I could see the setup I think.
That's a really cool idea though, good luck! You can usually find the waterfall pumps and whatnot fairly cheap depending on how big the waterfall is. Have you thought of using like concrete board? With a little bracing you can get inventive with that, I think it's fairly cheap. We used that to customize a shower for a friend of mine, looks great, shoddy batch of mortar screwed the tile work though.
I like your idea though, very cool. Thought of any particular water dragon you may be looking to get?

Post a Response

Re: thinking of a new pet these days...

Posted by Brian on 11/3/2009, 9:26 am, in reply to "Re: thinking of a new pet these days..."
97.120.64.190

It cost me a few $$$ to put the setup in. between a quality thermostat and the panneling itself. Well here I'll post an example.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&productId=100082029

As for water dragons.. I used to have 9 chinese and ausies they lived for a long long time - I gave them up shortly before I moved out to the west coast. They can both be a more delicate species than iguanas to take care of given they tend to bump their faces off so you have to know how to raise them.

Post a Response

Re: thinking of a new pet these days...

Posted by Brian on 11/3/2009, 9:56 am, in reply to "Re: thinking of a new pet these days..."
97.120.64.190

p.s. This stuff goes well under flooring as well - like laminante flooring, hardwood flooring - Dont know about carpeting I would imagine it would work fine. My house has mostly hardwood or laminante floors and the downstairs already had this stuff in it - which is where my igs roam - I had to rip up my floor and put some in my floor in my room (which is actually heated from panneling from above but I dont use that thermostat).. I like to keep the low grounds warm considering I have a tort and rock iguanas.

For someone with a small room thats considering how to heat it - this is how to do it. That or build shelving for the ig all around the ceiling for the iguana... and have it heated from above pushing down.

Post a Response

«Back to thread

[ Green Iguana Society Message Board ]